The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-03-21
JOHNS AND NORRIS.
A Chancery Suit Which Rivals Jarndyce
and Jarndyce.


Advisory Master Pitney, of Morris
town, in the Court of Chancery in this
city Yesterday decided case which
fairly rivals Dickens famous case of
Jarndyce and Jarndyce 1t is the case
of Johns and Norris, and has been in
the Court of Chancery of this State
for almost a quarter of aacentury.
Thomas w. Moorehouse, a hardware
merchant of Jersey City, died in 1854,
leaving piece of property on Grove
street and the lot and building on
Green street occupied by the Ecefa7lg
Journal people before they moved into
their present quarters.
Noah Norris was his administrator.
Moorehouse's property was heavily
mortgaged, and there was not suf-
ficient money in the estate to pay the
debts. The property was sold at a
foreclosure sale in the fall of 1857, and
Mr.. Norris bought it for the amount
due on the mortgages.
Shortly after this he conveyed the
property to his brother, John d.
Norris, of Elizabeth.
ION May II, 1867, Jacob Weart filed
bill in chancery for Ann Maria More
house, widow of Thomas w. More
house, and Theresa Johns, wife of
Hiram w. Johns, his daughter, claim
ing that Mr. Norris bought the prop
erty under an agreement with them to
convey it to them, and praying that a
decree bemade by the court compelling
him to fulfill the said agreement.
Isaac w. Scudder filed an answer for
Mr.. Norris denying the allegations of
the bill and in the latter part of 1870
the case was argued before Chancellor
Zabriskie by James b. Vredenberg
and Washington G. Williams for the
Warehouses and S. b. Ransom for Nor
ris. Messrs. Vreedenberg and Ransom
have been connected with the case ever
since then.
Chancellor Zabriskie dismissed the
bill in 1871, and in 1874 the complain
ants appealed to the Court of Errors
and Appeals. This tribunal three
wears later overruled the Chancellor's
decision, and held that Norris must
convey the property to Mrs. Johns, the
widow having no interest in the estate,
upon being paid the amount which he
had advanced in its purchase, and he
to account for the rents he had received
while in possession of the property.
The case on October 8, 1877, was re
ferred to John Linn, of this
city, to take the accounting. In the
fall of that year Mr.. Linn took the tes-
timony in the case, and consumed ten
wears in arriving at decision. Before
the Court of Errors decided the case
Noah Morris died, and his son, Brain
ard Il. Morris, who became his admin
istrator, was made party to the suit.
On December /, 1887, Mr.. Linn filed
his report, by which he made the Nor
rises debtors to Mrs. Johns in about
S4. 800. Then the Norrisses took a
hand at appealing, and Mr.. Ransom
filed exceptions to Mr.. Linn's report.
These exceptions, about year ago, the
Chancellor referred to Advisory Master
Pitney, and yesterday that official set
aside Mr.. Linns principle of calculating
interest, and decided that Mrs. Johns
owed Mr.. Norris about $4,000. 1t is
not at all likely that this last finding
will suit Mrs. Johns, and she may APP
peal from Mr. Pitney's decision to the
Court of Errors. In that case the
Court of Errors may refer the matter
back again for another accounting,
and there is fair prospect that the
case will drag on some years yet.
Mr.. John d. Norris, one of the
original parties to the suit, is now
eighty eight years of age and to all
appearances is as hale as mahy man
OF sixty. He attended the court every
day during the progress of the cause,
and recently remarked that if he was
in any way superstitious he would ex-
pect to quit this life when this case
finally got out OF chancery.