Olcott v. Ennis-Calvert Compress Co.
| Decision Date | 29 April 1902 |
| Docket Number | 1,120. |
| Citation | 114 F. 907 |
| Parties | OLCOTT v. ENNIS-CALVERT COMPRESS CO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
On the 26th day of October, 1900, plaintiff in error brought this suit against the Ennis-Calvert Compress Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Texas in trespass to try title and for the possession of a certain tract of land, being town lot property situated in the city of Waco. The defendant, after demurring, filed its original answer, pleading not guilty and the statutes of limitations of three, five, and ten years. The case was tried before the court (a jury being waived in writing), and the court found a judgment against plaintiff in said cause and adjudged the title to said property to the defendant; and filed contemporaneously therewith, at the request of the parties findings of fact and conclusions of law, as follows:
'(1) The court finds the facts in this case to be the same as those in the case of Houston & T.C.R. Co. v. Ennis-Calvert Compress Co., decided by the court of civil appeals, and reported in 56 S.W. 367, to which reference may be made as part hereof.
'(2) I find that on the 11th day of June, 1877, the Houston & Texas Central Railway Company conveyed the property sued for to the Waco Produce Company, with the following language in said deed: 'Now, the separate and independent conditions of this quitclaim deed are as follows, to wit: In case the said Waco Produce Company shall, within six months from date hereof,-- and time is declared to be the essence of the contract,-- construct a cotton compress and the necessary sheds upon the said tract of land herein conveyed, then, and in that event, this instrument is to take effect, and not otherwise: provided, nevertheless, that in case said Waco Produce Company, or any person holding or claiming under it shall at any time thereafter make use of the tract herein conveyed, or of any part thereof, for any purpose or purposes than that hereinbefore specified, or shall fail or neglect to keep and maintain its compress in good working condition, or shall in any way forfeit its charter, or shall become insolvent, that on the happening of any one of said several contingencies, or upon the failure as aforesaid of any one of them, that the title and possession of said tract herein conveyed shall in consequence and by force thereof, and without the necessity of a reconveyance, ipso facto revert to and invest in said Houston & Texas Central Railroad Company, its successors and assigns, and thereupon this instrument shall become null and void as against said railway company, but shall be in force as an estoppel of all claims to title or possession as against said grantee herein.'
'(3) I find through various links the title of said property finally passed to the defendant in this suit through those under whom it holds under H. & T.C. Railway Co., and that the same was occupied continuously, practically, by a compress thereupon, until on or about the year 1892, when the Ennis-Calvert Compress Company abandoned said property, and from said date the grantor, or its successors or assigns, became entitled to enter or sue for said property on account of the breach of the conditions subsequent.
'(4) I find that on the 4th day of May, 1888, all of the properties of the Houston & Texas Central Railway Company including this property, was ordered to be sold under decree of the United States circuit court sitting at Galveston, in the case of Nelson S. Easton et al. v. The Houston & Texas Central Railway Company et al., and that Charles Dillingham was appointed master commissioner to sell the property, and on the 8th day of September, 1888, he sold all of its properties to Frederic P. Olcott, who became the purchaser at said sale, which sale was duly confirmed; and on the 18th day of January, 1889, the said Charles Dillingham, master commissioner, under orders of the court, executed and delivered his deed to Frederic P. Olcott, in which deed the Houston & Texas Central Railway Company joins, and the property conveyed in said deed is described as follows, to wit: 'The property so conveyed includes the railroads of said company from Houston to Denison and from Hempstead to Austin, with the roadbeds, rights of way, buildings, and improvements of every kind and description connected with the said railroads, or any part thereof, and all their appurtenances, and also all rolling stock and equipments, materials, supplies, and personal property of every kind procured for or in any manner connected with said railroads, or used thereon, or any part thereof; also all the chartered rights, liberties, privileges, immunities and franchises of said railway company of every kind and description whatsoever appertaining to said railroads; also all the lands which have been received from the state of Texas for the construction of its said railways, not including the lands covered by the said first mortgage on the said Waco and Northwestern Division; and also all other lands, town lots, or blocks, and real estate or interests in real estate, of every kind and description to which said railway company has title, claim, or equitable ownership; and also all the tolls, earnings, freights, receipts, and moneys of every kind and description of said railway company from said railways, and all personal property, bonds, stocks, choses in action, assets, accounts, and claims of every...
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