22 Pa. Super. 531 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1903
Opinion by
On or about April 1,1894, the defendazit leased to Guhl, the legal plaintiff, a farm situated in Lancaster county, and the tenancy was cozitiziued by leases from year to year until it terminated on April 1,1900. Sometime in the month of June, 1894, Sellers & Sweighart obtained judgments and issued executions against Guhl and levied upon his personal property then upozi the farm. Frank paid and took assignments of the judgments and the property was then sold uzider the executions and bought in by Frank. The property remained upon the premises and was used by Guhl in his farming operations, and the parties entered into an arrangement under which the property
“April 14,1900.
“Received of Philip Frank one hundred dollars ($100) in full payment of all claims to date, including my interest in the wheat now in the ground, on his farm in Conoy township, Lancaster county, Pa.
“Albert Githl.”
Guhl admitted, upon cross-examination, that he heard Schock dictate this receipt to Miss Boyce, and that he heard it read. He subsequently brought this action alleging that there was a balance of $2,122.22 due him upon their mutual dealings.
A receipt for money is prima facie evidence of payment, but it is not conclusive and is subject to explanation. When a receipt in full represents the balance found to be due upon an account stated between the parties involving mutual dealings covering a long period of time, it should only be set aside for weighty reasons. Fraud, accident or mistake would be sufficient to avoid such an instrument, but in such a case the cause of avoidance should clearly appear. “ Such receipts then are placed in the same category as other written instruments which are made the depositories of the solemn agreements of contracting parties. The rules as to setting aside or disregarding such contracts are too familiar to need recital here: ” Rhoads’s Estate, 189 Pa. 460. When parol testimony tending to im
Even if a receipt of this character is to be impeached by the testimony of one witness, although the latter is overwhelmingly contradicted, the plaintiff upon his own showing was not entitled to recover. His testimony does not indicate that upon the principal point in controversy he was sure of his ground. He did, however, finally admit upon cross-examination that an agreement touching all the matters in controversy had been arrived at; his answer to one question revealed his whole position. “ Q. Was that the agreement at the time? A. What is that ? Q. That you were to take the engine and the threshing machine in your wife’s name, and that that, with the $100 in cash and the hay and your wife’s bill and your son’s bill, was to close up everything between you, provided Mr. Frank would keep the engine and threshing machine for your wife. A. Yes, if he kept it; if they would have kept it; but he didn’t
The judgment is reversed.