12 Vt. 83 | Vt. | 1840
The opinion of the court was delivered by
— To maintain this action against the defendant, the plaintiff was required to prove the commencement of the suits mentioned in the declaration, and that they were commenced by the defendant without any authority from him. For this purpose, the record of the judgment and the depositions of Mr. Van Ness were introduced. It apears that the writs,in the suits commenced in the circuit court,were made by Mr. Richardson, but were entered in court by the defendant. On this part of the case we do not discover but that the views of the county court were correct. In defence, it became important for the defendant to show the agency of Holloway Taylor, by whose directions he commenced the suits, or that Taylor was the owner of the lands sued for ; for, if the title or claim was in Taylor, and Bush held the legal title for the benefit of Taylor, the authority of Taylor to commence
The question now arises whether the power of attorney and the revocation thereof were proved by the proper testimony, because there is no doubt that they had a material effect in determining the issue then tried.
The object of recording a power of attorney, authorizing a person to convey real estate, is to enable the party, deriving title through a deed executed by another, to show his authority, and without such record it would always be required, when the proof of the deed was in controversy, to prove the authority of the person executing it. For this purpose, the record is undoubtedly evidence. Whether.if it contained an authority to commence suits or do any other acts in relation either to real or personal property, it would be evidence of such authority, may well be questioned. It is, however, unnecessary to settle this question, as the object of introducing it was, principally, to show the existence of an authority preparatory to showing that the authority was terminated by a