Sanders v. Ragan

Citation90 S.E. 777
Decision Date06 December 1916
Docket Number(No. 399.)
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
PartiesSANDERS. v. RAGAN.

Appeal from Superior Court, Guilford County; Cline, Judge.

Action by Mrs. K. O. Sanders against W. H. Ragan, administrator. From judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. No error.

The allegations and proof on the part of plaintiff tended to show that on or about September 20, 1913, she was induced to go through the forms of marriage with defendant's intestate and lived with him as his wife, fully believing she was such, till the date of his death in February, 1915, when she ascertained that during all the time intestate had a lawful wife still living, resident elsewhere; that during said period and association plaintiff advanced him $200 in money, to be used in building a home and, in addition, had rendered him various services of value, in waiting on him in his last sickness, etc., and that said money, etc., was reasonably worth $680.

There was denial of liability on the part of defendant, and, on general issue of indebtedness, the court submitted to the jury the question of money advanced and the amount of the same, and in reference to the claim for work and labor charged the jury, among other things, in substance, that plaintiff could not recover if she had knowingly and voluntarily lived in illicit relationship with defendant during said time, and further that, if—

"plaintiff went through the form of marriage with W. W. Hinshaw, deceased, honestly believing she was marrying him, he knowing that he had a living wife and therefore could not marry, if she went into his house under those circumstances and resided with him in the apparent relationship of husband and wife, and she served him, labored for him, and those services and those labors had a value to him, that it turned out afterwards that she was not his wife, could make no claim upon his representative or his estate after his death, that in such case the law would raise for her benefit an implied promise to pay her for what the jury might find her services to be reasonably worth over and above, that is, in excess of, what benefits by way of food and clothing and keep and maintenance she received from him, if any you should find."

There was a verdict for plaintiff for $422. Judgment on verdict, and defendant excepted and appealed.

Roberson, Barnhardt & Smith, of High Point, and King & Kimball, of Greensboro, for appellant.

Clifford Frazler, of Greensboro, for appellee.

HOKE, J. [1, 2] There is conflict of authority on the question presented in this appeal, but we are of opinion that the decisions in support of plaintiff's claim have the better reason, and that the judgment in her favor should be affirmed. True, the position is fully recognized in this jurisdiction that no recovery can be had for services rendered when they are given and received without expectation of pay. Guano Co. v. Bennett, 170 N. C. 345, 87 S. E. 102, citing Winklerv. Killian, 141 N. C. 578, 54 S. E. 540, 115 Am. St. Rep. 694, and Prince v. McRae, 84 N. C. 675, but the principle should have no application to this record, where, on the facts as accepted by the jury, the plaintiff, being without default, has rendered services of value in ignorance of the essential relevant facts, and was induced thereto by the fraud and wrong of the intestate. In such case we think that the general equitable principles of indebitatus assumpsit should apply, and the cases which so hold should be approved as controlling. Fox v. Dawson's Curator, 8 Mart. (O. S. La.) 94, 4th Reprint, p. 47; Higgins v. Breen, Adm'r, 9 Mo. 497; Hickam v. Hickam, Adm'r, 46 Mo. App. 496; Boardman v. Ward, 40 Minn. 399, 42 N. W. 202, 12 Am. St. Rep. 749. Keener on Quasi Contract, p. 318.

Two of the cases opposing this position, Franklin v. Waters, 8 Gill (Md.) 322, and Cooper v. Cooper, 147 Mass. 370, 17 N. E. 892, 9 Am. St. Rep. 721, and cited in several text-writers of recognized merit as upholding the better view, have been subjected to intelligent criticism in Mr. Keener's work, and the decisions rendered in these cases are expressly disapproved. Keener on Quasi Contract, pp. 321-325.

Speaking to the decision in Franklin v. Waters, a case where a slave, who had been freed by the will of his former owner, was kept in ignorance of the fact, and thereby made to...

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21 cases
  • Willis v. Willis
    • United States
    • Wyoming Supreme Court
    • October 1, 1935
    ... ... Cooper v. Cooper, (Mass.) 17 N.E. 892; ... Cropsey v. Sweeney, (N. Y.) 31 A. L. R. 426; In ... re Fox's Estate, (Wis.) 190 N.W. 90; Sanders v ... Ragan, (N. C.) 90 S.E. 777. The plaintiff in this case ... acted in good faith. The presumption is that the plaintiff ... acted in good ... ...
  • Russell v. Fili's Estate (In re Fili's Estate)
    • United States
    • Iowa Supreme Court
    • December 13, 1949
    ...of the proposition seem to base the right of recovery, in cases similar to the instant case, upon implied contract. Sanders v. Ragan, 172 N.C. 612, 90 S.E. 777, L.R.A.1917B, 681;Wolf v. Fox, 178 Wis. 369, 190 N.W. 90, 31 A.L.R. 420. See also Roberts v. Roberts, 64 Wyo. 433, 196 P.2d 361, 36......
  • Fili's Estate, In re
    • United States
    • Iowa Supreme Court
    • December 13, 1949
    ...of the proposition seem to base the right of recovery, in cases similar to the instant case, upon implied contract. Sanders v. Ragan, 172 N.C. 612, 90 S.E. 777, L.R.A.1917B, 681; Wolf v. Fox, 178 Wis. 369, 190 N.W. 90, 31 A.L.R. 420. See also Roberts v. Roberts, 64 Wyo. 433, 196 P.2d 361, 3......
  • Nicely v. Howard
    • United States
    • Kentucky Court of Appeals
    • June 16, 1922
    ...2 S.E. 453, 60 Am. Rep. 408; Dunn v. Currie, 141 N.C. 123, 53 S.E. 533; Graham v. Stanton, 177 Mass. 321, 58 N.E. 1023; Sanders v. Ragan, 172 N.C. 612, 90 S.E. 777, L. A. 1917B, 681 (annotations on page 683); Emmerson v. Botkin, 26 Okl. 218, 109 P. 531, 29 L. R. A. (N. S.) 786, and many oth......
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