A tenant had rented land from Richardson. However, Campbell claimed the property was really his. Unless the tenant could prove that Richardson owned the land, he would have no right to stay there.

Richardson's tenant offered a deed (which was then called a patent) to support his claim; Campbell provided receipts as evidence that he had bought the property.

To prove that the receipts were for the disputed property, Campbell wanted to introduce statements from an important person—Thomas Penn, whose father, William, had founded the Pennsylvania colony. Obviously, the tenant did not want that evidence admitted in court.

Questions:

1. Was oral evidence about the ownership of land admissible in court?

2. Who is the plaintiff?

3. Who is the Defendant?

4. What was the court’s ruling?