Cherry v. Carthage College

Citations

• 62 Ill. 337

Syllabus

<p>1. Contract—construction. Where the locating committee of a proposed college required A, the owner of a tract of land near the proposed site of the college, to lay the same off into town lots, and give every eighth lot to the college as a condition to the selection of the proposed site, which he refused to do, until B & C, under a verbal agreement, purchased each a third interest of the land, including streets, alleys, and the lots demanded, at §200 per acre; and A, then with the consent of B & C, entered into a written agreement with the college to give the lots demanded, which turned out to be six lots; and which agreement provided that the college lots, when laid off, should be appraised and considered as a subscription of so much stock to be equally divided between A, B, and C, reserving to them, however, the right to keep the lots at their appraised value: Held, that the agreement, though executed by A alone, was, in fact, an agreement by him and B and C, to subscribe each two lots to the college, A giving two as belonging to himself, and two for each of the others as trustee, holding the legal title for them.</p> <p>2. Subscription—construction. B and C, under a verbal agreement, purchased each an undivided third of a tract of land of A, after which, by the consent of all, A executed a written agreement to the Carthage College to lay off the land into an addition to the town of Carthage, and give every eighth lot to the college, upon condition that the buildings were located at a point near the land; which lots should be appraised and considered as a subscription to be equally divided between A, B, and C, reserving to them the option to pay the appraised value and keep the lots. The land was laid out into forty-eight lots, six of which the college was entitled to under the agreement. Before their appraisement, B subscribed three shares, of §100 each, in these words: “ B, three shares, including two lots, or cash in lieu thereof, at the option of said B.” At