Lisk v. Sherman
New York Supreme Court
ACTION by the plaintiff to recover for her services rendered to Lydia Magee, the defendant’s testatrix, under 'a special contract. The trial came on at the Seneca circuit in March, 1857, before Mr. Justice Smith. Upon the trial the plaintiff gave evidence tending to prove the following agreement and facts.
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ACTION by the plaintiff to recover for her services rendered to Lydia Magee, the defendant’s testatrix, under 'a special contract. The trial came on at the Seneca circuit in March, 1857, before Mr. Justice Smith. Upon the trial the plaintiff gave evidence tending to prove the following agreement and facts. That in the lifetime of Lydia Magee, the testatrix, and some time in the month of July, 1852, a parol agreement was made and entered into by and between the said Lydia Magee and the plaintiff, who tvas unmarried, and whose name was then Ann Eliza Wells, to the effect following: The said Ann…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court, Welles, J.
We are clear that Jane White, who was offered as a witness on behalf of the defendant, was competent. She was a legatee in the will of Mrs. Lydia Magee, *437and on that ground was excluded as a witness. The cases of Butler v. Patterson, (3 Kern. 292,) and Freeman v. Spalding, (2 id, 373,) decide the principle, and show that the action was not defended for the immediate benefit of the person offered as a witness, so as to exclude her under § 399 of the code. For the error of the justice in excluding the witness, if for no other reason, a new trial should be granted.
The…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Abbott v. DraperNew York Supreme Court · 1847
- Fort v. GoodingNew York Supreme Court · 1850
3Cited by22 opinions
- Green v. RichmondMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1975
- Shakespeare v. . MarkhamNew York Court of Appeals · 1878
- Hudson v. HudsonSupreme Court of Georgia · 1891
- Stone v. ToddSupreme Court of New Jersey · 1887
- Campbell v. CampbellNew York Supreme Court · 1866
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