Ellison v. Moffatt

Decided May 18, 1814

New York Court of Chancery · decided 1814-05-18

THE plaintiff filed a bill, in 1809, against the defendants, as the executors, heirs, and devisees of Thomas Moffat, deceased, for an account, stating an agreement, under seal, dated in April, 1769, between John and William Ellison and the testator, by which they agreed to furnish the testator with a store of goods, which he was to sell on certain terms; and the agreement was to continue for three years.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1814-05-18

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions (1 by the Supreme Court) — most recently October 1915

2 state decisions

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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The Chancellor.

¶1The parties lived in the same county, and, without accounting for the delay, the plaintiff suffered a period of 26 years to elapse, from the termination of the jimer-%can war, to the time of filing his bill. The offer made by the executors being for peace, and without any recognition of the justness of the demand, and being rejected by the plaintiff, cannot affect the question.

¶2It would not be sound discretion to overhale accounts, in favour of a party who has slept on his rights for such a length of time; especially, against the representatives of the other party, who have no knowledge of the original transactions. It is against the principles of public policy, to require an account, after the plaintiff has been guilty of so great laches.

¶3The bill must be dismissed on the ground of the staleness of the demand; but without costs.