ᏞᎪᎳ OF BARON AND FEMME ; OF PARENT AND CHILD; OF GUARDIAN AND WARD; OF MASTER AND SERVANT; AND OF THE POWERS OF COURTS OF CHANCERY. WITH AN ESSAY ON THE TERMS, HEIR, HEIRS, AND HEIRS OF THE BODY. 00000000000000 BY TAPPING REEVE. 00000000000000 NEW-HAVEN: PRINTED BY OLIVER STEELE. ....... 1816. DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT---35. BE it remembered, That on the sixteenth day of April, in the for tieth year of the Independence of the United States of America, TAPPING REEVE, of the said District, hath deposited in this Office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit: "The Law of Baron and Femme; of Parent and Child; of Guardian and Ward; of Master and Servant ; and of the Powers of Courts of Chancery. With an Essay on the Terms, Heir, Heirs, and Heirs of the Body. By Tapping Reeve :" in conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, “An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned.” HENRY W. EDWARDS, Clerk of the District of Connecticut. A true Copy of Record, examined and certified by me. H. W. EDWARDS, Clerk of the District of Connecticut. PREFACE. THE object of the Author of the following Chapters is, to bring into one connected view, the law on the various subjects respecting which they treat; which is found in the books, scattered through a great variety of Reports and Elementary Treatises. He has had a particular view to the principles which govern each subject, and has endeavoured to draw them from the various decisions which have been made, both at law and in equity. When the governing principle is discovered in any class of cases, it will assist in determining all analogous cases; and it will not be so difficult to decide correctly, when we meet with litigated questions. He has therefore, in every questio vexata, viewed the governing principle as the pole-star. By this means, a desirable uniformity in the law will be observed; and its symmetry will be preserved from being marred. He has not published this volume with the expectation of rendering any essential service to the Jurist. His utmost expectations will be answered, if it should be found beneficial to the learner. If the manner should partake too much of the character of instructing, he hopes for the candour of the reader, when it is known, that the work contains that which for many years has been delivered as lectures to pupils. His object has been, to exhibit the Common Law of England, and such of their Statutes as we have adopted in words or principle. He has therefore but seldom mentioned the law of the State in which he lives, where it differs from the Common Law; unless that difference arises from causes equally operative in all parts of the Union; or where an explanation of it has, in his opinion, served the purpose of shedding light upon the Common Law.His design has been, to render the book, if of any value, equally valuable to all parts of our country. CHAP. I. BARON AND FEMME. The Right which the Husband acquires to the PERSONAL in ACTION. THE husband, by marriage, acquires an absolute title to all the personal property of the wife, which she had in possession at the time of the marriage; such as money, goods or chattels personal of any kind. These, by the marriage, become his property, as completely as the property which he purchases with his money; and such property can never again belong to the wife, upon the happening of any event, unless it be given to her by his will; and in case of the death of the husband, this property does not return to the wife, but vests in his executors. As this property is transferred by operation of law to the husband, it is to be remarked, that, as the case may be, such conveyance of her personal property in possession to the husband, may operate injuriously to credit- 1 P.Wms.468. 3 do. 409, 412. ors; for, although it is true that the husband is liable to the creditors of the wife, yet his liability lasts no longer than the coverture: as, if A should marry B, possessed of personal property to the amount of any sum, suppose it to be $10,000, and B is at the same time indebted one half that sum, and should die before her creditors should collect their debts from the husband, the coverture is now at an end, and the husband is no longer liable to her B |