Johnson v. Phœnix Mutual Life Insurance
Supreme Court of Connecticut
Assumpsit for rent of leased premises; brought to the Superior Court in Hartford County. The following facts were found by a committee: In December, 1870, the plaintiff, acting for himself and certain others who were owners with him of the.property below described, being duly authorized so to do, entered into an agreement with the defendants by the following written instrument: “Hartford, Conn., Dec. 26,1870. “ To the Officers and Directors of the Phoenix Mutual Life…
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Assumpsit for rent of leased premises; brought to the Superior Court in Hartford County. The following facts were found by a committee: In December, 1870, the plaintiff, acting for himself and certain others who were owners with him of the.property below described, being duly authorized so to do, entered into an agreement with the defendants by the following written instrument: “Hartford, Conn., Dec. 26,1870. “ To the Officers and Directors of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company: “ Gentlemen :—Desiring to rent the office now occupied by you for a term of years, I propose to put into the…
1Opinion of the CourtCarpenter, J.
This case turns upon the construction of a written instrument which appears in full in the report of the committee. The question is, whether it is binding upon the defendants for the whole period of ten years. In other words, is the instrument a lease or merely an agreement for a lease? Both parties agree that whether it is one or the other depends upon the intention of the parties as gathered from the language used when interpreted in the light of the surrounding circumstances.
It appears from the instrument that the defendants, at the time it was executed, December 2§,tli, 1870, were in…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Baldwin v. WalkerSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1851
- Barnum v. LandonSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1856
3Cited by11 opinions
- Garber v. GoldsteinSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1917
- Atlantic Terra Cotta Co. v. Chesapeake Terra Cotta Co.Supreme Court of Connecticut · 1921
- Connecticut Land & Mortgage Co. v. LesserSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1950
- Judd v. Mutual Bank & Trust Co.Supreme Court of Connecticut · 1932
- O'Leary v. SkiltonSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1925
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