Crockett v. Green

Citations

• 3 Del. Ch. 466

Syllabus

<p>Upon an agreement which was written and signed by the defendant in the words following, viz: “ I agree to sell to Alfred R. Crockett two acres “and 150 square perches of land, commencing 170 feet from the south side “ of Green street, running parallel to Green street, with a front of one acre “ on Broad street, at $1225. ” Held ,</p> <p>1. That the agreement was too uncertain to be enforced by a decree for specific performance.</p> <p>2. That the description of the premises sold, fails to satisfy the requirements of the Statute of Frauds.</p> <p>3. That the land mentioned in the agreement, being parcel of other land of the defendant, and not capable of identification as a distinct and separate holding,the metes and bounds cannot be ascertained, without supplying the defect, by parol evidence, of something not referred to in the contract.</p> <p>A deficiency in the memorandum as to the terms or subject-matter of the contract, cannot be supplied by any extraneous evidence, whether written or parol, unless the extraneous matter be referred to in the memorandum, so as, in legal effect, to be incorporated into it.</p> <p>A defendant may fully admit a contract, resting wholly or partly in parol, as alleged, and, at the same time, avail himself of the Statute by insisting upon it.</p> <p>Parol evidence is admissible, in aid of written contracts, only for the purpose of interpreting the meaning of words and phrases used in the writing, and not in any case to supply a deficiency of expression, and this restriction would seem to apply more stringently to cases in which the contract or instrument is one required, by the Statute of Frauds, to be in writing, than to those which may be good, without writing.</p> <p>Parol evidence of the intention of parties cannot be admitted to give a construction to the words of a written instrument, — in no case to vary or control the sense of plain and unambiguous words, and not to explain doubtful or ambiguous words in those written instr