Caldwell v. Dickson
| Decision Date | 31 October 1857 |
| Citation | 26 Mo. 60 |
| Parties | CALDWELL, Defendant in Error, v. DICKSON, Plaintiff in Error. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
1. Where a slave is hired for a fixed period, the hire to be paid at the expiration of the period, the master can recover nothing for the services of his slave if without legal cause he takes his slave away before the expiration of the contract term of service. (Caldwell v. Dickson, 17 Mo. 575, affirmed.)
2. It is the province of the court and not of the jury to construe written instruments.
Error to Marion Circuit Court.
This was an action on the following instrument:
At the instance of the plaintiff the court gave the following instruction: “If the jury find from the evidence that the plaintiff, on the 25th of December, 1850, hired to the defendant a slave called Ann for the term of one year ending on the 25th of December, 1851, and in accordance with said hiring delivered said slave to the defendant, and that defendant in consideration of said hiring agreed to pay plaintiff the sum of fifty dollars, without stipulating for any credit or time of payment, the performance of the service for the entire term of hiring is not a condition precedent to the payment of the hire, and the jury ought to find for the plaintiff in proportion to the time defendant had the possession of said slave under said agreement.”
The jury found a verdict for plaintiff.
T. Vanswearingen and W. E. Cooke, for plaintiff in error.
I. The instruction given to the jury at the instance of the plaintiff is in direct contravention of the law laid down by this court. (See Caldwell v. Dickson, 17 Mo. 675.)
T. L. Anderson and Carr, for defendant in error.
The contract between the parties to this action on which the suit was brought is in writing, and its construction was a matter of law to be decided by the court and not by the jury. The principles...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Farmers Loan & Trust Co. v. Southern Surety Co.
... ... arbitrary notion of the jurors. Evans v. Graden, 125 ... Mo. 79; Edwards v. Smith, 63 Mo. 119; Caldwell" ... v. Dickson, 26 Mo. 60; Bank of Freeport v ... Railroad, 172 Mo.App. 678; Mount v. Implement Co., 195 ... Mo.App. 21 ... \xC2" ... ...
-
Mundis v. Kelchner
...plaintiff's Exhibit "B" the original written lease remained in full force and effect. Donovan v. Boeck, 217 Mo. 70, 116 S.W. 543; Caldwell v. Dickson, 26 Mo. 60; Weinstein v. Spalding Cloak Co., 193 S.W. N. Y. Ins. Co. v. Wolfson, 124 Mo.App. 286, 101 S.W. 162; Young v. Van Natta, 113 Mo.Ap......
-
Thrasher v. Greene County
... ... Charging the Jury, p. 16, and cases cited; 2 Am. & Eng. Enc ... of Law, p. 241, and cases cited; Whittelsey v ... Kellogg, 28 Mo. 404; Caldwell v. Dickson, 26 ... Mo. 60; Judge v. LeClare, 31 Mo. 127; Belt v ... Goode, 31 Mo. 128. Second. There was no evidence tending ... to prove facts ... ...
-
Simpson v. Laningham
... ... Bank v. Ornsdorff, 126 ... Mo.App. 654; Hunter v. Johnson, 119 Mo.App. 487; ... Jennings v. Todd, 118 Mo. 296; Studebaker Mfg ... Co. v. Dickson, 70 Mo. 272; Davis v. McCready, ... 17 N.Y. 230; R. S. 1909, secs. 10022-10024, 10025, 10026, ... 10028. (f) Where one of the parties to a ... that a breach by one party will discharge the other ... Larimore v. Tyler, 88 Mo. 661; Turner v ... Mellier, 59 Mo. 526; Caldwell v. Dickson, 26 ... Mo. 60; Denny v. Kile, 16 Mo. 450; Randolph v ... Frick, 57 Mo.App. 400; Billups v. Daggs, 38 ... Mo.App. 367; Kirkland v ... ...