Grace v. American Central Insurance

Citations

• 109 U.S. 278
• 3 S. Ct. 207
• 27 L. Ed. 932
• 1883 U.S. LEXIS 1104

Syllabus

<p>Agent — Contract—Evidence—Insurance—Jurisdiction—Pleading.</p> <p>1. A fire insurance policy contained this clause : “ This insurance may be terminated at any time at the request of the assured, in which case the company shall retain only the customary short rates for the time the policy has been in force. The insurance may also be terminated at any time at the option of the company, on giving notice to that effect and refunding a ratable proportion of the premium for the un expired term of the policy. It is a part of this contract that any person other than the assured, who may have procured the insurance to be taken by this company, shall be deemed to be the agent of the assured named in this policy, and not of this company under any circumstances whatever, 'Or in any transactions relating to this insurance : ” Held, that this clause imports nothing more than that the person obtaining the insurance was to be deemed the agent of the insured in matters immediately connected with • the procurement of the policy ; 'that where his employment did not extend beyond the procurement of the insurance, his agency ceased upon • the execution of the policy, and subsequent notice to him of its termination by the company was not notice to the insured.</p> <p>2. Parol evidence of usage or custom among insurance men to give such notice to the person procuring the insurance was inadmissible to vary the terms of the contract.</p> <p>3. The doctrine reaffirmed, that when jurisdiction of the circuit court depends upon the citizenship of the parties, such citizenship, or the facts which in' legal intendment constitute it, must bo distinctly and positively averred in • the pleadings, or appear affirmatively and with equal distinctness in ' other parts of the record. An averment that parties reside, or that a firm does business, in a particular State, or that a firm is “oi:’that State, is not sufficient to show citizenship in such State.</p> <p>4. Where the record does not show a case