Henderson v. Dickey

76 Ind. 264
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1881
DocketNo. 8270
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 76 Ind. 264 (Henderson v. Dickey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Henderson v. Dickey, 76 Ind. 264 (Ind. 1881).

Opinion

Newcomb, C.

Edgar Henderson, as assignee of J. M. and Gr. M. Overshimer, sued the appellee upon a promissory note for $300. During the progress of the cause the note was assigned by Henderson to James M. Overshimer, and an agreement was entered of record that the proceédings should be continued in the name of Henderson, for the benefit of his assignee.

The defendant answered: 1. A general denial; 2. That, at the time of the execution of the note, the defendant was a person of unsound mind ; 3. That the note was given without any consideration; and a 4th answer as follows :

“And, for a fourth and further answer herein, defendant admits the execution of said note, but says that he, the defendant, was a person of weak mind and judgment; that the original payees of said note were the owners of a certain patent-right, known as a hog trap; that Joseph Stephenson and Thomas Shannon, then and .there being the agents of the payees of said note, and having full authority to make and execute contracts for them, knowing that defendant was of weak mind and incapable of attending to business, and that he would, and did, rely upon their, said Stephenson and Shannon’s, statements concerning the same, falsely and fraudulently represented to defendant that said patent-right for [266]*266said hog trap was of great value, and that they had sold traps to every farmer they went to; that they had sold fifty of said traps in Boone township, Madison county, Indiana, and had, in addition thereto, sold the right to sell said traps in said township for $250 ; that several of his neighbors, to wit, George Ross, Samuel Dickey, Micajah Francis and others, had contracted for and bought said traps; that all to whom théy had sold the right of territory were making and had made money out of the same ; that the right to sell said traps in the county of Miami and State of Indiana was worth $300, and that defendant could sell said traps in said county to any farmer of good financial standing; that the traps could be manufactured for two dollars and fifty cents apiece, and would sell readily for ten. dollars apiece, all of which statements were false, as the said Stephenson and Shannon then and there knew; but the defendant being of weak mind and unsound in judgment, and not knowing said statements to be false, but believing them to be true, and depending on the same as true, was induced to and did purchase the right to sell said hog trap in said county of Miami and State of Indiana, and executed the note sued on for said sum ; that the sole and only consideration for said note was the right to sell said trap in said county of Miami, and the further promise on the part of the payees to furnish him a sample trap free of charge, and said note was procured by reason of said false and fraudulent statements aforesaid; and defendant avers that the right to sell said trap in said county of Miami was not worth anything; that it cost five dollars apiece to make said traps ;■ that said payees had not sold traps and territory to the parties as aforesaid, all of which said Stephenson and Shannon well knew, but of which the defendant was ignorant at the time said note was executed; and defendant further says that said parties failed and refused to deliver to him one of said traps free of charge, ac[267]*267cording to their said contract, though thereunto requested. Wherefore,” etc.

A general denial was filed to the affirmative answers. The cause was then submitted to a jury, which returned a special verdict, as follows:

“1st. We find that on the 3d day of July, A. D. 1874, the defendant executed to J. M. and G. M. Overshimer the note sued on, which calls for the sum of three hundred dollars, bears interest at ten per cent, from date, and provides for the payment of reasonable attorney’s fees in case of suit.” This clause then sets forth the assignment of the note to Henderson, and by Henderson to James M. Overshimer, in which a minute description of the note is given, and concludes with a statement that the note is unpaid.
■“2d. We find that a reasonable attorney’s fee for the collection of said note is the sum of $43.
“3d. We find that the consideration of said note was the sale and transfer by J. M. and G. M. Overshimer to the-defendant of the right to sell and vend, in the county of Miami and State of Indiana, a certain patented invention known as ‘hog trap,’ and one of said traps, complete, to be used as a sample by the defendant.
“4th. We find, that, to induce the defendant to execute said note and to purchase said territory for the sale of said trap, the agent of the said J. M. and G. M. Overshimer,, who procured the execution of said note, falsely represented, to the defendant that Micajah Francis, Jonathan Parsons and George Ross, all of whom were well known to the defendant, had purchased traps, which representations were-not true.
“5th. We further find, that, to induce the defendant- to-execute said note and purchase said territory, the agent of the said J. M. and G. M. Overshimer represented to the defendant that they had sold traps in Boone township, Madison County, Indiana, for two hundred and fifty dollars, and. [268]*268had sold to other parties other territory, and that all the parties to whom they had sold territory were making money out of it; which representations were false, and made at the time for the purpose of inducing the defendant to execute said note.
“6th. We find, that, to induce the defendant to execute said note and purchase the right to vend and sell said traps in Miami county, Indiana, the agent of J. M. and Gr. M. Overshimer represented to the defendant that the right to vend and sell said traps in said Miami county was worth three hundred dollars, and that the defendant could sell said traps to almost any farmer of good financial standing in said county, and could sell one thousand of said traps in said county, which representations were false, and were made to induce said defendant to execute said note.
“7th. We find that the defendant relied upon the representations aforesaid, which representations the said agents knew to be false at the time of making them.
“8th. We find that the right to vend and sell said traps in Miami county, Indiana, was worth nothing and was of no value.
“9th. We find, that, at the time said false representations were made to the defendant, he was a man of feeble' intellect and weak understanding, and not capable of understanding and acting with discretion in making the contract for the purchase of the right to vend and sell said invention.
“10th. We find that the defendant was sent and confined in the Indiana Hospital for the Insane in the year 1860, for treatment as an insane person, and remained in said asylum for about one year.
“11th. We find that the agent for said J. M. and Gr. M. Overshimer, at the time of taking the note of the defendant, knew that the defendant was a person of feeble intellect and weak understanding.
[269]*269“12th. We find that the defendant made efforts to sell said traps in Miami county, Indiana, and could not sell any of them ; that said efforts were made by said defendant and an employee going to and visiting at least fifty farmers of said county and offering to sell them.
“13th.

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Bluebook (online)
76 Ind. 264, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henderson-v-dickey-ind-1881.