Skelton v. William Dill

• Citation: 235 U.S. 206,59 L.Ed. 198,35 S.Ct. 60
• Decision Date: 30 November 1914
• Docket Number: No. 56,56
• Parties: L. S. SKELTON, Plff. in Err., v. WILLIAM H. DILL
• Court: United States Supreme Court

235 U.S. 206

35 S.Ct. 60

59 L.Ed. 198

L. S. SKELTON, Plff. in Err.,

v WILLIAM H. DILL.

No. 56.

Submitted November 5, 1914.

Decided November 30, 1914.

Messrs. Charles J. Kappler and Charles H. Merillat for plaintiff in error.

No appearance for defendant in error.

Mr. Justice Van Devanter delivered the opinion of the court:

Whether an allotment of lands in the Creek Nation, which was made on behalf of Archie Hamby, a Creek child then deceased, passed the lands to his heirs free from restrictions upon alienation, is the Federal question in this case. The facts out of which the question arises are these: Archie Hamby was born in February, 1900, and died in July, 1901, being survived by his parents and by at least one sister. His mother was a Creek woman, duly enrolled as such in 1895, and his father was a white man, not entitled to enrolment. Two or three years after the child's death his name was regularly placed upon the roll of Creek citizens by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, and the lands in question were duly embraced in an allotment made on his behalf. A deed for them was also issued in his name, and this, by operation of law, vested the title in his heirs. In September, 1905, after the allotment was made, his parents, acting through an attorney in fact, appointed a few days before, executed and delivered to L. S. Skelton a warranty deed for the lands, and in July, 1906, the parents, apparently ignoring the deed to Skelton, executed and delivered to S. M. Wilson a similar deed. Whatever rights Wilson acquired under his deed subsequently passed to William H. Dill.

The action in the court of first instance was in ejectment, and was brought by Dill against Skelton, who had gone into possession under his deed. Dill prevailed and the judgment was affirmed by the supreme court of the state, which held that when the deed to Skelton was made the lands were subject to restrictions upon alienation which rendered the deed void, and that at the time of the deed to Wilson, under which Dill was claiming, the restrictions had been removed, thereby rendering that deed valid. 30 Okla. 278, 119 Pac. 267.

The allotment was made under the act of March 1, 1901, 31 Stat. at L. 861, chap. 676, as modified and supplemented by the act of June 30, 1902, 32 Stat. at L. 500, chap. 1323. These acts embodied and adopted a plan for allotting and distributing the lands and funds of the Creek Nation in severalty among its citizens, and to that end required that an enrolment be made by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes of all citizens who were entitled to participate in the allotment and distribution. It being necessary to fix a date as of which the enrolment should be made, the original act provided, in § 28, that the enrolment should embrace all qualified citizens who were living on April 1, 1899, and all children born to such citizens up to and including July 1, 1900, and living on that date. The supplemental act changed the latter date by declaring, in §§ 7 and 8, that the enrolment should include all children born up to and including May 25, 1901. Evidently anticipating that participation in the allotment and distribution might in some instances be cut off by death, Congress made provision for such a contingency. Thus the original act declared, in § 28: 'And if any such citizen has died since that time [April 1, 1899], or may hereafter die, before receiving his allotment of lands and distributive share of all the funds of the tribe, the lands and money to which he would be entitled, if living, shall descend to his heirs . . . and be allotted and distributed to them accordingly.' And the supplemental act provided, in §§ 7 and 8: 'And if any such child has died since May 25, 1901, or may hereafter die,...