61 Iowa 423 | Iowa | 1883
— The appellant contends that the contract shows upon its face that it is not his personal contract, but the. contract of Sumner township, of which he was trustee. It cannot be denied, however, that so far as the body of the instrument is concerned, the obligation created purports to be a personal one. The language is: “The undersigned agree to pay, etc.” The theory that the contract purports to be that of Sumner township rests upion the fact that ■ the defendant signed it as trustee of that township. Cases have often arisen where contracts, in the body of them, have purported to be personal contracts of the persons whose names were signed .to them, and would have been so without question, but for the fact that the signers appended to their names some official designation, by reason of which it was contended that the act of the signers in executing the instrument was the act of the corporation, public or private, of which they subscribed themselves as officers. In these cases it has been generally del cided, we think, that the language of the body of the instrument controls, and if that imports a personal obligation, it will be held to be such, notwithstanding the signers may have appended to their names some official designation. In Haverhill Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. Newhall, 1 Allen, 130, the promissory note upon which the action was brought was signed: “Oheever Newhall, President of the Dorchester Avenue Railroad Company.” As the note contained no words in the- body thereof purporting to bind the Dorchester-Avenue Railroad Company, it was held to be the personal obligation of Newhall. To substantially the same effect are Fiske v. Eldridge, 12 Gray, 476; Sturdivant v. Hall, 59 Maine, 172; Barker v. Mechanic's Fire Insurance Com
Affirmed.