Thomas v. Thomas

Citation17 A. 182,124 Pa.St. 646
PartiesTHOMAS et al. v. THOMAS.
Decision Date18 March 1889
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
17 A. 182
124 Pa.St. 646

THOMAS et al.
v.
THOMAS.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

March 18, 1889.


Error to court of common pleas, Lackawanna county; ALFRED HAND, Judge.

Ann Thomas having presented her petition in the orphans' court, asking for a partition of the lands of her deceased husband, William B. Thomas, her right was contested by Richard Thomas, administrator, etc., of said decedent, and others, his heirs at law, upon the ground of the invalidity of her alleged marriage. Thereupon an issue was directed to be tried in the common pleas to determine that question. The jury returned a verdict establishing the marriage. Various exceptions were taken to the rulings of the court of common pleas on the trial, and the defendants bring error. An appeal was also taken to the decree of the orphans' court subsequently rendered, directing partition of the land. For the opinion filed therein, see ante, 181.

C. R. Pitcher, for plaintiffs in error. D. J. M. Loop, E. N. Willard, and Everett Warren, for defendant in error.

STERRETT, J. After directing who shall be, respectively, plaintiff and defendants in this issue, the order of the orphans' court further provides that it shall "be tried in the following manner: The plaintiff, Ann Thomas, shall simply put in evidence the certificate of her marriage, issued by Benjamin Jay, alderman, and then the affirmative of the issue shall be upon the defendants, with the burden of proof to show that Ann Thomas was not the lawful wife of William B. Thomas, the decedent, at the time of his death; the plaintiff affirming that she was the lawful wife of William B. Thomas, and the defendants affirming that she was not his lawful wife." The considerations that moved the court to send this issue to the common pleas for trial sufficiently appear in the opinion just filed in Appeal of Thomas, ante, 181, but they have little, if anything, to do with the consideration of the questions presented by this record. Those questions relate solely to the instructions of the learned president of the common pleas as to the effect of the evidence before the jury, and the character of the proof necessary to overcome the prima facie case that was made for the

17 A. 183

plaintiff below by the introduction of Alderman Jay's certificate of her marriage to William R. Thomas on January 16, 1875. It is not even alleged that there was any error in the admission or rejection of evidence. To rebut the case thus made in her favor, and to maintain the issue...

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18 cases
  • Maier v. Brock
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • 1 Julio 1909
    ... ... from Jasper Circuit Court. -- Hon. Hugh Dabbs, Judge ...           ... Affirmed ...          Henry ... Leist and Thomas & Hackney for appellant ...          (1) The ... trial court erred in holding that a divorce between plaintiff ... and her husband ... ...
  • Brown v. Parks, s. 8186, 8187.
    • United States
    • Georgia Supreme Court
    • 14 Julio 1931
    ...Lee [30 Ind. App. 31], 62 N. E. 78; Le Brun v. Le Brim, 55 Md. 496; Senser v. Bower, 1 Pen. & W. [Pa.] 450; Thomas v. Thomas, 124 Pa. 646, 17 A. 182." The courts have not confined themselves to the rule that the presumption of innocence is superior to the presumption of the continuance of l......
  • Brown v. Parks
    • United States
    • Georgia Supreme Court
    • 14 Julio 1931
    ... ... Ind. 75; Franklin v. Lee [30 Ind.App. 31], 62 N.E ... 78; Le Brun v. Le Brun, 55 Md. 496; Senser v ... Bower, 1 Pen. & W. [Pa.] 450; Thomas v. Thomas, 124 Pa ... 646, 17 A. 182." The courts have not confined themselves ... to the rule that the presumption of innocence is superior to ... ...
  • In re Watt's Estate
    • United States
    • Pennsylvania Supreme Court
    • 13 Noviembre 1962
    ... ... Heffner, 23 Pa ... 104, 106; Gise v. Commonwealth, 81 Pa. 428; ... Heslop v. Heslop, 82 Pa. 537; Thomas et al. v ... Thomas, 124 Pa. 646, 655, 17 A. 182; Wayne Township ... v. Porter Township, 138 Pa. 181, 182, 183, 20 A. 939; ... Clark's Estate, ... ...
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