Miles v. Diven
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
ERROR to the common pleas of Centre comity. This was an action by Evan Miles and John Foster, administrators of Samuel Miles, deceased, against John Diven, to recover the purchase money of a tract of land, sold by the plaintiffs, as administrators, by an order of the orphans’ court, for the payment of debts to the defendant.
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ERROR to the common pleas of Centre comity. This was an action by Evan Miles and John Foster, administrators of Samuel Miles, deceased, against John Diven, to recover the purchase money of a tract of land, sold by the plaintiffs, as administrators, by an order of the orphans’ court, for the payment of debts to the defendant. The petition to the orphans’ court, described the land as a tract containing two hundred and forty-one acres; it was advertised and sold as such, and confirmed by the court. The land was in fact composed of two adjoining surveys, one of which, ran up upon a mountain, and…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Sergeant, J.
If the verdict and judgment for the defendant in this case should stand, the creditors and minor children of the intestate, for whose benefit the law empowers the administrator to make a public sale, must sustain a heavy loss, because the administrators, privately and without authority, undertook to contract with the defendant to sell him the land, and in so doing, mistakenly pointed out the boundary. This is beside the duty of the administrator. He is not the source to which one designing to purchase, is justified in resorting for…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Myers v. HodgesSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1834
3Cited by1 opinion
- De Haven's AppealSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1884