Pitts v. Curtis
Supreme Court of Alabama
ERROR to the Circuit Court of Dallas. Detinue for a slave by the defendant in error against the plaintiff in error. Upon the trial below it was in evidence that the plaintiff, had married the sister of the defendant in 1S28 — that the father of the defendant and plaintiff’s wife, by his last will and testament, made a disposition of the slave in controversy in the following words: “I give and bequeath unto my son Noel Pitts, a negro boy named Jacob, until he arrives at the…
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ERROR to the Circuit Court of Dallas. Detinue for a slave by the defendant in error against the plaintiff in error. Upon the trial below it was in evidence that the plaintiff, had married the sister of the defendant in 1S28 — that the father of the defendant and plaintiff’s wife, by his last will and testament, made a disposition of the slave in controversy in the following words: “I give and bequeath unto my son Noel Pitts, a negro boy named Jacob, until he arrives at the age of twenty-one, and the remainder of his life to my daughter Henrietta Pitts.” The negro boy became twenty-one years…
1Opinion of the CourtOrmond, J.
As the husband is.not entitled to the choses in action of the wife not reduced into possession during the coverture, the precise question presented on the record is, whether the right of the wife of the defendant in error to the slave in controversy, under the will of her father, was a present vested interest, or a right in action merely.
In the case of Magee v. Toland, [8 Porter, 40,] this Court defines a chose in action to be “ any right to damages, whether arising from the commission of a tort, the omission of a duty, or the breach of a contract.” The bequest in this case was of a slave to…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Banks' Adm'r. v. MarksberryCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1823
- Magee v. TolandSupreme Court of Alabama · 1838
3Cited by13 opinions
- Webb v. Webb's HeirsSupreme Court of Alabama · 1857
- Gibson v. LandSupreme Court of Alabama · 1855
- Hemphill v. MoodySupreme Court of Alabama · 1879
- Sharp v. Cincinnati, N. O. & T. P. Ry. Co.Tennessee Supreme Court · 1915
- Machen v. MachenSupreme Court of Alabama · 1849
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