Cowdery v. Hahn
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Appeal from a judgment of the superior court of Milwaukee county: Geo. E. SutheelaND, Judge. This is an action to recover against tbe defendants as sureties upon a bond.
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Appeal from a judgment of the superior court of Milwaukee county: Geo. E. SutheelaND, Judge. This is an action to recover against tbe defendants as sureties upon a bond. The facts were practically undisputed, and are in brief as follows: The plaintiff, desiring to build a house, made a contract therefor with Graham Bros., contractors, the same to be built according to plans and specifications made by one Eschweiler, an architect, the full contract price being $3,615. The contract provided that payments were to be made from time to time, in amounts up to eighty-five per cent, of the value of…
1Opinion of the CourtWinsnow, J.
The question is, Did Cowdery, by paying the contractors the entire amount of the contract price of the building before it was due, materially alter the contract so as to discharge the sureties? Upon principle and authority, this question must be answered in the affirmative. In. *458Stephens v. Elver, 101 Wis. 392, tbe principle was recognized that the -surety, under such circumstances, is discharged, if the principal is paid faster than the contract provides, but that the premature payment must be substantial in amount, and not a mere trifling deviation from the contract.
In the contract before…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Stephens v. ElverWisconsin Supreme Court · 1898
3Cited by14 opinions
- City of Madison v. American Sanitary Engineering Co.Wisconsin Supreme Court · 1903
- Webb v. FrengWisconsin Supreme Court · 1923
- Eager v. SeedsSupreme Court of Oklahoma · 1908
- Grafton v. HinkleyWisconsin Supreme Court · 1901
- Maine Central Railroad v. National Surety Co.Supreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1915
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