Irwin v. Shoemaker
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
ERROR to the Common Pleas of Beaver county. William Irwin against Peter Shoemaker and others. This was an action of debt upon three bonds. The plaintiff sold to the defendants a piece of land, and took from them the three bonds upon which this suit is brought, conditioned for the payment of $325 each, on the 1st August 1838-39 and ’40, for the balance of the purchase money, and at the same time took a mortgage upon the land sold.
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ERROR to the Common Pleas of Beaver county. William Irwin against Peter Shoemaker and others. This was an action of debt upon three bonds. The plaintiff sold to the defendants a piece of land, and took from them the three bonds upon which this suit is brought, conditioned for the payment of $325 each, on the 1st August 1838-39 and ’40, for the balance of the purchase money, and at the same time took a mortgage upon the land sold. The defence was, that at the time of the contract of sale the parties agreed that the land conveyed to the defendants should alone be liable for the security and…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Rogers, J.
An instrument of writing may be reformed, by proof of circumstances which occurred at the time of its execution, showing either fraud or mistake; but to set aside a solemn agreement between parties and convert it into an obligation of a different import, the evidence of fraud or mistake ought to be of what occurred at the execution, and should be clear, precise and indubitable. It would be error, as is held in Stine v. Sherk, (1 Watts Serg. 195), to submit a question of fraud or mistake to the jury upon slight, trivial, parol evidence. These…
2Cited by10 opinions
- Allinger v. MelvinSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1934
- Wegefarth v. WiessnerCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1919
- Humbert v. MeyersSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1924
- Lane ex rel. Williams v. SmithSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1883
- Myerstown Bank v. RoesslerSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1898
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