Brockman v. Rees

• Decision Date: 11 June 1918
• Docket Number: 8096.
• Citation: Brockman v. Rees, 70 Okla. 155, 1918 OK 359, 173 P. 525 (Okla. 1918)
• Parties: BROCKMAN et al. v. REES et al.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

173 P. 525

70 Okla. 155, 1918 OK 359

BROCKMAN et al. v. REES et al.

No. 8096.

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

June 11, 1918

Syllabus by the Court.

Where H. conveys property to W., trustee, and W. conveys such property to R., the presumption is that W. executed such deed in furtherance of his trust, and no one except a beneficiary of such trust could dispute the title of R. to such property under such conveyance.

Evidence examined, and held to reasonably support the findings of the trial court.

Additional Syllabus by Editorial Staff.

Where the issue was as to whether a deed from a minor Cherokee freedman to a trustee was obtained by fraud, the trial court's finding on the conflicting evidence in favor of the validity of the deed would not be disturbed by the Supreme Court on appeal.

A deed regular upon its face purporting to be a valid conveyance for a sufficient consideration and which was duly acknowledged and recorded by the force of the statute was admissible without further proof of execution.

Commissioners' Opinion, Division No. 2. Error from District Court, Rogers County; W. J. Campbell, Judge.

Suit originally begun by the First National Bank of Muskogee to foreclose a mortgage against Edward L. Rees, W. G. Brockman Charles N. Simon, and N. J. C. Johnson and others, in which W. G. Brockman and N. J. C. Johnson filed an answer and cross-petition to which defendant Rees filed an answer. The bank's motion for leave to withdraw was granted, and judgment was rendered in favor of the defendant Rees, and Brockman, Simon, and Johnson bring error. Affirmed.

Chas N. Simon, of Tulsa, for plaintiffs in error.

Adams & Wills, of Claremore, for defendant in error Rees.

WEST C.

This is a suit originally instituted by the First National Bank of Muskogee to foreclose a mortgage given by defendant Ed. L. Rees on the allotment of Martha Hall, a Cherokee freedman citizen and joined Ed. L. Rees, W. G. Brockman, Chas. N. Simon, and N. J. C. Johnson et al. as party defendants. Defendants W. G. Brockman, Chas. N. Simon, and N. J. C. Johnson filed an answer and cross-petition; defendant Ed. L. Rees filed his answer; and the defendants W. G. Brockman, Chas. N. Simon, and N. J. C. Johnson filed reply. All other defendants filed disclaimers. On November 23d, after the issues had been joined, the plaintiff, First National Bank of Muskogee, a corporation, filed motion for leave to withdraw from case, setting up satisfaction of their interest by defendant Rees, and same was granted. On May 5, 1915, the case proceeded to trial to the court on the issues joined by the answer and cross-petition and reply of defendants W. G. Brockman, Chas. N. Simon, and N. J. C. Johnson and the answer of the defendant Ed. L. Rees, and the pleadings were treated and were in effect a suit by W. G. Brockman, Chas. N. Simon, and N. J. C. Johnson to recover possession and quiet title to the allotment above mentioned. Judgment was rendered in favor of Ed. L. Rees, and the cause is brought here upon appeal to review findings and judgment of the court below. Plaintiffs in error will be designated as plaintiffs, and defendant in error as defendant, the places they occupied in the court below.

Both plaintiffs and defendant claim title to the entire allotment of Martha Hill, a Cherokee freedman. The petition and answer do not plead the deraignment of title, but the evidence discloses that plaintiffs claim title to the surplus allotment of the said Martha Hill, as follows: (1) Under and by virtue of a deed dated October 19, 1907, from Martha Hill to H. N. Johnson, and deed from H. N. Johnson to W. G Brockman and Chas. N. Simon, dated April 20, 1914, and second under deed from Martha Hill to W. G. Brockman, Chas. N. Simon, and N. J. C. Johnson dated October 12, 1908, and recorded October 14, 1908. Defendant claims title to this surplus allotment under deed dated June 24, 1908, from Martha Hill to Ed. S. Warner, trustee, and deed dated December 8, 1909, from Ed. S. Warner, trustee to Ed. L. Rees. Defendant in error assails the title deraigned from Martha Hill through H. N. Johnson for the reason that Johnson, before the execution of his deed to plaintiffs in error, had executed a deed to Malone, and Malone had reconveyed to Martha Hill, asserting that there was no title in Johnson at the time he made deed to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs claim that the deed from Johnson to Malone was defectively signed and acknowledged and was no notice to them, and that they would not be bound by...