Brewster v. Laclede Land & Improvement Co.

• Decision Date: 31 December 1912
• Citation: 152 S.W. 302,247 Mo. 223
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court
• Parties: BREWSTER v. LACLEDE LAND & IMPROVEMENT CO.

152 S.W. 302

247 Mo. 223

BREWSTER v. LACLEDE LAND & IMPROVEMENT CO.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

December 31, 1912.

1. PLEADING (§ 412) — LACK OF REPLY — WAIVER.

The trial of a cause without any reply being filed to the answer, and without any motion by defendant for a default for want of a reply, is, in effect, a trial as if a general denial had been filed to the answer.

2. ADVERSE POSSESSION (§ 14) — NECESSITY OF POSSESSION.

An action under Rev. St. 1909, § 2535, to quiet title, is not barred by limitations by a mere claim of some interest by defendant, however long continued, unaccompanied by any possession.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Reynolds County; J. J. Williams, Judge.

Action by Sam M. Brewster against the Laclede Land & Improvement Company. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals. Affirmed.

This is a suit to quiet title to real estate. The petition is in the ordinary form under section 650, R. S. 1899, now section 2535, alleging that plaintiff owns said land; that defendant claims an interest therein the nature of which is unknown to plaintiff, and praying the court to ascertain, determine, and quiet the title thereto. The answer admits the corporate existence of the defendant, and that it claims title to the lands aforesaid, and denies that the plaintiff is the owner thereof in fee simple as pleaded in the petition or otherwise and denies all allegations in the petition not admitted, and further pleads that the cause of action pleaded by the plaintiff accrued more than 10 years before the filing of the suit, and pleads the 10-year statute of limitation as a bar to the right of the plaintiff to recover. There was no reply filed, and the case was tried as though a reply had been filed. The plaintiff put in evidence a clear chain of title down to himself. The defendant put in evidence certain sheriff's deeds for taxes dated in 1884 and mesne conveyances thereunder to the defendant. It is claimed by the plaintiff and admitted by the defendant that the sheriff's deeds are void ab initio. There was no evidence offered as to the possession of the land. The court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff, adjudging that he is the owner of the land in fee simple.

J. B. Daniel, of Centerville, for appellant. Arthur T. Brewster, of Poplar Bluff, for respondent.

ROY, C. (after stating the facts as above).

1. The trial of the cause without any reply being filed, and without any motion on the part of the defendant for a default against plaintiff for want of reply, was the same, in effect, as if a general denial had been filed to the answer. Stevens v. Fitzpatrick, 218 Mo. loc. cit. 720, 118 S. W. 51; Atterbury v. Hendricks, 127 Mo. App. loc....