Fraley vs. Bentley, et al.
worth that sum, and that defendants did not ask him to take less, or question the value of the land, but urged that the benefits by reason of the building of the steam saw-mill, with the four hundred in money, would be a fair payment for the land. If, therefore, the testimony of Fraley is to be regarded as true, strongly corroborated in many particulars by the testimony of other witnesses, it must be said that the benefits to be derived by the plaintiff, as agreed and understood by the parties, was the difference between the price actually paid and the value of the land; and this furnishes a very correct rule, tested, however, by another rule, namely: That as a consideration for the defendant's agreement to build a steam saw-mill in a certain place, by a certain time, the plaintiff paid the defendants in the sale of the land the sum of five hundred dollars, in the conveyance of this land, the defendants having entirely failed to build the mill, the least that can be said is, that in equity and good conscience, the plaintiff should recover the value or amount he paid for defendant's promise and agreement to build the mill. Or by still another rule. The evidence clearly establishes the fact that the increased value of Fraley's land in the immediate vicinity of this land, would have been at least five hundred dollars. We think, therefore, that the court below was fully warranted in estimating the damages the plaintiff had sustained at five hundred dollars, and we find no reason for interfering with that finding. Let the order be, that the finding and judgment in the court below are affirmed with costs.
See Appendix, Note A.
