Dooley v. McEwing
Texas Supreme Court
Appeal from Rusk. This suit was brought by the appellee to recover from the appellant a negro and his hire. The defendant claimed the negro as the administrator of Thomas IV. Bell, deceased.
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Appeal from Rusk. This suit was brought by the appellee to recover from the appellant a negro and his hire. The defendant claimed the negro as the administrator of Thomas IV. Bell, deceased. On the trial .the plaintiff introduced a witness, Dr. Lee, the physician who attended the deceased in his last sickness, who testified that a few days before his death tiie deceased, speaking of the disposition of his property in view of his approaching death, stated to the witness and si Mr. Waller, who had been the traveling- companion of the deceased, that the negro Jim, now in controversy, belonged to…
1Opinion of the CourtWiibelbr, J.
We have heretofore decided that writing is not necessary to convey tillo to a slave, and that tiro ownership of this species of property may be established by parol evidence. (Davis v. Loftin, 6 Tex. R., 489.)
The only question to be determined in this case, therefore, is whether the oral declaration or admission of a party of his having sold a slave, when that sale was evidenced by writing, is admissible as primary evidence of the fact.
It is the well-settled general rule that ‘‘oral proof cannot be substituted for the written evidence of any contract which the parties have put in writing.” (1…
2Cited by6 opinions
- Larrabee v. PorterCourt of Appeals of Texas · 1914
- Cook v. StateCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas · 1923
- Rachford v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co.Court of Appeals of Texas · 1942
- Carter v. CarterCourt of Appeals of Texas · 1965
- Continental Ins. Co. v. ScottCourt of Appeals of Texas · 1923
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