Benson v. Humphreys
Supreme Court of Virginia
This was a suit in equity in the circuit court of Fairfax county, brought by Guy Humphreys and his two sons, Newton and G. C. Humphreys, against John S. Benson, to enforce the specific execution of. a contract for the sale of . a tract of land by the plaintiffs to the defendant. Benson was in possession of the land, and had made all but the last payment.
Read the full summary
This was a suit in equity in the circuit court of Fairfax county, brought by Guy Humphreys and his two sons, Newton and G. C. Humphreys, against John S. Benson, to enforce the specific execution of. a contract for the sale of . a tract of land by the plaintiffs to the defendant. Benson was in possession of the land, and had made all but the last payment. The only question was whether he was bound to pay for an additional number of acres, it appearing that there was that much more in the tract than was mentioned in the contract, and that depended upon the questien whether it was a purchase in…
1Opinion of the CourtChristian, J.
The sole question we have to determine in this case is, whether the sale of the tract of land in the bill and proceedings mentioned was a sale in gross or a sale per acre.
The rules of law on this subject, laid down by this court, extracted from the numerous decided cases, may be briefly stated as follows:
■First. Every sale of real estate where the quantity is referred to in the contract, and where the language of the contract does not plainly indicate that the sale was intended to be a sale in gross, must be presumed to be a sale per acre.
Second. The language “more or less,” used in contracts…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Watson v. HoySupreme Court of Virginia · 1877
3Cited by11 opinions
- Hansford v. Chesapeake Coal Co.West Virginia Supreme Court · 1883
- Grayson v. BuchananSupreme Court of Virginia · 1891
- Berry's v. FishburneSupreme Court of Virginia · 1905
- Elam v. FordSupreme Court of Virginia · 1926
- Epes v. SaundersSupreme Court of Virginia · 1909
6 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.