Stewart v. Cockrell

In the spring of 1868 Cockrell induced R. C. Brinkley, the owner of the property, to convert the building now known as the Peabody Hotel, but then constructed and used for storehouses, into a building to be used as a hotel. He proposed if the conversion could be made, to lease the property for a term of five years, at the annual rental of thirty thousand dollars, twenty-five hundred to be paid monthly in advance. Cockrell was an experienced hotel-keeper, and was understood to be a man of large means.

The terms of the lease were agreed upon, and after the work of conversion was completed,…