Clark v. Reeder

• Decision Date: 27 May 1895
• Docket Number: No. 262,262
• Citation: 158 U.S. 505,39 L.Ed. 1070,15 S.Ct. 849
• Parties: CLARK v. REEDER
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

158 U.S. 505

15 S.Ct. 849

39 L.Ed. 1070

CLARK

v REEDER.

No. 262.

May 27, 1895.

April 16, 1796, a grant was made by the state of Virginia to Edward Dillon for 50,096 acres of land situated in what was then the county of Montgomery, but, at the time of the transactions involved in this case, partly in the counties of Wyoming, Boone, Raleigh, and Logan. The entry for the land was made April 23, 1795, it was surveyed May 28, 1795, and the land was known and spoken of as the Dillon survey or grant. In 1855, Dillon having died some time before, the land was sold for taxes and charges thereon, and at that sale was purchased by Lawson and Ward, to whom, a deed was made December 22, 1857, by the clerk of the county court of Wyoming county, under the statute. Lawson and Ward subsequently conveyed the land to Simpson, who conveyed to Cox, by whom it was conveyed to Charles Reeder in 1870, who was, and always has been, a citizen and resident of Maryland.

In 1873, Reeder caused a survey to be made of the Dillon tract by W. T. Sarver, a surveyor. At that time Reeder ascertained that there were a number of persons actually living upon portions of the land embraced in the Dillon survey, who claimed title to the land in their possession adverse to Reeder's title; the number of acres claimed by each being comparatively small. C. C. Watts, of West Virginia, had been acting as attorney and agent for Reeder in matters connected with the land for some years, when, on January 23, 1884, he obtained from Reeder an option to purchase it at the rate of $2 per acre at any time before July 1, 1884. February 4, 1884, the previous agreement was modified so that, if $25,000 was paid to Reeder in cash within 30 days from February 4, 1884, and an additional $1,000 to reimburse him for certain outlays made by him, then the price of the land should be reduced from $2 to $1.50 per acre.

In h e same month of January, Bell, acting as the agent of Clark, who was a resident of the city of Philadelphia, had entered into negotiations with Watts for the purchase of the land, in the profits of which purchase, if any, Bell and others were interested. These negotiations were commenced in Philadelphia, and resumed in West Virginia in February, 1884, and as a result thereof the following written contract was entered into on February 29, 1884, between Watts and Bell:

'Agreement made this 29th day of February, 1884, by and between C. C. Watts, of Charleston, W. Va., acting under an agreement in writing between himself and Charles Reeder, of Baltimore, Md., dated the 3d day of February, 1884, and as the agent of said Reeder, of the first part, and H. M. Bell, of Staunton, Va., acting as the agent of E. W. Clark, of Philadelphia, Pa., of the second part, witnesseth:

'That the party of the first part, acting as aforesaid, has this day sold to the party of the second part, acting as aforesaid, a certain tract or parcel of land lying and being in the counties of Boone, Logan, Wyoming, and Raleigh, in the state of W. Va., containing 50,096 acres, be the same more or less, which tract of land was granted by the commonwealth of Virginia to Edward Dillon by patent bearing date on the 16th day of April, 1796, and is now claimed and owned by the said Charles Reeder by a regular chain of conveyances, the first being a tax deed for said land executed by the clerk of Wyoming county court to Evermont Ward and Anthony Lawson, bearing date the 22d day of December, 1857, executed in pursuance of a sale thereof for taxes delinquent thereon in the name of the heirs of Edward Dillon, and the last to the said Reeder from C. C. Cox, dated the 27th day of August, 1870; and for a particular description of said tract of land reference is had to said patent,—upon the following terms and conditions, to wit:

'First. Said sale of said land is a sale by the acre, and not in gross.

'Second. The party of the second part is to pay for the said land at the rate of one dollar and seventy cents per acre, as follows: Thirty-five thousand dollars to be paid on the day on which James H. Ferguson, a practicing attorney of Charleston, W. Va., shall certify the title of said Reeder to said land to be good and valid, which certificate is to be made within 30 days from this date; twenty-five thousand dollars of which sum is to be paid to the said Reeder, and the residue to said Watts. The balance of the said purchase money is to be paid to said Reeder on the 1st day of June, 1884, or as soon thereafter as the necessary surveying can be done to ascertain the quantity of land within the bounds of the said patent to which the said Reeder can make good title. It is understood that the party of the second part is satisfied with the survey already made by Wm. T. Sarver of the exterior bounds of said tract of land, and that the surveying to be done is only such as may become necessary to ascertain what lands within said boundary are held by a better title than that of the said Reeder, by reason of adverse title and possession, all of which surveying is to be done at the expense of said party of second part.

'Third. When the last of the purchase money is paid, the said Reeder is to convey said land, with covenants of special warranty, to the said E. W. Clark, or to such person or persons as he may direct.

'Fourth. The balance of said purchase money, after the date of the certificate of said Ferguson, is to bear interest until paid.

'Fifth. In addition to said one 70-100 dollars per acre, the party of the second part is to pay to said Reeder one thousand dollars, as provided for in his contract with said Watts.

'Sixth. This contract is subject to the approval of said Reeder, and is to take effect from the date of such approval, but the same shall then be void if the certificate of said Ferguson is not made within the time specified.

'Witness the following signatures the day andy ear aforesaid.

'C. C. Watts.

'H. M. Bell,

'Ag't for E. W. Clark.

'Approved March 4th, 1884. C. Reeder.'

If the conditions of the agreement of February 4, 1884 (the date is given in the foregoing contract as February 3d) were not fulfilled, then the only option Watts had was under his agreement with Reeder of January 23, 1884, by which the price was to be $2 per acre, and by the terms of the agreement between Watts and Bell, Ferguson had 30 days from February 29, 1884, within which to pass upon the validity of the title, before the lapse of which time the option from Reeder to Watts to purchase at $1.50 per acre would have expired. The contract price in the contract of February 29th was fixed at $1.70 per acre, and the contract provided that $10,000—that is, 20 cents an acre on the basis of 50,000 acres—of the purchase money should be paid to Watts, and, if the contract was approved by Reeder, the time for the payment of the $25,000, as provided by the option of February 4th, would be extended. The contract of February 29, 1884, was taken to Baltimore by Watts and Bell, and on March 4, 1884, Reeder indorsed his approval thereon.

Ferguson drew the contract of February 29, 1884, as the attorney of Clark, and, acting under it, prepared and delivered a written opinion and certificate, dated March 22, 1884, as follows:

'Abstract of title to the following tract of land known as the 'Dillon Survey.'

'1st.

'The Commonwealth of Virginia to Edward Dillon.

'Grant or patent for fifty thousand and ninety-six acres, situate in the then county of Montgomery, Virginia, but now principally in the counties of Boone, Raleigh, and Wyoming, in the state of West Virginia, dated April 16, 1796.

'The grantee, Edward Dillon, died some time previous to the year 1855 (it is not known just how long), and the tract of land was entered on the land books of Wyoming county, where most of the tract is situated, in the name of Edward Dillon's heirs, and charged with taxes in that name.

'The taxes so charged on said tract not being paid, the land was returned delinquent, as required by law, for the nonpayment of said taxes, and the same was sold, as required by law, in the year 1855, for the said taxes and the charges thereon and the costs of sale, at which sale Anthony Lawson and Evermont Ward became the purchasers of the entire tract of 50,096; and, the owners of said tract of land failing to redeem the same within the time required by law, the said Lawson and Ward obtained a deed therefor under the statute.

'2d.

'Leroy B. Chambers, Clerk of the County Court of Wyoming County, to Anthony Lawson and Evermont Ward.

'Deed bearing date the 22d day of December, 1857.

'This deed conveys to the said Lawson and Ward, the purchasers of said tract of land at said tax sale, the said tract of land, and all the right, title, and interest of the heirs at law of Edward Dillon, dec'd, therein; but said deed is defective, and is not sufficient of itself to convey a good title to said tract of land to the grantees therein. It is, however, a good and sufficient color of title to ripen into a good and perfect title by possession of the land thereunder and the payment of the taxes thereon for a sufficient length of time.

'I have made a full and thorough examination and investigation of the matters pertaining to the title to this tract of land, and find that as early as the years 1859 and 1860 the said Evermont Ward, acting for himself and said Lawson, placed tenants on said land under an agreement that said tenants should clear and cultivate as much thereof as they saw proper, and at such place or places thereon as they saw fit, and that they should guard and protect the whole of the said tract against trespassers, and that said tenants and others put on said tract of land by and under them have continued on said land as the tenants of said Lawson and Ward from that time to the year 1870, when Charles Reeder became the purchaser of said land; and from that time to this they have held and occupied the said land as the tenants of said Reeder, and still so...