from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
INSTITOR, civ. law. A clerk in a store an agent.
2. He was so called because he watched over the business with which he
was charged; and it is immaterial whether he was employed in making a sale
in a store, or whether charged with any other business. Institor appellatus
est ex eo, quod negotio gerendo instet; nec multum facit tabernae sit
praepositus, an cuilibet alii negotiationi. Dig. lib. 14, tit. 3, l. 3. Mr.,
Bell says, that the charge given to a clerk to manage a store or shop, is
called institorial power. 1 Bell's Com. 479, 6th ed.; Ersk. Inst. B. 3, t.
3, Sec. 46; 1 Stair's Inst. by Brodie, B. 1, tit. 11, Sec. 12, 18, 19; Story
on Ag. 8.