3 N.J.L. 1043
Decided September 15, 1813
Supreme Court of New Jersey · decided 1813-09-15
<p>ON CERTIORARI.</p> <p>Sears and others, children of Paul Sears deceased, sued Mathis before the justice, on the ground that Paul Sears, their father, paid to one Eli Mathis S80, for a piece of swamp which the said Eli Mathis sold to the said Paul Sears, deceased, in the year 1768; charging that the said Eli Mathis had promised the plaintiff a deed, but had failed in performing his promise. On a state of demand setting out these facts, the plaintiffs below obtained a judgment for $40.</p>
Decided 1813-09-15
¶1— The transaction is at best, a very stale one; but supposing it was ever so recent, the legal reprerentative of either party is not brought before the Court. A child, as such, cannot sue for a debt due to his father; it must be his executor or administrator. And as to Mathis, he is not even stated to bo the son, or any other way connected with Eli Mathis.
¶2Judgment reversed.'