Beardsley v. Tappan
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Southern New York
At law. This was a s'ait [by Horace Beardsley and John Beardsley against Lewis Tappan, proprietor of a mercantile agency] to recover damages from the defendant for having libelled and slandered the plaintiffs in respect of their credit as a mercantile ■firm, carrying on business at Norwalk, Ohio. [Demurrer to the declaration was overruled, —Case No. 1,188.—and the case was tried by jury,—Id. 1,188a.] The jury found a ver■dict for the plaintiffs for $10,000, and the…
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At law. This was a s'ait [by Horace Beardsley and John Beardsley against Lewis Tappan, proprietor of a mercantile agency] to recover damages from the defendant for having libelled and slandered the plaintiffs in respect of their credit as a mercantile ■firm, carrying on business at Norwalk, Ohio. [Demurrer to the declaration was overruled, —Case No. 1,188.—and the case was tried by jury,—Id. 1,188a.] The jury found a ver■dict for the plaintiffs for $10,000, and the plaintiffs now moved for a new trial. [Subsequently the defendant took the case to the supreme court by writ of error, where the…
1Opinion of the Court
NELSON, Circuit Justice.
The defendant resided in New York, and had established in that city a mercantile agency, the object of which was to procure information of the pecuniary ability and standing of merchants in the country for merchants in the city, to be communicated to the latter in a confidential manner. The defendant had some twenty clerks who participated in the business of the establishment, and were, of course, privy to the information obtained, whether favorable or unfavorable to the character and credit of the country merchant, and who participated in the communication of the…
2Cited by3 opinions
- Erber v. R. G. Dun & Co.United States Circuit Court · 1882
- Trussell v. ScarlettU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Maryland · 1882
- Warner v. BakerCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1911