Clealand v. Walker
Supreme Court of Alabama
Writ of Error to the Circuit Court of Talladega. This was an action of assumpsit on a promissory note, tried by a jury who returned a verdict for the defendant, on which judgment was rendered.
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Writ of Error to the Circuit Court of Talladega. This was an action of assumpsit on a promissory note, tried by a jury who returned a verdict for the defendant, on which judgment was rendered. From a bill of exceptions sealed at the plaintiff's instance, it appears that he introduced as a witness, one of the payees of the note declared on, who testified that it was given for a barouche purchased by David S. Walker, the son of the defendant; - that the son represented himself as the duly authorized agent of his father. Proof was adduced tending to show that the son was agent, both at the time…
1Opinion of the CourtCollier, C. J.
It is certainly correct as a general rule, that where a written contract is entered into by an agent with a third person, in order to bind the principal and make it his act, it must purport on its face to be his contract. [Story on Ag. § 147 to 161.]
The ratification of a contract when fairly made, will have the same effect as an original authority to bind the principal not only in regard to the agent himself, but in respect to third persons. If therefore an agent has made a contract, without authority for his principal, or beyond his authority, and it is afterwards ratified, the principal may…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Mechanics' Bank v. Bank of ColumbiaSupreme Court of the United States · 1820
- Story v. ElliotCourt for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors · 1827
- Brockway v. AllenNew York Supreme Court · 1837
- Lazarus v. ShearerSupreme Court of Alabama · 1841
- Homans v. LambardSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1842
3Cited by12 opinions
- Wheeler v. McGuire, Scoggins & Co.Supreme Court of Alabama · 1888
- Sanford v. HowardSupreme Court of Alabama · 1857
- Long v. KingSupreme Court of Alabama · 1897
- Server v. LangSupreme Court of Vermont · 1918
- Carman v. HarrahMissouri Court of Appeals · 1914
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