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Seery v. Socks

James Seery v. Melcher Socks, and William Mulvania

Seery v. Socks, 29 Ill. 313 (1862)
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Court
Illinois Supreme Court · State Highest Courts
Decided
April 15, 1862
Judges
Caton
Citations
29 Ill. 313
Headnotes
APPEAL FROM WOODFORD. When a person professes to act as an agent, disclosing the name of his principal, he assumes no personal responsibility unless he acts fraudulently.
Summary
This suit was originally brought before a justice of the peace of "Woodford county, by appellees, against appellant, as agent of Eobinson & Dunham' in which appellees recovered judgment for $65, and the same was appealed to the Circuit Court. Trial was had in said Circuit Court, at the December term thereof, 1861, and the jury found a verdict for appellees for $60.60. Whereupon appellant entered a motion for a new trialwhich motion was overruled, and judgment rendered as follows: “ It is therefore ordered and adjudged by the court, that the plaintiffs have and recover of and from the said James Seery, agent of Eobinson «fe Dun-ham, the sum of $60.60, damages,” etc.

Syllabus and headnotes are prepared by the reporter or publisher, not the court, and are not part of the opinion.

Opinion of the Court — Caton

Text extracted by OCR from a scanned original; check the original for exact wording.

Caton, C. J. There is and can be no question that Seery .acted as the agent of Eobinson <fe Dunham, in the sale of the corn sheller, and that this was well known by the purchasers. The order on its face is. given to Robinson & Dunham, in whose name Seery made the sale, and the summons is to him, as their agent. On this point, there can be no dispute. The action, then, shpuld have been against the principals, and not the agent. When the agent professes to act as agent, and discloses the name of his principal, he assumes no personal responsibility, unless he is guilty of some fraud, ■ of which there is no pretense in this case.

But even if the action were properly brought, it could not be maintained on this proof. According to Socks’ own statement, the vendor was to have an opportunity to bring a mechanic to set up the machine, and to give it a fair trial, and he was entitled to a reasonable time to do so. This was refused. The proof shows that the machine was a good one, and with reasonable time there is no doubt the defendant could have had it properly adjusted, so that it would have done good work. It did not do good work on the first trial, because some parts of the machine were wanting, which were brought up by the mechanic; and because the machine was not properly adjusted.

The judgment must be reversed, and the cause remanded.

Judgment reversed.

How later courts describe this case

No later court has written an explanatory parenthetical about this case yet.

1864–1865: 11878–1879: 11892–1893: 11900–1901: 11906–1907: 11910–1911: 118642026peak 1864 · 1

Relies on it most ⓘ

  1. Scaling v. Knollin94 Ill. App. 443 (1901)
  2. Wheeler v. Reed36 Ill. 81 (1864)
  3. Maine v. Midland Investment Co.109 N.W. 801 (Iowa 1906)
  4. Garland v. Sperling Bros.6 N.M. 623 (1892)
  5. Brainard v. Turner4 Ill. App. 61 (1879)
  6. Ketchum v. Sears154 Ill. App. 52 (1910)

Most recent

  1. Ketchum v. Sears154 Ill. App. 52 (1910)
  2. Maine v. Midland Investment Co.109 N.W. 801 (Iowa 1906)
  3. Scaling v. Knollin94 Ill. App. 443 (1901)
  4. Garland v. Sperling Bros.6 N.M. 623 (1892)
  5. Brainard v. Turner4 Ill. App. 61 (1879)
  6. Wheeler v. Reed36 Ill. 81 (1864)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 0

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