Collins v. Sinclair

• Decision Date: 30 September 1869
• Citation: Collins v. Sinclair, 51 Ill. 328, 1869 WL 5338 (Ill. 1869)
• Parties: JOSHUA COLLINS et al.v.WILLIAM SINCLAIR et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

51 Ill. 328

1869 WL 5338 (Ill.)

JOSHUA COLLINS et al.

v.WILLIAM SINCLAIR et al.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

September Term, 1869.

APPEAL from the Circuit Court of Grundy county; the Hon. JOSIAH MCROBERTS, Judge, presiding.

The facts in this case are sufficiently stated in the opinion of the court.

Mr. J. N. READING, for the appellants.

Messrs. OLIN & ARMSTONG, for the appellees. Mr. JUSTICE LAWRENCE delivered the opinion of the Court:

In 1865, one Southwick leased to the appellee, Sinclair, a farm in Grundy county, the lease running from March 1, 1865, to March 1, 1866, and the rent being one-third of the crops. In September, 1865, Sinclair sowed about twenty acres of rye. In the spring of 1866, Southwick leased the farm, at a cash rent, to the appellant Collins, and Sinclair, on demand, yielded to him the possession. In July, 1866, Sinclair re-entered upon the premises for the purpose of harvesting the rye, when Collins obtained an injunction forbidding him, and harvested the rye himself. On the final hearing the court dissolved the injunction, and upon a suggestion of damages gave judgment against Collins for $534.26. Collins appealed.

It is claimed by Sinclair, that he sowed the rye by the express permission of Southwick's agent, and with the understanding that he could harvest it whether he kept the farm another year or not. On this point the evidence is contradictory. Southwick was a non-resident, and he seems to have had two agents in the county, one of whom was Gould, who swears, however, he was only agent for selling, and the other was Sanford, who testifies he had power to lease only under the directions of Southwick. It is clear, however, from all the evidence, that the control of the land was so far entrusted to these two witnesses, that third persons might safely deal with them. Gould substantially admits he authorized Sinclair to sow the rye. Sanford denies that he ever gave such permission, while Sinclair and his daughter swear he did. Collins knew, when he rented the farm, that the rye was there, as it was green in November, and, as one of the witnesses testifies, could be seen in the spring a distance of half a mile. He did not rent until the first of March. It is not pretended that Collins, when he leased, made any special contract for the rye, or that Southwick pretended to own it, or to sell it to him. He must have known that Southwick was a non-resident; that Sinclair had sown the rye, and that he could only ...