Bridgewater Iron Co. v. Enterprise Insurance
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract upon a policy of insurance against loss by fire, issued by the defendant company, dated April 3, 1880, for the term of one year, upon certain property of the plaintiff in Bridgewater, which was totally destroyed by fire on April 4, 1880. Trial in the Superior Court, before Aldrich, J., who reported the case for the determination of this court, in substance as follows: An insurance broker residing in New Bedford, who had for some years acted as the agent of the…
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Contract upon a policy of insurance against loss by fire, issued by the defendant company, dated April 3, 1880, for the term of one year, upon certain property of the plaintiff in Bridgewater, which was totally destroyed by fire on April 4, 1880. Trial in the Superior Court, before Aldrich, J., who reported the case for the determination of this court, in substance as follows: An insurance broker residing in New Bedford, who had for some years acted as the agent of the plaintiff corporation in placing all its insurance, and who in that capacity was well known to the defendant’s agents in…
1Opinion of the CourtDevens, J.
It is an elementary principle of the law of contracts, that the minds of the two parties assuming to contract must agree, in case of a sale, as to the subject matter of it. If one agrees to buy and the other to sell a tract of land, the cargo of a particular ship, a horse or other chattel, reference being had by them to different objects or animals, no contract is concluded. Spurr v. Benedict, 99 Mass. 463. Kyle v. Kavanagh, 103. Mass. 356. Harvey v. Harris, 112 Mass. 32. Similarly, where that which is the subject of the sale has at the time no existence, although both buyer and seller are…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- National Bank v. Insurance Co.Supreme Court of the United States · 1878
- Spurr v. BenedictMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1868
- Wood v. Firemen's Fire InsuranceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1879
- Harvey v. HarrisMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
3Cited by6 opinions
- Dzuris v. PierceMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1913
- Hecht v. BatchellerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1888
- Frazer v. State BankSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1911
- Stewart v. Ticonic National BankSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1908
- Pake v. North German Fire InsuranceHawaii Supreme Court · 1891
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