Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1876-03-29
Washington County Court.
Hos r. r. REprirtp, Presiding Judgc.
HoS. JAMES H. llo1prN, ,..f.,,,, t,,,l,,s
Hos WnLNRp ;. MARTIN, '"''''''' ~
.....-.... L.L--L


lliNRN OViArr, Reporter.
The trial Of civil cases by the Jury is ended for
the present, and the court is now engaged with
the trial Of the Miles case report Of which, and
the incidents connected with IT, can be found on
the next page There are still few civil cases
left standing for trial and it is expected that they
will be disposed Of after the criminal calendar h.
exhausted
Owing to the death Of cV-thief Justice Isaac !.
Eedfeld the court took a recess on Friday after
noon TIL Monday morning. The presiding Judge,
with delegation composed Of the older members
Of the Washington County Bar, attended the
funeral at Windsor on Saturday
-Four liquor cases have been disposed Of, rs fol-
lows Michael Sattcry and Philip Preston each
aoi Jros the witnesses for the state having dis
appeared; against Augustus J. Robbins, Of Mont
pelicr, plea OF guilty Of one first offence against
James Donahue, Of Mortified, plea Of guilty OF
two first offences.
ON Friday last, Mr. William \. lord, oldest son
OF Rev Dr. William II Lord was admitted to the
Bar, having passed a most satisfactory examine
ton Mt Lord isa graduate Of Dartmouth, of
the class OF 1870 and brings to the practice Of his
profession both wide reading and good natural
future success.
In the prosecution against Forest :. and Samuel
Green, OF Woodbury., for incendiarsm, the bail
has been reduced fom five thousand dollars to
one thousand, in each case.
cAsEs TRIED DURING rnE wtrK.
The following is ~ resume Of the jury cases tried
since our last issue
Stewards Of the Methodist Church rs. Snow
rown-Ihe defendant is a resident Of Mont
pelicr, and is a carpenter and joiner by trade.
He claims that in March, 1870 when the new
Methodist Church in Montpelier and the Meth
odist Seminary, on the Hill, were IN contempla-
ton, Rev. Sullivan Holman, who was the pastor
Of the church at that time, met him ON the street,
and proposed that he should give subscription
towards the building OF the church, and, as an in
ducement promised him that he should have
work on those buildings all the year round until
they were finished that in consequence Of this
promise he subscribed seventy -fve dollars that
he went to work, and worked till the last Of An.
gust, when, owing to some disagreement with
| Holman, he was discharged, and worked no more
on the building The stewards now come into
court with Mr.. Towns subscription on the sub
| scripuon book, which read, simply, Snow Town,
seventy five dollars" and claim to collect the
face OF the subscription, and interest from the
time it was made, claiming that the subscription,
being without written conditions in the book,
could not be defended, but must be paid. The
court decided to admit Mr. Towns testimony, and
the plaintiffs then made the further objection that
even if Mr. Holman did make this contract, he
had no authority for 40 doing, nasmuch rs the
church had mover voted that he might collect sub
scriptions The dcfendan, claimed that not only
must the plaintiffs fail 10 recover the amount Of
the subscription but the defendant had right &c
damages for losing his job in the way he did
The court ordered the jury to return a verdict foi
the plaintiffs, and to answer certain questions IN
order that when the supreme Court should decid,
the law points raised, there need be no trial il
the County Court. The jury verdict was as fol
lows For the plaintiffs, the amount of the sub
scnption and interest-Sgj00 and costs thai
Holman did make contract with defendant q,
defendant testified that defendant ser, ices ver,
terminated by llolmans fault. that defendant
was entitled to ninety-dye dollar. damages b.,
such wrongful termination. MesSrs. Gleason s
Field for plaintiffs; Messrs II W Heaton an,
Charles H. Heath for defendant
Albert Newton u.s. Cyrus Brown and y. g. Copp
All the parties live in Worcester The plaintiff
young hboring man, charged the defendant
with conspirng and conniying to sell him
I diseased cow for which he paid Copp twenty
eight dollars 1t appeared from plaintiffs test
mony that in the fall Of 1874 he wanted farroy
COW for the winter, and had talk with Copp a
] one time, and soon afterwards with both Cop
! and Brown, at Camps mills, when Brown yer
highly recommended the COW, and said she was
noble animal; that he bought the COW one Satnr
I day night, short time after, and that in tw
e weeks she died lie and his old mother, VIII
kept house for him, both testified to the disease
: condition Of the COW; that her milk and nrin
were bloody and the butter dark colored and la
smelling and tasting. Brown had raised the COY
from calf and it appeared that in the spring q
1874, while pregnant the COW was hooked and in
jured, though not permanently, as Brown claimed
5 Brown sold the COW to Copp in the latter part o
the summer, and there was a good deal Of eyi
{ dence tending to show that both he and Brow
: were aware Of her diseased condition all the sum
mer and fall; that Brown sold bad smelling an,
bad tasting butter, made from her milk to yariou
r parties The jury found for the plaintiff to re
cover thirty dollars and forty-six cents. Messrs
f. v Randall and G II Heath for plaintiff an,
! Messrs. J. A Wing and J. O. Livingston for dc
PENDANTS.
Curtis c. Eaton u.s. John W. Smith.-Ths was
contest Of yencity over horse trade, and, as il
: most cases Of the kind the testimony was YER
conflicting The plaintiff is a farmer, residing il
Mddlesex, on the river road between Montpelie
and Middlcsex village, and not great ways iron
2 the line dividing the two towns. The defendan
resides on the Berlin side of the river, near Mont
! pelier village and is livery stable keeper an,
: horse dealer 1t appears that in June, 1875 tn
defendant and plaintiff "swapped horses III
former giving bay mare in exchange for blac
one. Soon after the exchange, the bay mar
proved to be vicious kicker according to tn
testimony ON plaintiffs side, and he was unabl
to use her at all on his farm that he went to de
PENDANT and offered to rescind the trade; that de
PENDANT refused, and plaintiff was obliged, il
order to get rid of her, to sell her at auction oil
the corner Of Main and State streets in Mont
pelier, for fifty dollars lie sues to recover tn
difference between the real value Of the mare an,
the value she would have possessed if she ha,
been free from the vice Of kicking estimated b,
him to be two hundred and twenty-five dollars
The defendant testified that the trade was mad
substantially as testified by plaintiff, but elaine,
, to prove by himself, his boy Eugene, and Charlie
Alexander that after She contamination of tn
: "swap," he and plaintiff agreed to stand b,
the tnl le and that there should be no com
backs" This was denied by plaintiff Defend
ant also claimed that he didn't know that thu
mare was kicker; but the previous history o
the horse proved pretty efectually that she ha,
never been anything else, and there was prett
strong evidence that her character in that respec
> had been brought to defendants knowledge
Among other things, it appeared that on the ST
of May, 1875, little more than month befor
Eaton got her, Gen. +. +, Pitkn Of Montpelier
bought her Of Smith, and returned her in fe,
, days, ON account Of her kicking. The mare wa
originally obtained from the Gypses in the sun
mer of 1874, by Mr. Wesley c. Sherbune VIII
lives on the Jones farm down the river, in Berlin
and since that time she has had dozen owner.
more or less. Sherbnne testified that the hors
he gave for her had since become a great trottel
and had been sold for fifteen thousand dollar,
The mare was described by every one as n stron
and desirable animal--ii it had not been for on
fault, better in fact than the mare given for he
by Eaton, which had wnd-puls on her gambre
b and was cock jonted The jury returned vel
dict for the plaintiff for nnety-two dollars an
thirty-eght cents and costs. Messrs c. H. Heat
. and j. o. Livingston for plaintiff; Messrs. T. '