55 Ga. 45 | Ga. | 1875
This was a rule against the sheriff for distribution of a fund arising from the sale of some bales of cotton. Pollard & Company held the oldest and best lien against Reid, but younger judgments claimed the fund on the ground that the lien of Pollard & Company for advances had never been made by Reid. The proof was, that one Hoge, the agent of Pollard & Company, in the sale of fertilizers, sold them to Reid, and signed Reid’s name, in his absence, to the lien. He stated that Reid afterwards ratified it by parol; Reid denied it, and there was some other proof, the evidence being conflicting on the point of ratification. The instrument creating i Ithe lien was under seal, but the statute does not require it to 'be so. The court charged the jury that the ratification of Reid could not be made in parol; the jury found for the junior judgments; Pollard & Company excepted to the charge, and the sole question is, could Reid ratify the act of Hoge in putting his name to this paper, thus signed and sealed, by parol ? This question first came before this court in Beall vs. Crafton, 5 Georgia, 301, where the charge of the court below, that the power to make a deed for another must be in writing and under seal, was approved; though in that case there was no authority or ratification of the act in any way, by writing or word of mouth. In the case of Ingram, vs. Little, in 14 Georgia, 173, it again came up, and then it was expressly ruled that a blank in a deed could not be filled, in the absence of a grantor, without authority in writing, and under
Judgment affirmed.