Denton v. English
Supreme Court of South Carolina
This was an action of trover, tried before Mr. Justice Colcock, at Columbia, 1818, to recover the value of a number of slaves. Ten of them were claimed by the plaintiffs under a bill of sale from Wm. Fitzpatrick, who had a wife then living, to Mrs. Denton, then Miss Gillespie, dated 27th May, 1798. This Nearly the same parties, ante, 376 ; 2 Mills, 421; 3 Brev. 147. bill of sale was signed and sealed by Fitzpatrick, and money was the consideration expressed.
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This was an action of trover, tried before Mr. Justice Colcock, at Columbia, 1818, to recover the value of a number of slaves. Ten of them were claimed by the plaintiffs under a bill of sale from Wm. Fitzpatrick, who had a wife then living, to Mrs. Denton, then Miss Gillespie, dated 27th May, 1798. This Nearly the same parties, ante, 376 ; 2 Mills, 421; 3 Brev. 147. bill of sale was signed and sealed by Fitzpatrick, and money was the consideration expressed. The defence quoad the negroes mentioned in the bill of sale, was, that the true consideration was a subsequent illicit cohabitation…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Johnson, J.
The question propounded assumes two positions. 1. That this was an executed contract. 2. That it is not affected by any statutory laws.
To support the first of these positions, it will only be necessary to remark, that an executed contract consists in the performance of everything necessary to be done, according to the terms of the contract by the party contracting, so as fully to invest the party contracted with, with dominion over the thing parted with. 1 Powell on Cont. 234. The bill of sale which furnishes the only evidence of the…
2Cited by3 opinions
- Clark v. ColbertSupreme Court of Alabama · 1880
- McAndrew v. TaylorCourt of Appeals of Georgia · 1914
- Prince v. MathewsSupreme Court of South Carolina · 1931