McHenry v. Knickerbacker

• Decision Date: 11 April 1891
• Docket Number: 14,825
• Citation: McHenry v. Knickerbacker, 128 Ind. 77, 27 N. E. 430 (Ind. 1891)
• Parties: McHenry v. Knickerbacker et al
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

27 N.E. 430

128 Ind. 77

McHenry v. Knickerbacker et al

No. 14,825

Supreme Court of Indiana

April 11, 1891

From the Dearborn Circuit Court.

Judgment affirmed.

H. D McMullen, G. M. Roberts and C. W. Stapp, for appellant.

J. K Thompson and A. Q. Jones, for appellees.

OPINION

Elliott, J.

The appellant, in his complaint, alleges that he furnished materials for the erection of a building which John S. Morris had undertaken to erect for the appellees, and that notice of his intention to hold a lien was duly given and recorded. The answer of the appellees sets forth the contract with Morris, and a bond executed by the appellant and others to secure the performance of the contract by Morris, the principal contractor. The contract with Morris provided that he should furnish and pay for all materials used in the building; and further provided that the appellees might, at any time, make such alterations in the plan, or work, as they should deem proper.

We have no doubt as to the sufficiency of the answer. The appellant undertook that the principal contractor should furnish and pay for all materials used in the building, and he can not, in the face of this undertaking, demand compensation for materials furnished at the request of the contractor. It would violate the plainest principles of justice to permit the appellant to enforce a lien, for it would allow him to exact payment for property which he had explicitly promised should be paid for by another.

The reply endeavors to avoid the answer by showing that changes were made by the...