Dickson v. Hartman Manufacturing Co.

Citations

• 179 Pa. 343
• 36 A. 246
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 644

Syllabus

<p>Evidence — Parol evidence — Contract.</p> <p>In the absence of fraud, accident or mistake, a written contract which purports to contain the whole agreement of the parties cannot be changed or modified by parol evidence, and in no event can it be done by the testimony of one witness, if such testimony is contradicted by that of another witness.</p> <p>In an action upon a contract of hiring, plaintiff alleged that the contract was partly in writing by a letter, and partly in parol. The contract 'was complete without the parol part, and did not show that the hiring was for a year, but plaintiff alleged that the acceptance of the terms contained a parol stipulation to that effect. The defendant alleged that the acceptance was unconditional, and denied that there was any agreement to hire the plaintiff for a year. Held, that the testimony was insufficient to change or modify the contract as set out in the letter.</p>