Calhoun v. F. G. Elliott Hdw. Co.

Harrington, J.,

delivering the opinion of the court:

Under the old common-law rule, in the absence of some pleading and proof to the contrary, every person was presumed to have a Christian or given name in addition to his family or surname, and generally speaking was not properly identified unless described thereby. 45 C. J. 368; Gatty v. Field, 9 Q. B. 431, 115 Eng. Rep. 1337; Holman v. Walden, 91 Eng. Rep. 6; Gardner v. State, 4 Ind. 632.

This rule applied to both civil and criminal proceedings and under it a party to an action was not properly identified if instead of setting out his…