McMurtrie v. Bennette
Michigan Court of Chancery
The bill in this case was filed to compel the specific performance of a parol agreement to convey land. The bill states that John Bennette, ono of the defendants, in a conversation had with complainants, in the month of May or June, in the year 1834, verbally agreed to sell and convey to the complainants a certain lot of land, containing eighty acres, for the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, a part to be paid in money, and the remainder in a certain order drawn upon a…
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The bill in this case was filed to compel the specific performance of a parol agreement to convey land. The bill states that John Bennette, ono of the defendants, in a conversation had with complainants, in the month of May or June, in the year 1834, verbally agreed to sell and convey to the complainants a certain lot of land, containing eighty acres, for the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, a part to be paid in money, and the remainder in a certain order drawn upon a man in the state of New York; that complainants paid Bennette, at the time, four dollars; that a deed was soon to be made…
1Opinion of the Court
The Chancellor.
It is not a matter of course to decree specific performance of contracts. It requires a sound discreUp0n a v;ew 0f aji the circumstances, and this discretion must not be arbitrary and capricious, but must be regulated upon grounds that will make it judicial. Seymour vs. Delaney, 6 Johns. Ch. Rep., 222; same case, on appeal, 3 Cowen, 505.
The contract or agreement sought to be enforced, must be mutual, and the tie reciprocal, or a court-of equity will not enforce a performance. 1 Mad. Ch., 423; 1 Johns. Ch., 282, 378. Here the contract rests entirely in parol. The letter given in…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Parkhurst v. Van CortlandtNew York Court of Chancery · 1814
- Seymour v. DelanceyNew York Court of Chancery · 1822
3Cited by3 opinions
- Alexander v. PettyCourt of Chancery of Delaware · 1954
- Gill v. WardSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1861
- Thompson v. BoydSupreme Court of New Jersey · 1847