Case Name: Edward Dwyer, Administrator, vs. Stephen G. Benedict, Deputy Sheriff
Court: Supreme Court of Rhode Island
Jurisdiction: Rhode Island
Decision Date: 1879-07-26
Citations: 12 R.I. 459
Docket Number: 
Parties: Edward Dwyer, Administrator, vs. Stephen G. Benedict, Deputy Sheriff.
Judges: 
Reporter: Rhode Island Reports
Volume: 12
Pages: 463–463

Head Matter:
Edward Dwyer, Administrator, vs. Stephen G. Benedict, Deputy Sheriff.
An order made under Gen. Stat. R. I. cap. 197, §§ 2, 3, or Public Laws, cap. 649, of February 19, 1878, for the sale of personalty attached on mesne process, is dissolved by the death of the defendant owner before the sale is effected.
Trover. Heard by the court, jury trial being waived.
Cushman, Wilcox & Co., brought an action against are John Carroll, and served their writ by attaching the defendant’s personalty. They obtained an order of sale of the attached personalty under Gen! Stat. R. I. cap. 197, §§ 2 and 3, and the property was sold by the sheriff, May 3, 1878, at ten o’clock, A. M. At nine o’clock, an hour previous to the sale, Carroll died. Dwyer was subsequently appointed administrator on Carroll’s estate, and brought this action of trover against the sheriff who conducted the sale, to recover the value of the personalty sold, claiming that Carroll’s death vacated both the attachment and the order of sale. See Upham v. Dodge, and cases cited, 11 R. I. 621.
Charles B. Gorman, for plaintiff.
Thomas P. Barnefield, for defendant.
July 26, 1879.

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
An order made under Gen. Stat. R. I. cap. 197, § 2, 3, and Pub. Laws, cap. 649, of February 19, 1878, for the sale of personal property attached on mesne process is strictly incident to or dependent on the attachment, and is dissolved or annulled, together with the attachment, by the death of the defendant owner before the sale is effected.
Judgment for plaintiff for $700 and costs.