Stanton v. Button

Decided June 15, 1818

Supreme Court of Connecticut · decided 1818-06-15

'.niTS was an action of ejectment, tried at Norwich, January term 1818, before Swift, Ch. J. and Brainurd and Goddard, Js. The plaintiff claimed title by virtue of the levy of an execution, in his favour against Shapley Morgan, on the demanded premises. The defendant claimed as tenant under Seth Stoddard. To establish Stoddard’s title, the defendant offered in evidence a deed from Shapley Morgan to Stoddard, given before the levy of the plaintiff’s execution.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1818-06-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 9 later decisions — most recently July 1950

9 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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Swift, Ch. J.

¶1A court cannot, by intendment or construction, fill a blank, or supply a word. They can only decide on the meaning and import of the words made use of. Here the words madfe use of can only import, that the person appearing before the justice of the peace, was the signer *529ami sealer of the deed : they do not import that lie acknowledged it, nor are they equivalent to such word. The certificate, then, cannot be made to contain an acknowledgment of the deed, without supplying the word, or supposing the. blank to he filled with the word “ acknowledged.” As this cannot be done, the certificate was no evidence ; and the deed was properly rejected by the court.

¶2I think, therefore, that anew trial ought not to be granted.

The other Judges were of the same opinion.

¶3New trial not to be granted.