Gates County NcArchives Court.....Reddick, Vs. Trotman 1811-18 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00003.html#0000719 June 12, 2008, 11:08 pm Source: North Carolina Reports Written: 1811-18 July Term 1812. JOSEPH REDDICK v. NOAH TROTMAN. From Gates. Judgment being recovered against B, he, for the purpose of raising money to discharge it, offered for sale at auction a negro slave, and C became the highest bidder, and the slave was delivered to him; but he not paying the money on the delivery of the slave, B by consent of C took the slave home to his own house, to keep until the money should be paid. Afterwards B offered to deliver the slave to C if if he would pay the money. C refused to pay, and disclaimed all right to the slave. Execution was then sued out on the judgment, and levied on the slave, and at the sale by the sheriff he brought less than the price which C agreed to pay for him. B then sued C for the difference between the sum which the slave brought when sold by the sheriff and that for which he was bid off by C. B cannot recover because the circumstances show it was the intention of the parties to rescind the contract. John Cofield recovered a judgment against Joseph Reddick, as executor of the last will of Simon Stallings; and Reddick, for the purpose of raising the money to discharge the judgment, offered for sale at auction a negro slave, belonging to the estate of his testator, for ready money. Noah Trotman became the highest bidder, and the negro was delivered to him, but he not paying the money on the delivery, Reddick, by his consent, took the negro home to his own house, to keep until the money should be paid. A few days afterwards he called on Trotman for the money, and offered to deliver the negro if the money were paid to him. Trotman refused to pay, and disclaimed all right to the negro. Cofield having sued out his execution, the sheriff, by the direction of Reddick, levied the same on the negro aforesaid, advertised and sold him; and at this sale the negro did not bring as much by $70 as at the sale when Trotman bid him off. Roddick thereupon brought this suit to recover from Trotman the difference between the sums at which the negro was bid off at the first and second sales; and it was submitted to this Court to decide whether he was entitled to recover. Lowrie, J. What might have been the right of the plaintiff to recover damages for the nonperformance of such contract as is stated in the case, had the defendant kept possession of the negro, it is not necessary now to inquire. The refusal of the defendant to pay the money, and the act of the plaintiff in taking home the negro, show the intention of the parties. By the terms of the sale the defendant was bound to pay down the money; his becoming the highest bidder amounted to an undertaking to pay the money on that day. The plaintiff took the negro home because the money was not paid, and the defendant's refusal to pay on a subsequent day was no breach of his undertaking. But if there could be any doubt as to the legal effect of the plaintiff's conduct, in taking the negro home on the day of sale, his conduct afterwards in directing the sheriff to levy on the negro as the property of his testator is sufficient to remove it. This sale was made after the defendant had disclaimed all title, and shows that the contract had been rescinded between the parties. Judgment for the defendant. Additional Comments: North Caroline Reports, Vol. 6, Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of North Carolina, Reported by A.D. Murphey, Annotated by Walter Clark. 1811 to 1813, Inclusive and at July Term, 1818. Reprinted by the State. E.M. Uzzell and Company, State printers and binders, 1910. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/gates/court/reddick537gwl.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 4.2 Kb