9 Ind. 27 | Ind. | 1857
Trial of the right of property. On the trial in the Common Pleas, to which Court the cause had been appealed, the claimants introduced a mortgage, made by Solomon Good, conveying the property to them, and by virtue of which they claimed to hold the goods, as against execution-creditors of the mortgagor.
The mortgage recited that Heaston, one of the mortgagees, stood “security to the amount of 295 dollars to Washington Baldridge, Jonathan Petty, and E. GellingerJ A part of the object of the mortgage was to indemnify Heaston against loss by that liability — such was a part of the consideration.
To show the validity of the mortgage — that it was not fraudulent — that it was upon a consideration as recited— the claimants offered to prove that the mortgagor, Good,
We think the Court erred. The language used in the mortgage does not conclusively import a joint indebtedness, and might be interpreted according to the facts of the case. Hence, it was proper to prove those facts to aid in the interpretation. See Stephenson et ux. v. Druley, 4 Ind. R. 519; 1 Greenl. Ev. p. 434, note 2. The ambiguity was a latent one. Greenl. supra, pp. 431, 432, 433. What we have said on this point renders it unnecessary that we should comment on any other.
The judgment is reversed with costs. Cause remanded for a new trial.