Rice v. Churchill
New York Supreme Court
Error to the Onondaga C. P. Churchill sued Rice before a justice of the peace and recovered judgment. The defendant appealed. The action was assumpsit on an agreement in writing in the following words: “For value received I promise to pay Alexander M. Churchill or bearer fifty dollars in lumber at cash price, when called for. Spafford, Sept. 8,1843. William Rice.” The plea was the general issue. On the trial in the C. P. the execution of the note was admitted.
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Error to the Onondaga C. P. Churchill sued Rice before a justice of the peace and recovered judgment. The defendant appealed. The action was assumpsit on an agreement in writing in the following words: “For value received I promise to pay Alexander M. Churchill or bearer fifty dollars in lumber at cash price, when called for. Spafford, Sept. 8,1843. William Rice.” The plea was the general issue. On the trial in the C. P. the execution of the note was admitted. The plaintiff proved that in September, 1843, a person sent as an agent by the holder of the note took it to the house of the…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court, Beardsley, J.
This agreement was not for
the delivery of specific articles of property, but for the payment of a certain sum in lumber at cash price. No time or place of payment is mentioned in the contract, nor does it indicate what description of lumber was demandable by the holder of the note or might be turned out by the maker in satisfaction of his engagement. On such a contract payment must be demanded before an action will lie upon it. In Lobdell v. Hopkins, (5 Cowen, 516,) Chief Justice Savage said, “ the note unexplained amounts to a note payable in specific articles,…
2Cases cited2 opinions
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- Widner v. WalshSupreme Court of Colorado · 1877
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