Mills v. Wyman

Mills (plaintiff) took in and cared for twenty-five-year-old Levi Wyman, a stranger who had just returned gravely ill from a sea voyage, nursing him for fifteen days until he died; Levi's father, Wyman (defendant), later wrote to Mills promising to reimburse his expenses upon learning of his son's death, but subsequently refused to pay. Mills sued to enforce that promise, and the court of common pleas ruled it unenforceable.