Birmingham Fire Insurance v. Commonwealth ex rel. Kuehneisen
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Common Pleas, No. 2, of Allegheny county: Of October and November Term 1879, No. 254. This was a petition for a mandamus by the Commonwealth ex relatione Adolph Kuehneisen against William Ruske, Secretary of the Birmingham Fire Insurance Company, to compel the transfer on the stock books of said company of ten shares of stock alleged to have been purchased by relator at sheriff’s sale.
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Error to the Court of Common Pleas, No. 2, of Allegheny county: Of October and November Term 1879, No. 254. This was a petition for a mandamus by the Commonwealth ex relatione Adolph Kuehneisen against William Ruske, Secretary of the Birmingham Fire Insurance Company, to compel the transfer on the stock books of said company of ten shares of stock alleged to have been purchased by relator at sheriff’s sale. The relator obtained a judgment against Louis Kuehneisen, on which a fi. fa. was issued, returnable to first Monday of April, and placed in the sheriff’s hands January 21st 1878. In…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Trunkey
At the threshold the relator is met with the objection that mandamus will not lie for the reason that, even if his right to the stock be clear and the respondents have wrongfully refused to make the transfer, he has an adequate remedy in an action on the case for damages.
A mandamus, though a prerogative writ and demandable of right in a proper case, will be granted only in extraordinary cases, where there would otherwise be a failure of justice. We have used the mandamus only as a process in the last resort; never where there was a specific remedy. Thus it was refused in The Commonwealth v.…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Shipley v. Mechanics' BankNew York Supreme Court · 1813
- Kimball v. Union Water Co.California Supreme Court · 1872
- Commonwealth v. RosseterSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1810
- Baker v. MarshalSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1870
- Drexel v. ManSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1843
3Cited by3 opinions
- Sinking Fund Commissioners of Phila. v. Phila.Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1936
- Commonwealth ex rel. Radzievich v. Davis & Minersville Borough Council, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Schuylkill County1928
- Hallman v. Hershey Chocolate Corp., Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County1938