189 Pa. 121 | Pa. | 1899
Opinion by
On the trial of the scire facias on the mortgage Mrs. Rowan, the appellant, was called and asked what her husband had said to her the evening and again the morning before she went to the office where she signed the mortgage. The court sustained an objection that it was irrelevant without evidence of notice to the mortgagee before he took the mortgage, and as there was
On the main ground of defense, coercion, the evidence wholly failed. The property of Mrs. Rowan was bound by a mortgage to Adler & Co. to secure a debt of her husband to them, and to indemnify them as sureties for certain rent due and to become due by the husband. This debt was becoming urgent, and an arrangement was made to pay it off and discharge it through the aid of a new mortgage to plaintiffs. The parties met to carry out this arrangement, there being present one of the plaintiffs with his counsel, and both the defendants with their counsel. A discussion ensued, lasting several hours, during which it is now alleged that Mrs. Rowan was coerced by her husband and Kaufmann into signing the mortgage. But as to this, as already said, the evidence wholly fails. The only evidence bearing even slightly on coercion by the husband is that once when his wife and Kaufmann had got into a very heated discussion over the water rent, and as she says Kaufmann began to swear, the husband leaned over the table and told her to hush and not to talk to Kaufmann. On cross-examination she was asked the direct question whether at that time she was afraid of her husband and her answer “ don’t you think I would be a child if I was afraid of him ? ” is the best commentary on the whole defense. It is not worth while to review the testimony. It shows that she knew all about the transaction and took an active and positive part in it; that she did object to including the water rent, and dickered stoutly for better terms, but finding Kaufmann firm yielded and signed the mortgage after it had been gone over and discussed item by item in the presence and with the advice of her counsel.
The appellant further claims that she was not informed of the contents of the paper by the notary who took her acknowledgment. In the face of the facts as to the previous discussion and the presence of her counsel at the time, this would be unworthy of any credit, but as the notary testified to asking her if the contents were known to her and if she signed of her own will and accord, the court was right in not submitting the mat ter to the jury: Oppenheimer v. Right, 106 Pa. 569; Lewars v. Weaver, 121 Pa. 268.
The last point urged by appellant is that her property was in
Judgment affirmed.