Pierce v. Simmons
| Decision Date | 18 January 1890 |
| Citation | 19 A. 242,16 R.I. 689 |
| Parties | PIERCE v. SIMMONS. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
On petition for new trial, in the court of common pleas, Providence county.
Edward D. Bassett, for plaintiff. E. L. Barney and Warren R. Pierce, for defendant.
This is assumpsit for $3,000, paid by the plaintiff to the defendant on account of a contract between them for the purchase and sale of a farm in the town of Warren, in this state. The contract was entered into in July, A. D. 1887. By it the plaintiff agreed to buy, and the defendant to sell, the farm for $10,000, the defendant representing her title to be good. The plaintiff paid the $3,000 in August, before the deed was made, to bind the bargain, as was said. February 23, A. D. 1888, the defendant tendered a warranty deed of the farm in fulfillment of the contract, which was refused; the plaintiff meanwhile, on examination of the title, having been advised that the title to a part of the farm was bad. The plaintiff demanded a return of the $3,000, and, the defendant refusing to return it, brought this action. At the trial in the court of common pleas, it was admitted that a part of the farm, as to which part the plaintiff claimed the title to be defective, to-wit, about a third of the farm, came to the defendant by mesne conveyances, under the will of one Nathan Simmons, dated October 24, 1866, and admitted to probate April 13, 1867, said Simmons being then deceased. The question of title depends on the construction which is to be given to the two following clauses of said will, to wit: "Second. I give, devise, and bequeath to my wife, Abby Simmons, all my real and personal estate or property Of every kind and nature, where so ever the same may$$$
be found, or in whatsoever the same may consist, including as well any that I may acquire subsequently to the date of this will, as that which I am now possessed of, to her and her only. Third. I give, devise, and bequeath, and it is my will that, whatever of my said estate, real, personal, and mixed, heretofore given, devised, and bequeathed to my wife, Abby Simmons, that shall or may remain at her death, shall go to and be the property of my sister Hannah H. Simmons" The part of the farm in question belonged to said Nathan Simmons when he made said will, and passed under it by said clauses, or the first of them. It came to the defendant by deed from said Abby Simmons, given after the probate of the will, and by deed from her grantee. Said deeds were not put in evidence, but it was assumed that they were sufficient to convey said part of the farm absolutely in fee-simple, if said Abby had power, under the will, so to convey it; the only question made in respect thereto being whether she had such power. The court below ruled that she took under the will only an estate for life, and had no power to dispose of anything more. The defendant excepted. Another defense was set up, but the jury found for the plaintiff. The case is before us on petition for new...
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Gregg v. Bailey
...v. Hartt, 137 Mass. 218; Foster v. Smith, 156 Mass. 379, 31 N. E. 291; Knight v. Knight, 162 Mass. 460, 38 N. E. 1131; Pierce v. Simmons, 16 R. I. 689, 19 Atl. 242; Rodenfels v. Schumann, 45 N. J. Eq. 383, 17 Atl. 688; Bassett v. Nickerson, 184 Mass. 175, 68 N. E. 25; Galligan v. McDonald, ......
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Jorge v. da Silva
...In re Trust Under Will of Cosgrave, 225 Minn. 443, 31 N.W.2d 20, 1 A.L.R.2d 175. This court reached the same result in Pierce v. Simmons, 16 R.I. 689, 19 A. 242, where the gift over was of 'whatever of my said estate * * * heretofore given, devised, and bequeathed to my wife * * * that shal......
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Bradley v. Warren
...460, 38 N. E. 1131; Church v. Harris, 62 Conn. 93, 25 Atl. 456; Rodenfels v. Schumann, 45 N. J. Eq. 383, 17 Atl. 688; Pierce v. Simmons, 16 R. I. 689, 19 Atl. 242. In the foregoing cases the courts were governed by the well-settled rule that a devise absolute and entire in its terms presump......
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Barker v. Ashley
...intention shall appear by the will. Cases generally similar to the instant case have been considered by this court. Pierce v. Simmons, 16 R.I. 689, 19 A. 242, was an action at law to recover a deposit made on the purchase price of a parcel of land where the validity of the title was attacke......