1 Pears. 399 | Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, Dauphin County | 1855
The petitioner m the case has commenced a proceeding in the Orphans’ Court, under the act of 1834, to compel the administrator of George Fisher, Esq., deceased, to execute a deed for a lot of land in Portsmouth, pursuant to the terms of a parol contract entered into by Eargood and Fisher, in their respective lifetimes. The administrators of Fisher deny all
The terms of the contract must distinctly appear (10 W. 204; 2 Barr, 815; 9 W. 110; 9 W. & S. 49; 4 W. & S. 228). The written receipts, although signed by the alleged vendor alone, are not sufficient, as they must in themselves show clearly the nature of the contract and define its terms. It must so far describe the property, and set forth the price and terms of payment, as to enable a chancellor to make a decree from the face of the writing alone without the aid of parol evidence, otherwise all the mischiefs intended to be guarded against by the statute would be introduced (Parrish v. Koons, 1 Parsons, 79, and the cases there cited). Here the receipts, neither severally nor all united, show what lot was sold, where situated, the price to be paid, nor when the payments were to be made. They are of no avail in law or
We are of the opinion that this contract has not been proved in such a way as to justify the court in making a decree that the administrator of George Fisher shall execute a deed; but the petition must be dismissed, and the representatives of Eargood left to their remedy at law, if any they have, for the recovery of damages.
Petition dismissed at the expense of the applicant.