Chamberlain v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America
Wisconsin Supreme Court
Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Milwaukee-county: D. H. Johnson, Circuit Judge. This is an action on an alleged oral contract of life insurance. The plaintiff is the widow of one Henry 0. Chamberlain, who was accidentally killed in a railway accident on the 2d of May, 1899, and the defendant is a foreign life insurance company.
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Appeal from a judgment of the circuit court for Milwaukee-county: D. H. Johnson, Circuit Judge. This is an action on an alleged oral contract of life insurance. The plaintiff is the widow of one Henry 0. Chamberlain, who was accidentally killed in a railway accident on the 2d of May, 1899, and the defendant is a foreign life insurance company. The evidence of the plaintiff showed that on the 25th of April, 1899, one W. J. Cameron, an agent of--the defendant, called on the deceased at his home in Milwaukee, and solicited life insurance; that as a result of the ■conversation between Cameron and…
1Opinion of the Court
"WiNslow, J.
"While this was in form an action to establish and enforce an oral contract of life insurance, it was in fact an attempt to alter the terms of a written contract by parol evidence. That the application of Chamberlain, and the receipt given by the agent of the defendant, constituted a written contract which was certain in its terms, cannot be doubted. This contract, in substance, was that, if the company accepted the application and issued a policy theréon, Chamberlain was to be insured in the sum of $500 thereby, and the thirty-five cents would constitute the first week’s premium;…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Dowagiac Manufacturing Co. v. SchroederWisconsin Supreme Court · 1900
- Mathers v. Union Mutual Accident Ass'nWisconsin Supreme Court · 1891
3Cited by13 opinions
- Rhodus v. Kansas City Life InsuranceMissouri Court of Appeals · 1911
- Shawnee Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. McClureSupreme Court of Oklahoma · 1913
- Field v. Missouri Life Ins. Co.Utah Supreme Court · 1930
- Peoples Life Insurance v. ParkerSupreme Court of Virginia · 1942
- Knutson v. MuellerWisconsin Supreme Court · 1975
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