Eliason v. Henshaw

• Decision Date: 20 February 1819
• Citation: 4 L.Ed. 556,17 U.S. 225,4 Wheat. 225
• Parties: ELIASON et al. v. HENSHAW
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

17 U.S. 225

4 Wheat. 225

4 L.Ed. 556

ELIASON et al. v. HENSHAW.

February 20, 1819

February 17th, 1819.

ERROR to the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia.

This cause was argued by Jones and Key, for the plaintiff in error, and by Swann, for the defendant in error.

February 20th.

WASHINGTON, Justice, delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an action, brought by the defendant in error, to recover damages for the non-performance of an agreement, alleged to have been entered into by the plaintiffs in error, for the purchase of a quantity of flour, at a stipulated price. The evidence of this contract, given in the court below, is stated in a bill of exceptions, and is to the following effect:

A letter from the plaintiffs to the defendant, dated the 10th of February 1813, in which they say: 'Capt. Conn informs us, that you have a quantity of flour to dispose of. We are in the practice of purchasing flour at all times, in Georgetown, and will be glad to serve you, either in receiving your flour in store, when the markets are dull, and disposing of it, when the markets will answer to advantage, or we will purchase at market price, when delivered; if you are disposed to engage two or three hundred barrels at present, we will give you $9.50 per barrel, deliverable the first water, in Georgetown, or any service we can. If you should want an advance, please write us by mail, and will send you part of the money in advance.' In a postcript, they add, 'Please write by return of wagon, whether you accept our offer.' This letter was sent from the house at which the writer then was, about two miles from Harper's Ferry, to the defendant, at his mill, at Mill Creek, distant about 20 miles from Harper's Ferry, by a wagoner then employed by the defendant to haul flour from his mill to Harper's Ferry, and then about to return home with his wagon. He delivered the letter to the defendant, on the 14th of the same month, to which an answer, dated the succeeding day, was written by the defendant, addressed to the plaintiffs, at Georgetown and dispatched by a mail which left Mill Creek on the 19th, being the first regular mail from that place to Georgetown. In this letter the writer says, 'Your favor of the 10th inst. was handed me by Mr. Chenoweth last evening. I take the earliest apportunity to answer it by post. Your proposal to engage 300 barrels of flour, delivered in Georgetown, by the first water, at $9.50 per barrel, I accept, shall send on the flour, by the first boats that pass down from where my flour is stored on the river; as to any advance, will be unnecessary—payment on delivery is all that is required.'

On the 25th of the same month, the plaintiffs addressed to the defendant an answer to the abave, dated at Georgetown, in which they acknowledge the receipt of it, and add, 'Not having heard from you before, had quite given over the expectation of getting your flour, more particularly, as we requested an answer by return of wagon, the next day, and as we did not get it, had bought all we wanted.' The wagoner, by whom the plaintiffs' first letter was sent, informed them, when he received it, that he should not probably return to Harper's Ferry, and he did not, in fact, return in the defendant's employ. The flour was sent down to Georgetown, some time in March, and the...