Henderson Warehouse Co. v. Brand

31 S.E. 551, 105 Ga. 217, 1898 Ga. LEXIS 484
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedJuly 25, 1898
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 31 S.E. 551 (Henderson Warehouse Co. v. Brand) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Henderson Warehouse Co. v. Brand, 31 S.E. 551, 105 Ga. 217, 1898 Ga. LEXIS 484 (Ga. 1898).

Opinion

Little, J.

The defendant in error brought suit in the court below against O. B. Griffeth, E. R. Hodgson, A. H. Hodgson, and J. M. Hodgson, whom he alleged to be partners using the firm name of the Henderson Warehouse Company, and that they were indebted to him in the sum of seven hundred and twenty-two dollars and seventy-five cents on an open account, a bill of particulars showing the items being attached to the petition. [218]*218It was further alleged, that in September, 1893, the plaintiff entered into a contract with defendants to take charge of, and store for the plaintiff, certain cotton in their warehouse in the city of Athens, for which the defendants were to receive fifty cents per bale for each bale of said cotton for the first month, and twenty five cents per bale for each bale of cotton for each succeeding month, and that said charges when paid were 'to be in full for storing, handling, and insuring the cotton. The petition further alleged, that the plaintiff expressly-contracted and agreed with the defendants that they would insure petitioner’s individual cotton in his own name, to be identified in the policy of insurance by his own individual mark on said cotton, which was B, and for his own use. It was alleged that the defendants did not so insure his cotton and did not take out the policy of insurance in his own name, identifying and describing said cot-, ton as it was marked; that he had stored at defendants’ warehouse three hundred and forty-one bales of cotton, identified and marked with his individual mark, for twenty months, under said contract; that the cost and reasonable charge for insurance alone on said cotton was ten cents per month per bale, making the entire cost on three hundred and forty-one bales for twenty months aggregate six hundred and eighty-two dollars. It was further alleged that, some two months prior to filing the petition, the plaintiff sold his cotton so stored, and had a settlement with the defendants for storage, insurance, etc., and paid defendants for insurance on three hundred and forty-one bales of cotton for twenty months, with the understanding, at the time he so paid the same, that the defendants had performed their part of the contract in reference to insuring the cotton and had insured the same in his own name, identified by his mark, but that since said payment he has ascertained that the defendants did not so insure his cotton, but they nevertheless demanded and collected of him, in the settlement, full charges according to their contract, which included the stipulation as to insurance, that the defendants had no right to charge and receive from him anything for insurance, and he institutes the action to recover the value of the insurance on three hundred and forty-one bales of cotton, aggregating six hundred and eighty-two dollars which [219]*219he had paid to the defendants. By the petition plaintiff also-seeks to recover the value of cotton samples, which he alleges to be of the weight of five hundred pounds, and of the value of thirty-five dollars, which the defendants had agreed to keep for him. He also includes in the suit the value of a basket, fifty cents, and also an item of four dollars and seventy-five cents for an overcharge on one bale of cotton which had been lost by the defendants.

The defendants answered the petition, and, after admitting the formal parts, and denying certain material allegations, set up as their defense the following facts. Under their contract they were to have thirty cents per bale on one hundred and twenty bales of cotton for each month the same remained in their warehouse; they agreed for the price mentioned to insure petitioner’s cotton and keep the same insured, and they did insure it and keep the same insured in the manner usually followed by warehousemen, and complied fully with their contract in relation to insurance. They aver that while it is true the three hundred and forty-one bales of cotton, marked as alleged in the petition, were sent to their warehouse, it is not true that all were there under the contract mentioned; that one hundred and twenty bales were there at thirty cents per month, and that ninety-seven of these were there twenty months, and twenty-one bales for seventeen months. They aver as true that in the summer of 1895 plaintiff sold his cotton, and paid defendants for insurance on three hundred and forty-one bales for the actual time the cotton was in the warehouse. They deny that the insurance was ten cents per month. They aver that at the time of the settlement they had performed their part of the contract, and presumed the plaintiff knew it. They deny that at the time of the settlement the plaintiff made any claim as to the want of insurance. They admit the loss of one bale of cotton, and aver that they made it good at the 'time of the settlement. They deny liability to pay for the sample cotton or basket, and aver that at the time of the settlement all matters between them, including insurance and every other claim growing out of the contract, were fully and completely settled, and that all facts concerning the same were known to both parties. The defendants [220]*220aver that the plaintiff is indebted to them in the sum of two hundred and sixty-three dollars, under a mistake in the settlement-in relation to the storage charges; for which they pray judgment. The plaintiff amended his petition, alleging that it was a part of the contract that he was to pay storage for six months whether cotton remained that long or not, and it was also a part of the contract that the defendants should insure his cotton in some solvent insurance company in his individual name and for the full value of the cotton. The evidence introduced on the trial of the case was conflicting. That introduced on the part of the plaintiff tended to support the allegations of the petition.The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff for two hundred and five dollars and twenty cents, besides interest. The defendants made a motion for a new trial, on the grounds that the verdict was without evidence to support it and contrary to law, and also on the further grounds that the court erred in giving to the jury certain instructions, and in refusing to charge as requested.

1. It is complained that the jury found a verdict against C. B. Griffeth, one of the defendants, when the evidence shows that O. B. Griffeth had gone out of the firm before any but a few bales of plaintiff’s cotton was received. It may be noted in this connection that the plaintiff filed his petition against several persons as constituting a firm, one of these persons being O. B. Griffeth. The allegations were that this firm, so composed, was indebted to the plaintiff in the manner set out, and the details of the plaintiff’s claim were fully given. Process was prayed against the defendants, and personal service was had upon the defendant Griffeth. All of the defendants, including Griffeth, answered to the merits of the case, and there was no plea on the part of the defendant Griffeth of “no partnership,” and no averment that he individually was not liable. On the contrary the allegations of the petition, that the partnership existed and that Griffeth was a member thereof, were expressly admitted to be true in the answer filed by the defendants; and Griffeth joined with the other defendants in denying the contract set up by the plaintiff, and averring another contract as existing between the parties, and joined with the other defendants in plead[221]*221ing to the action on its merits.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Camp v. Eichelkraut
539 S.E.2d 588 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2000)
Crews v. Cisco Bros. Ford-Mercury, Inc.
411 S.E.2d 518 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1991)
National Old Line Insurance v. Lane
323 S.E.2d 707 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1984)
Dennard v. Freeport Minerals Co.
297 S.E.2d 222 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1982)
Harvey v. DeWeill
116 S.E.2d 747 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1960)
Week v. Big Bunker Hill Mining Corp.
17 S.E.2d 825 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1941)
Brown v. Ragsdale Motor Co.
16 S.E.2d 176 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1941)
Harrison v. Southern Railway Co.
160 S.E. 656 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1931)
Smith V. McWhorter
160 S.E. 250 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1931)
Morgan v. Colt Co.
130 S.E. 600 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1925)
Langston v. State
106 S.E. 903 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1921)
Stricklin & Co. v. Crawley
58 S.E. 215 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1907)
Timmerman v. Stanley
51 S.E. 760 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1905)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 S.E. 551, 105 Ga. 217, 1898 Ga. LEXIS 484, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henderson-warehouse-co-v-brand-ga-1898.