Campbell v. Fields

Citation35 Tex. 751
PartiesJ. D. CAMPBELL v. J. W. FIELDS AND OTHERS.
Decision Date01 January 1871
CourtSupreme Court of Texas
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

1. The fifteenth section of the twelfth article of the present state constitution provides that a homestead “shall not be subject to forced sale for debts, except they be for the purchase thereof, for the taxes assessed thereon, or for labor and materials expended thereon.” Held, that this provision did not repeal pre-existing laws on the subject of mechanics' liens. But it enlarged the scope of such liens by subjecting to their operation a new object, to wit, the homestead.

2. A mechanic's lien which is to operate upon a homestead must be created in the same manner as if intended to operate on other real property; and under our statutes (arts. 4592-3, Pas. Dig.) the contract must be made in writing, and be recorded within thirty days after its execution.

3. The constitution of 1869 became the fundamental law of the state at the time of its ratification by the majority of the voters of the state; and not when it was approved by the United States congress on the 27th of March, 1870. That approval was only a condition precedent to the representation of the state in the national legislature.

4. Sec. 47 of art. 12 of the state constitution provides that “mechanics and artisans of every class shall have a lien upon the articles manufactured or repaired by them, for the value of their labor done thereon, or materials furnished therefor; and the legislature shall provide by law for the speedy and efficient enforcement of said liens.” No legislative action is necessary to create the lien provided for by this section of the constitution; nor is the contract required to be in writing, or to be recorded. But this lien cannot exist upon real property; it is confined to articles of personal property.

APPEAL from Colorado. Tried below before the Hon. L. Lindsay.

This suit was brought by the appellees to the June term, 1871, of the district court of Colorado county, and against the appellant, for the value of work done, and materials furnished by the plaintiffs, on and for the homestead of the defendant, during the months of January, February and March, 1870. There was no written contract between the parties. The plaintiffs claimed a mechanic's lien, and prayed its enforcement; and the judgment being in their favor, the defendant appeals.

J. D. Campbell, appellant, in proper person.

W. J. Darden, for the appellees. The appellant contends that no lien could exist upon his house and lot, because it was his homestead, notwithstanding the claim of plaintiffs was for labor done thereon, and material furnished therefor, before it became his homestead. The ruling of the court was in strict accord with sec. 47, art. 12, general provisions of the constitution, which makes a mechanic's lien absolute without writing of any kind. The second and third assignments of errors are substantially the same, and have for their object the establishment of the doctrine that the constitution adopted by the people of Texas in 1869, did not become operative (even as to the relative civil affairs of the people of the state) until it was ratified by congress on or about thirty-first of March, 1870.

It is submitted that the charge of the court is correct; that the ratification of the constitution by congress was not to regulate the civil affairs of the state, but to affect its political condition. Under the constitution, and previous to its ratification, the legislature was convened, and state, district, and county officers were elected. This court knows as a matter of history, that the several courts of the state were held, and justice administered; the state existed in all its integrity, and all the machinery, executive, legislative and judicial, necessary to the state, also existed in proprio vigore. The supreme law of the land, the constitution of the United States, “in all its provisions, looks to an indestructible union, composed of indestructible states.” The State v. White & Chiles, 25 Tex. S. 600. The ratification by congress evidently restored the state to its normal political condition; but the state must have been in existence, with all the attributes of a republican form of government, and all the other essentials required by the supreme law of the land, before it could be so restored. This court knows historically that two United States senators and four representatives were elected to congress, and upon the ratification they took their seats, thereby showing that the action of congress related back and confirmed the adoption of the state constitution by the people of Texas, and it...

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6 cases
  • Cavazos v. Munoz, Civ.A. No. B-03-057.
    • United States
    • United States Bankruptcy Courts. Fifth Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Southern District of Texas
    • February 12, 2004
    ...then existing statute that required the original contractor to record the written contract to perfect the lien. Campbell v. Fields, 35 Tex. 751, 1872 WL 7476, at *3 (1872) (interpreting the 1869 Constitution to confer a self-executing lien for only articles manufactured or repaired by a At ......
  • Cavazos v. Munoz, Civ.A. No. B-03-057.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 5th Circuit. United States District Courts. 5th Circuit. Southern District of Texas
    • February 12, 2004
    ...then existing statute that required the original contractor to record the written contract to perfect the lien. Campbell v. Fields, 35 Tex. 751, 1872 WL 7476, at *3 (1872) (interpreting the 1869 Constitution to confer a self-executing lien for only articles manufactured or repaired by a At ......
  • Phelps & Bigelow Windmill Co. v. Shay
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Nebraska
    • May 6, 1891
    ...... homestead must be in writing, signed by husband and wife. (Barnes v. White, 53 Tex. 628; Campbell v. Fields, 35 Tex. 751; Lyon v. Ozee, 66 Tex. 95;. Franklin Land Co. v. Wea Gas Oil Co., 23 P. 630),. and must describe the property to be charged ......
  • Anderson v. Cundiff
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Texas
    • January 1, 1871
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