Johnson v. Kreuzer

• Decision Date: 27 December 1951
• Citation: 85 A.2d 179,147 Me. 206
• Parties: JOHNSON et ux. v. KREUZER.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 179

85 A.2d 179

147 Me. 206

JOHNSON et ux. v. KREUZER.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Dec. 27, 1951.

Crowley & Nason and Hilary F. Mahaney, all of Biddeford, for plaintiffs.

Joseph E. Harvey, Biddeford, William H. Stone, Biddeford, for defendant.

Before MURCHIE, C. J., and THAXTER, FELLOWS, MERRILL, NULTY, and WILLIAMSON, JJ.

FELLOWS, Justice.

This case is before the Law Court from Superior Court of York County on motion of defendant for a new trial.

The action is assumpsit. The declaration sets forth in one count an oral agreement, to the effect that the defendant Frederick G. Kreuzer promised the plaintiffs Anton Johnson and his wife Helen Johnson that if they would come to live with him as farm hand and housekeeper, he would provide for them a home for life. The first count alleges the agreement, performance on the part of the plaintiffs, and a breach by defendant. There is an account annexed for work and labor from 1940 to 1950, 542 weeks at $20.00 per week. The omnibus money counts are also attached to the writ. The plea is the general issue. The jury verdict was in the amount of $8905.00. No exceptions were taken. The motion by defendant is the general motion for a new trial on the usual grounds that the verdict is against the law and evidence, and that the damages are excessive.

The evidence is in part conflicting but the principal facts seem to be these: Anton Johnson and his wife Helen Johnson lived on a farm in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. About 1932 they became acquainted with the defendant Frederick G. Kreuzer and he was a very frequent visitor, and he apparently became an intimate friend. About 1934 the defendant Kreuzer was divorced, and the plaintiffs then adopted Kreuzer's six months old son, and the Kreuzer child's name was changed to Anton Johnson, Jr. This child has lived with the Johnsons continuously since that time, and was seventeen at the time of trial.

In 1938 the defendant Kreuzer bought a farm in Kennebunk, Maine and for a year Mr. Kreuzer had an elderly couple living there with him. In 1939 Mr. Kreuzer urged Mr. and Mrs. Johnson to sell their farm in Portsmouth and to come to Kennebunk with him. The plaintiffs say that Mr. Kreuzer told them that they were farming on a small scale, but if they would come to his Kennebunk farm they could farm together on a larger scale; that it would be easier for them, and that he would give them a home so long as either or both of them lived. The defendant denied any such agreement; he says that the Johnsons were talking of selling their Portsmouth farm because they did not like it; that he did not and could not promise a home for their life, because he did not know that he 'would be able to make a go of it,' and that at the time when the plaintiffs say the agreement was made he (Kreuzer) did not own the Kennebunk farm and had only an agreement to buy.

In March 1940 the plaintiffs, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, informed the defendant, Mr. Kreuzer, that they had sold their Portsmouth home and were getting ready to move to his Kennebunk farm. The plaintiffs say Kreuzer was pleased and told them they would have no more worries. Mrs. Johnson was then 47 years of age and Mr. Johnson was 55. The Johnsons moved to Kennebunk. Mrs. Johnson did the cooking, the housework, assisted on the farm, and in addition Mrs. Johnson took boarders. The relations between the plaintiffs and the defendant were most agreeable, and apparently one 'very happy family.' Mr. Kreuzer lived with the Johnsons on the farm when not engaged at his work elsewhere. Mr. Johnson cared for the farm, the cattle, the haying, and did anything required of him by the needs of the farm, and the produce went towards the common Kreuzer-Johnson table. To show the good relations between the parties a will was once made by Kreuzer, leaving his property to the Johnsons.

When the Johnson first came to the farm there was little milk production and some of the property was subject to a mortgage to Mr. Keuzer's uncle, and later subject to an attachment which Johnson paid. Johnson brought five cows with him when he came, and the milk checks were increased. During the ten years after the Johnsons came, Mr. Kreuzer was employed a large portion of his time elsewhere. Kreuzer's earnings from the outside employment and the earnings of his smoke house business at the farm were retained by him, except such as he used for some farm repairs, equipment and improvements. A large part of the proceeds of the milk checks went toward a mortgage held by the Federal Land Bank, the maintenance of the Kreuzer-Johnson household, the food for the common table, and grain for livestock. There were never any misunderstandings or trouble between the parties for about ten years. The Johnsons, with their adopted Kreuzer son, and Mr. Kreuzer, lived happily together, and each contributed to the betterment of the farm and the welfare of all the Johnsons and Kreuzer. Mr. Kreuzer borrowed $828.08 of Mrs. Johnson to pay a judgment against him, and gave her a note secured by mortgage of his livestock, after which Kreuzer said that he considered that the cattle belonged to the Johnsons, and permitted Mr. Johnson to exchange, to sell and to purchase as his own. Exchanges and purchases of machinery were also done by Johnson. Mrs. Johnson testified that all the personal property was 'turned over' to them by Mr. Kreuzer during the period from 1940 to 1950. There are, of course, many contradictions in the testimony and many claims of money items that the Johnsons 'must have received' which are denied. A jury could well find that no cash profit was taken by the Johnsons over the years. There are discrepancies in testimony as to the amounts received by Kreuzer from his outside employments, how much he put into the farm, who owned certain cattle...