Bruce v. Arrington

The sheriff returned upon the original writ, (which was a summons in debt,) that he executed it upon Bruce one of the plaintiffs in error, “by leaving a copy of the writ at his usual place of residence, with his wife, a white person, a member of his family, over the age of 14 years, and informing her of the contents thereof.” The defendant in error took judgment by default.

The statute providing for a constructive service of writs of summons {Gould's Dig.,ch. 133, s. 14;) has received a strict construction in a series of decisions of this court, and to follow these decisions, we must hold that…