Sisson v. Willard

Decided January 15, 1841

New York Supreme Court · decided 1841-01-15

This was an action of assumpsit, to recover the sum agreed to be paid by the defendants to the plaintiffs, for converting a saw-mill into a steam-mill, the plaintiffs finding all the necessary machinery, and warranting the mill to do a good business, so as to saw 2,000 feet of pine timber in twelve hours. The cause was heard before a referee, who reported $434.28 in favor of the plaintiffs.

Relies on Reab v. McAlister

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1841-01-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 3 later decisions — most recently January 1901

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.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1By the Court,

Nelson, Oh. J.

¶2I think the referee erred. The defendants offered to prove that the work did not answer the description in the contract, for the purpose of preventing recovery, or at least to reduce the amount: which evidence was rejected. The only plausible ground for the exclusion is, the want of notice under the general issue. Had the defence stood exclusively upon a breach of the warranty, I admit the ruling to be correct, 8 Wend. 109 ; but it did not.

¶3The plaintiffs were bound to show performance in the first instance ; that the machinery and materials for the erection of the steam-mill, as far as they were bound to furnish the same, were good, and that all the work was done with proper skill, and in a workmanlike manner ; and whatever they were bound to prove, as pre-requisites to a recovery, might be disproved by the adverse party.

¶4Report set aside.