## Facts

- Norton & Keeler sold and delivered a flaxseed-cleaner mill to Miles Knapp for $80, due on delivery and unpaid.
- The sellers later drew a sight draft on Knapp for $80 payable to their order.
- When the draft was presented, Knapp wrote on the back: “Kiss my foot. MILES KNAPP.”
- Knapp did not pay the draft.
- The sellers sued on the theory that Knapp’s writing constituted a written acceptance making him liable as acceptor.
- Knapp contended the writing was a rejection, not an acceptance.

## Issues

1. Whether the writing “Kiss my foot. MILES KNAPP.” on the back of a sight draft constitutes a legal acceptance sufficient to impose liability on the drawee as acceptor.
2. Whether plaintiffs who plead and try the case solely as an action on an accepted draft can recover when the alleged acceptance is legally insufficient.

## Decision

- The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the judgment for Knapp.
- The court held that Knapp’s writing did not constitute an acceptance of the draft.
- Because the action was brought on the instrument as an accepted bill, the sellers could not recover on that theory without a valid acceptance.

## Legal Principles

- An acceptance of a draft must objectively manifest a clear, unconditional assent to pay according to the draft’s tenor.
- A signature does not constitute an acceptance when accompanying words, read as a whole, express rejection or denial rather than assent.
- Courts decide whether a writing is an acceptance by the objective meaning of the words used on the instrument, not by a party’s asserted intent.
- A plaintiff’s recovery is limited by the theory pleaded and tried; failure to prove acceptance defeats an action framed solely on accepted-instrument liability.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that the drawee’s signed, disparaging notation on the draft was a refusal, not an acceptance, so he incurred no acceptor liability; with the case pleaded only as an action on an accepted draft, the sellers’ claim failed and the defendant’s judgment was affirmed.


Norton v. Knapp, 19 N.W. 867 (Iowa 1884)