28 S.D. 571 | S.D. | 1912
Appeal from the circuit court of Hyde county,
Barney Murray and Clara A. Johnson were father and daughter. Barney Murray died, and Alfred Murray, plaintiff and respondent in this action, was appointed administrator of his estate. Thereafter Clara A. Johnson died, and Garrett F. Johnson, defendant and appellant, was appointed administrator of her estate. Alfred Murray, as administrator, brought this action in the circuit court of Hyde county against Garrett F. Johnson, as administrator of the estate of Clara A. Johnson, to recover the sum of $2,700, alleged to have been loaned to her by Barney Murray, her father, during his lifetime. The answer is a general denial. Upon the trial, a verdict was rendered for plaintiff in the sum of $1,200, upon which judgment was entered, and from the judgment, and an order overruling a motion for a new trial, defendant appeals.
Upon the trial, one R. V. Rockwell was called as a witness on behalf of plaintiff. A written document, marked “Exhibit L” for identification, purporting to be a claim for the sum of ’$2,700 against the estate of Clara A. Johnson, was presented to this witness, who testified that he was clerk of courts of Hyde county, and that Exhibit b is a part of the records of the probate court of Hyde county, in the matter of the estate of Clara A. Johnson, deceased. Upon this exhibit was indorsed the following: “The within claim, presented to Garrett F. Johnson, administrator of the estate of said deceased, is rejected this 26th day of July, 1910. Garrett F. Johnson. Filed Aug-. 2, 1910.”
It is clear that there was no competent evidence offered to show either the presentation or rejection of the claim sued upon in this action, and without such proof the action could not be maintained. The trial court, in overruling appellant’s' objection to the introduction of Exhibit L in evidence, without competent proof of the signature of the administrator, was undoubtedly in error.
The judgment and order of the tidal court are reversed, and the cause remanded for further proceedings according to law.