Pennsylvania Railroad v. Vandiver
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Common Pleas of Chester county. This was an action on the case, by Sarah Vandiver against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, to recover damages for the loss of her husband, who, she charged, was “removed, ejected, cast, thrown,” &c., from the cars of the company, by reason whereof he was injured, and died.
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Error to the Common Pleas of Chester county. This was an action on the case, by Sarah Vandiver against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, to recover damages for the loss of her husband, who, she charged, was “removed, ejected, cast, thrown,” &c., from the cars of the company, by reason whereof he was injured, and died. The material facts of the case were these: — On the 6th day of December 1856, John Vandiver, the husband of the plaintiff, took his seat in a car of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a passenger from Philadelphia to Parkesburg. Soon after leaving the river, the conductor of…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, February 10th 1862, by
Read, J.
A great deal of the difficulty originally felt in holding corporations liable for the acts of their agents within the scope of their-authority, arose from the supposition that it was necessary their appointment should be under the seal of their *370principals. The decisions both in England and America have satisfactorily disposed of this technical doubt, and it is now clearly the law, particularly with regard to what are called trading corporations, that no such evidence of authority is required. A private corporation is liable…
2Cited by4 opinions
- Gasway v. Atlanta & West Point RailroadSupreme Court of Georgia · 1877
- Forrester v. Southern Pacific Co.Nevada Supreme Court · 1913
- The MinnetonkaCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1906
- O'Brien v. Public Service Taxi Co.District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania · 1949