Coit v. Howd
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Trespass^ for taking and driving away a yoke of oxen. Plea, the general issue, with a specification of property in the defendant. At the trial in the court of common pleas, at March term 1852, it was proved that the defendant took the oxen from the possession of the plaintiff at the time stated in the declaration. The plaintiff claimed title to the oxen under a purchase from Jesse Hall, on the 20th of June 1850, at Colebrook, Connecticut.
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Trespass^ for taking and driving away a yoke of oxen. Plea, the general issue, with a specification of property in the defendant. At the trial in the court of common pleas, at March term 1852, it was proved that the defendant took the oxen from the possession of the plaintiff at the time stated in the declaration. The plaintiff claimed title to the oxen under a purchase from Jesse Hall, on the 20th of June 1850, at Colebrook, Connecticut. The defendant claimed title under an alleged purchase from Hall in the latter part of April 1850. There was evidence that Joel Howd, the father of the…
1Opinion of the CourtThomas, J.
It is important to observe at what stage of the cause, and for what purpose, the evidence was offered. The taking of the oxen from the possession of the plaintiff, on the *549day alleged in the declaration, had been proved. The defendant must therefore rely upon the strength of his own title. He undertook to prove a sale to himself from Jesse Hall; to do this, he proved a negotiation between himself and Hall, in the latter part of April 1850, in which Hall offered to sell the oxen for $100, and the defendant offered to give $95. At this stage in the conversation, no bargain having been made, the…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Hurd v. WestNew York Supreme Court · 1827
- Bartlet v. DelpratMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1808
- Whitaker v. BrownCourt for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors · 1832
- Jones v. LuskCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1859