Heyward v. Bradley

Citations

• 179 F. 325
• 102 C.C.A. 509
• 1910 U.S. App. LEXIS 4642

Syllabus

<p>1. Specific Performance (§ 28*) — Contracts Enforceable — Certainty.</p> <p>An option provided that on plaintiff’s election after examining defendant’s land defendant would convey all phosphate rock and phosphate deposit contained on or in all of the Middleton lands on Ashley river, described in a specified plat, containing about 5,507 acres, for the sum oí §20,000, and also convey a right of way over defendant’s other lands to the Ashley river together with a site on the river for a washer. Held, that such option having ripened into a contract by the payment of the money, though the right of way and washer site were not located, the contract was not so Vague or uncertain as to be incapable of specific performance.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Specific Performance, Cent. Dig. §§ 61, 62; Dec. Dig. § 28.*]</p> <p>2. Specific Performance (§ 52*) — Contracts Enforceable — Mistake.</p> <p>Defendant executed a written contract to convey all phosphate rock and phosphate deposit contained on or in all that portion of specified land lying between certain boundaries containing about 5,507 acres for $20,000. Several months elapsed between the execution of the option and the payment of the price during which plaintiffs’ employes were engaged in openly prospecting the land, and new deposits were discovered of which defendant must have had knowledge. Held, that it was no defense to a suit for specific performance that it was defendant’s intention only to sell that portion of the phosphate rock that lay within a tract of about 100 acres, already partially mined.</p> <p>[Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Specific Performance, Cent. Dig. §§ 155, 159; Dec. Dig. § 52.*]</p> <p>3. Specific Performance (§ 49*) — -Unconscionable Contract — Inadequacy of Consideration.</p> <p>Defendant, aided by the advice and co-operation of her husband, who was a lawyer, contracted to sell to plaintiffs for $20,000 all the phosphate rock underlying certain land, the right to mine, however,