Hughs v. Washington

Citations

• 65 Ill. 245

Syllabus

<p>1. Chancery practice—decree after destruction of the evidence, before it is supplied. Where the chancellor, after a hearing of the evidence on file, announced his conclusions, but, before any decree was signed or filed, the records and all the pleadings and proofs were destroyed by fire, and the complainants had supplied the pleadings, the defendants asked to have the entering of final decree postponed until they could supply the evidence upon which it was based, which motion was denied, and the court rendered a final decree against the defendants, from his recollection of the destroyed evidence: Held, that the court erred, and that it should have allowed a reasonable time for the defendants to have supplied the evidence before passing the decree, as that was the only means by which the defendants could make their right of appeal availing.</p> <p>2. Same—preserving the evidence. The practice in the courts of chancery in this State, dispensing with the necessity of embodying the evidence in the decree, or its substance, as required under the English system, does not, however, dispense with the necessity of preserving the evidence in the record upon which the decree is based.</p> <p>3. On appeal from a decree, each party has the right to rely upon the evidence- heard in the court below, to test the correctness of the conclusions and findings of the court, and the appellate court will look into the record to see whether the evidence warranted the court below in finding the facts stated in the decree. The appellate court will be guided by the evidence, and not by the findings of the inferior court.</p> <p>4. Decree—when it is to be considered as entered. Under our practice in chancery, the decree is inchoate until it is approved by the chancellor and filed for record, or shall be recorded, which answers to the passing and entering it, in the English court. The mere oral announcement by the chancellor of his decision, and the grounds upon which it is based, or reducin