American Harrow Co. v. Swoope

Citations

• 16 Pa. Super. 451
• 1901 Pa. Super. LEXIS 92

Syllabus

<p>Evidence — Parol evidence — Contract—Fraud.</p> <p>A written agreement may be modified, explained, reformed or altogether set aside by parol evidence of an oral promise or undertaking material to the subject-matter of the contract made by one of the pai'ties at the time of the execution of the writing, and which induced the other party to put his name to it. The law esteems it a fraud by such means to secure an unfair advantage and subsequently to deny the parol qualification, upon the faith of which the contract was made.</p> <p>In an action by a corporation, which was a manufacturer of agricultural implements, against a farmer to recover the price of implements alleged to have been sold and delivered, defendant may be permitted to prove by parol that the plaintiff’s agent came to him with a paper in the English language, that defendant could not read English, that the agent explained to him,-that he, the defendant, was to sell harrows, and receive a commission therefor, but that he was not to do any collecting, and that defendant relied upon this representation, and was induced to sign the printed contract, which was in fact a contract for the purchase of harrows and other agricultural implements.</p>