Johnson v. Diversey

Citations

• 82 Ill. 446

Syllabus

<p>Chancbby—delay in prosecuting a suit, if good, cause appears, will not defeat a new suit, as to same matter. The administratrix of a deceased partner filed a bill soon after his death, against the surviving partner, for an account of the partnership funds. The civil war broke out soon after, and the complainant, being a resident of one of the disloyal States, could not have ready communication with her counsel, and the defendant, who resided in the county where the suit was pending, did nothing to bring the cause to a hearing, and no steps were taken therein from 1862 to 1869. In the latter year the defendant died, and complainant revived the suit against his personal representatives, and, from that time up to the fire of October, 1871, in Chicago, the suit was actively prosecuted, and the record had become very voluminous, when it was destroyed by that fire. It being found impracticable to supply the lost record, the suit was dismissed, and another suit instituted, being, in reality, a revival of the original suit, the dismissal having been made to avoid the difficulties arising from the inability of parties to substitute the lost records: Held, that there was no such laches shown on the part of the complainant as to deprive her of a standing in a court of equity; and that it was error to refuse to hear evidence on the merits of the case and to dismiss the bill.</p>