Stratton v. Hubbel

Decided October 15, 1812

New York Supreme Court · decided 1812-10-15

IN ERROR, on certiorari, from a justice’s court. TIubbel sued Stratton, before the justice, for obstructing the highway leading irom the village of Cocksackie and preventing the plaintiff from ti it was proceeding on the road, about his lawful business, &c. proved that the plaintiff came to the turnpike gate, with his waggon and horses, and demanded to pass free, because he had been to his usual blacksmith’s. The defendant, who was the toll-gatherer, re. fused to let him…

Decided 1812-10-15

Per Curiam.

¶1There was no just pretence for an exemption from toll. The principal business of Hubbel was to carry a load *358of boards to market; and if the pot had been mended by the. blacksmith, on that day, it was not, and could not have been, he principal object of the journey. It was merely an incidental business, if not a mere pretext to claim the exemption. He ought to be considered as returning from market, and not as returning from the blacksmith's shop; because that shop was not the tenth-nation any more than the object of his travelling on that day from' home. The claim of exemption was unjust, and a fraudulent abuse of the act.

¶2Judgment reversed.(a)

¶3See Stratton v. Herrick, ante, p. 356.