Anniston City Land Co. v. Edmondson

• Decision Date: 20 November 1900
• Citation: 127 Ala. 445,30 So. 61
• Parties: ANNISTON CITY LAND CO. v. EDMONDSON. [1]
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

30 So. 61

127 Ala. 445

ANNISTON CITY LAND CO. v. EDMONDSON. ^[1]

Supreme Court of Alabama

November 20, 1900

Appeal from city court of Anniston; James W. Lapsley, Judge.

Ejectment by the Anniston City Land Company against W. J. Edmondson. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff appeals. Reversed.

On the trial of the case, the plaintiff introduced in evidence a certificate of a patent to the lands sued for, issued to Benjamin Johnson on December 1, 1852. This patent also embraced 40 acres of lands immediately north of the 40 acres sued for; the patent calling for the W. 1/2 of the S.W. 1/4 of section 31, township 15, range 8 E., in Calhoun county Ala. The 40 acres north of the 40 sued for were known and designated and referred to in the trial as the "Cyclone Forty." The evidence tended to show that Benjamin Johnson cleared up and cultivated a part of the land in dispute some time in 1855 or 1856; that he moved upon the lands in 1862, and planted a crop upon the 80 acres of land which were patented to him, cultivating some land in each of the 40's; that he built his house in the 40 known as the "Cyclone Forty"; that he lived on said land until he moved to Randolph county, in 1862; and that before moving to Randolph county said Johnson stated to several members of his family that he had sold the land in dispute to the Oxford Iron Company. The testimony of the plaintiff further tended to show that the Oxford Iron Company succeeded Johnson in the possession of the lands involved in this controversy, and commenced to cut timber on said lands, and to make it into charcoal; that one Spradley, who was the agent of the Oxford Iron Company, went into possession of the house built by Johnson on the "Cyclone Forty" as soon as Johnson moved out of it, and to coal the timber off of said lands in the years 1863 and 1864. There was further testimony introduced by the plaintiff tending to show that the works of the Oxford Iron Company, together with its papers and records, were burned up in the spring of 1865 by federal raiders, and that the records of Calhoun county, which were sent to Talladega for safe-keeping, in the spring of 1865 were also burned up by federal raiders. The evidence for the plaintiff further tended to show that, after the works of the Oxford Iron Company were burned up in the spring of 1865 said company remained in possession of the lands here sued for, through its agents, until it sold out to the Woodstock Iron Company, in 1874 or 1875. The plaintiff introduced in evidence deeds from all the individual stockholders of the Oxford Iron Company and the Woodstock Iron Company conveying the lands in dispute, and also introduced in evidence two certificates of redemption of the Woodstock Iron Company of land sold as property of the Oxford Iron Company for delinquent taxes, in each of which certificates was included the land sued for in this action. These certificates of redemption were dated March 3, 1874. The evidence for the plaintiff further tended to show that the Woodstock Iron Company went into possession of said lands shortly after the execution of these certificates of redemption, and exercised repeated and continuous acts of ownership upon said lands claiming them as its own up to 1891 or 1892, and for many years kept a tenant on the "Cyclone Forty"; that the lands sued for in this action had not been in cultivation since the war, and were not suitable for cultivation, but were what were known as "wild land" until shortly before the commencement of this suit, when, in 1893 or 1894 W. J. Edmondson built a house on the lands sued for, and placed a tenant therein, and that the person so placed upon the lands of Edmondson was the first person who had actually lived on the land sued for. The plaintiff then introduced in evidence a deed from the Woodstock Iron Company to the Anniston City Land Company, conveying the lands sued for, and which was dated July 3, 1895. This deed was duly executed, acknowledged, and recorded.

The testimony on the part of the defendant tended to show that one James Ford, while living on some lands which had been sold him by Benjamin Johnson, worked a field located on the lands involved in this controversy in 1858 or 1859; that in 1868 said Ford sold the lands in dispute to one Ben Maddox, but no deed of said Ford conveying said lands was ever proven; that said Ben Maddox kept the lands in dispute for a few weeks, and sold them to the defendant, W. J. Edmondson, and executed a deed conveying said lands, together with other lands of said Edmondson, on December 4, 1868. This deed from Maddox and wife to Edmondson conveying the lands sued for was introduced in evidence. The testimony for the defendant further tended to show that, after the purchase of said lands from Maddox, Edmondson exercised acts of ownership over them, such as cutting firewood, etc., and has continued to exercise such acts of ownership up to the time of the institution of the present suit, claiming to be the owner of said lands. The defendant also introduced in evidence the original patent that was issued to Benjamin Johnson for the W. 1/2 of the S.W. 1/4 of section 31, township 15, range 8 E., in Calhoun county, Ala; and the defendant testified that this original patent was given to him by Maddox at the time said Maddox delivered to him his deed to the lands sued for.

During the progress of the trial, the plaintiff offered to prove by one Robert Zuber, who was a witness for the plaintiff, that he (witness), acting as agent of the Woodstock Iron Company from 1878 to 1887, exercised such acts of ownership over the land in dispute as it was susceptible of. The court refused to allow the plaintiff to make this proof, and to this ruling the plaintiff duly excepted. The plaintiff also offered to prove by one George Noble that during the time he was connected with the Woodstock Iron Company, from 1885 to 1887, said company exercised such acts of ownership and control over the land in dispute as it was susceptible of. Upon the objection of the defendant, the court refused to allow the plaintiff to make said proof, and to this ruling the plaintiff duly excepted. During the examination of the said witness Robert Zuber, who it was shown was the "woods boss" of the Woodstock Iron Company from 1878 to 1887, the plaintiff offered to prove by said witness that at the time of the commencement of his connection with the Woodstock Iron Company, in 1878, as the woods boss, said company gave him a map of the lands owned by it, which lands he was required to look after for said company, and to keep off trespassers, etc., and that the lands in dispute were on the map given witness as a part of the lands to be looked after by him for the Woodstock Iron Company. The court refused to allow this testimony to be introduced, and the plaintiff duly excepted.

There was evidence introduced by the plaintiff tending to show that the Woodstock Iron Company had cut and hauled some saw logs off of the land involved in this controversy to its sawmill in the years 1875, 1876, 1877; that during this time the defendant, Edmondson, was shown to reside within three-fourths of a mile of the land sued for; and that said lands were in full sight of the public road leading from Edmondson's house to Anniston. During the examination of one Mat Clements as a witness, the plaintiff offered to prove by said witness "that defendant, Edmondson, was very careful to see that the timber on his lands was not trespassed upon." Upon the objection of the defendant, the court refused to permit the witness Clements to testify to this fact, and to this ruling the plaintiff duly excepted. Upon its being shown that the defendant had paid Maddox 40 cents per acre for the lands purchased by him from Maddox, including the lands sued for, the plaintiff offered to prove by one Sprague that the lands in the vicinity of the lands involved in this litigation, as well as the lands sued for, were worth four of five dollars per acre at the time Maddox executed the deed to Edmondson. The court refused to permit the plaintiff to make this proof by the witness Sprague, and to this ruling the plaintiff duly excepted. The plaintiff offered to prove by James F. Johnson, the son of Benjamin Johnson, that his father was the original patentee from the government, and told him (the witness), at his home in Randolph county, Ala., in 1863, that he (Benjamin Johnson) had sold and given possession of the lands now sued for to the Oxford Iron Company. Upon objection of the defendant, the court refused to allow the introduction of this testimony, and to this ruling the plaintiff duly excepted.

During the examination of Ben Maddox as a witness, he testified that, at the time he purchased the land from James Ford, Ford delivered the original patent to him, which he delivered to Edmondson at the time he sold the lands to Edmondson; that when Ford sold to him he gave him a paper writing, and that the paper marked "B" was the said paper or part of it. The plaintiff moved to exclude this testimony, in reference to the paper marked "B," on the ground that it was irrelevant, illegal, and incompetent. The defendant, Edmondson, as a witness, testified that, when he purchased the lands from Maddox, Maddox gave him a deed which was introduced in evidence, and at the same time gave him the paper marked "B"; that he had found the paper marked "B," which was only a part of the instrument originally given him by Maddox, and he did not know what had become of the rest of the paper; "that he had searched diligently for it among his own papers, and among Maddox's papers, looking over all the old scraps; that the paper B had James Ford's and Margaret Ford's names to it, and had witnesses to it, one of whom was Benjamin Johnson." This...