Any lost instrument may be supplied by affidavit of any person acquainted with the facts, stating the contents thereof, as near as may be, and that such instrument has been unintentionally lost or mislaid, and is still the property of the person claiming under it, unpaid and unsatisfied.
Code 1858, § 3901 (deriv. Acts 1819, ch. 27, § 1); Shan., § 5694; Code 1932, § 9879; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 24-801.
Textbooks. Gibson's Suits in Chancery (7th ed., Inman), §§ 395, 396.
Pritchard on Wills and Administration of Estates (4th ed., Phillips and Robinson), § 840.
Tennessee Jurisprudence, 18 Tenn. Juris., Lost Instruments and Records, §§ 1, 4-6.
Law Reviews.
“Best Evidence” Rule in Tennessee (Robert Townsend), 38 Tenn. L. Rev. 97.