Dexter v. Hall
Supreme Court of the United States
Error to the Circuit Court for the District of California, in which court Mary Hall and her four children brought ejectment against Henry Dexter; both parties claiming under John Hall, who died intestate; the plaintiffs as his widow and,children; the defendant as his grantee.
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Error to the Circuit Court for the District of California, in which court Mary Hall and her four children brought ejectment against Henry Dexter; both parties claiming under John Hall, who died intestate; the plaintiffs as his widow and,children; the defendant as his grantee. The case was thus: On the 30th of December, 1848, T. W. Leavenworth, then alcalde of San Francisco, granted to Hall, a lieutenant of our navy who happened to be in service off San Francisco, a piece of land, part of the pueblo lands situate within the corporate limits of the city as defined in 1851, east of Larkin and…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Strong
The prominent question in this case is, whether a power of attorney executed by a lunatic is void, or whether it is only voidable. The Circuit Court instructed the jury that a lunatic, or insane person, being of unsound mind, Avas incapable of executing a contract, deed, power of attorney, or other instrument requiring volition and understanding, and that a poAver of attorney executed by an insane person, or one of unsound mind, was absolutely void. To this instruction the defendant beloAV excepted, and he has now assigned it for error.
Looking at the subject in the light of reason, it is…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Fonda v. Van HorneNew York Supreme Court · 1836
- Bensell v. ChancellorSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1840
- Pyle v. CravensCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1823
3Cited by93 opinions
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- Williams v. SapiehaTexas Supreme Court · 1901
- American Trust & Banking Co. v. BooneSupreme Court of Georgia · 1897
- Hollander v. Central Metal & Supply Co.Court of Appeals of Maryland · 1908
- Quimby v. GreenhawkCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1934
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