The World's Largest Public Domain Media Search Engine
Notice to Take Deposition in Bryan & Bryan v. Wash et al, [Law papers].

Similar

Notice to Take Deposition in Bryan & Bryan v. Wash et al, [Law papers].

description

Summary

Appears in Lincoln's hand.
Summary: In 1837, George Bryan deeded 419 acres of land to his granddaughter, Mary Jane Bryan. George Bryan failed to record the deed and gave it to Mary Jane Bryan's father Nicholas Bryan, who was to give her the deed when she became an adult. In April 1840, Nicholas Bryan went to Texas. While he was gone, Mary Jane Bryan married Wash, who apparently persuaded his mother-in-law to have the deed recorded. Wash subsequently contracted with Staker and Prentiss to cut timber on part of the land, and sold four hundred acres to Tinsley for $1,200. Upon his return, Nicholas Bryan sued Wash, Staker, Prentiss, and Tinsley to void the deed and the sale and to stop the timber cutting. Bryan charged that the deed had been improperly delivered, that Wash had harassed and threatened Mrs. Bryan into making a fraudulent delivery, and that no delivery could be made until he was paid for improvements upon the land. The court dismissed the case, ruling that Nicholas Bryan offered no proof that the delivery was conditional upon payment for improvements. Bryan appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, which affirmed the dismissal. Justice Caton stated that the burden of proof was on Bryan to prove that no delivery occurred and that he had failed to do so. Caton wrote that the "law presumes much more in favor of the delivery of deeds in cases of voluntary settlements, especially when made to infants, than it does in ordinary cases of bargain and sale." Lincoln and Logan represented Wash and others in both the trial and the appeal.

date_range

Date

01/01/1842
person

Contributors

Lincoln, Abraham (Author)
Logan, Stephen T. (Author)
create

Source

Library of Congress
copyright

Copyright info

Public Domain

Explore more

lincoln abraham
lincoln abraham