Conley v. Nailor

• Decision Date: 26 April 1886
• Parties: CONLEY v. NAILOR and others. Filed
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

118 U.S. 127

6 S.Ct. 1001

30 L.Ed. 112

CONLEY v. NAILOR and others.

Filed April 26, 1886.

W. D. Davidge and Irving Williamson, for appellant, Catharine conley.

W. A. Cook and C. C. Cole, for appellees, Rachel D. Nailor and others.

WOODS, J.

This was an appeal from a decree of the supreme court of the District of Columbia, by which certain deeds executed by one Allison Nailor to Catharine Conley, the defendant and appellant, were declared null and void. The deeds were four in number, and under them the defendant claimed title to certain real estate, some of which was situate in the city of Washington, and the rest in Montgomery county, in the state of Maryland. The bill was filed by the widow and three of the four heirs of Nailor. The interest of the widow in the lands was as doweress, and her rights were conceded by the answer. Allison Nailor, Jr., the remaining heir, was made a defendant, and answered that he had received his share of his father's estate by advancement, and disclaimed any interest in the property in controversy. The litigation was therefore virtually between Washington T. Nailor, son, and Lizzie Trimble and Frances Clarke, married daughters of Allison Nailor, whose husbands, Matthew Trimble and James W. Clarke, were joined as plaintiffs.

The pleadings and evidence showed the following facts: In the latter part of the year 1869 Allison Nailor, who was then about 58 or 59 years of age, was the owner of real estate in the city of Washington, and in Montgomery county, Maryland, worth about $150,000, and was possessed of considerable personal estate. He had resided in the city of Washington for about 50 years. He had for many years been engaged in buying and selling real estate, in keeping a livery stable, and in farming. He was shrewd and active in business, and had the capacity for making money and accumulating property. Much of the real estate which he owned in the city of Washington he let to be used as houses of ill fame and for sale by retail of spiritous liquors. For many years prior to 1869, and at least as early as the year 1854, he had led a dissolute and intemperate life. In 1869 he made the acquaintance of the defendant, who was then about 21 years of age. There is no averment or proof that prior to that time she was not a virtuous woman. In November or December of that year Nailor left his family, took up his residence with the defendant, and lived with her in concubinage until his death. The deeds referred to in the bill were the following: The first was a trust deed, dated and executed November 27 1872, more than six years before the death of Nailor, and recorded May 27, 1873, which conveyed to the defendant, Catharine Conley, a lot on South Fourteenth street, in the city of Washington, to hold in trust for the sole and separate use of Willie Earnest Nailor, who is described in the deed as the infant son of the grantor and the grantee. By the terms of the trust the grantee was to receive the rents and profits of the lot, and apply the same to the education and support of the beneficiary. When the latter became 21 years of age the trust was to cease, and the title in fee-simple was to vest in him. But the deed provided that, should 'said Willie Earnest die before he arrives at the age of twenty-one years,' 'or without having disposed of the said piece or parcel of ground,' then the title in fee-simple should vest absolutely in the defendant. The three other deeds were all dated and executed March 29, and recorded early in April, 1878. One of these three deeds conveyed to the defendant certain other real estate in the city of Washington in trust for the sole and separate use of Mary Edna Nailor, who is described as the infant daughter of the grantor and grantee, upon trusts and uses similar to those contained in the first deed, and with a similar remainder to the defendant. The second of the three deeds conveyed to the defendant about 130 acres of land in Montgomery county, Maryland, in trust for the benefit of the said Willie Earnest Nailor, upon trusts and uses similar to those contained in the deed of November 27, 1872, and with a similar remainder to the defendant. The last deed conveyed to the defendant, in fee-simple, for her own use, about 100 acres of land in Montgomery county, Maryland. The property conveyed by these four deeds was worth about $25,000. Willie Earnest Nailor died August 6, 1878, being nearly six years of age, and Mary Edna Nailor died August 8, 1878, being nearly two years of age. Catharine Conley, therefore, claimed title in fee-simple to all the property conveyed by the four deeds above mentioned. Allison Nailor died January 6, 1879.

The bill alleged three grounds for setting the deeds aside. The first was that the grantor was 'demented and insane,' and mentally incapable of making the deeds; the second, that the only consideration for said deeds, 'and each of them, was the illegal and criminal intercourse between said Allison Nailor, senior, and the said Catharine Conley, and that such consideration was illegal, alike contrary to public policy and common decency;' and the third, that the deeds had been procured by fraud and the undue influence of the defendant over the grantor. The bill neither required nor waived an answer unde oath, but the defendant answered under oath, traversing all the averments of the bill upon which the prayer for relief was based. We shall notice the grounds upon which the cancellation of the deeds is demanded in the order in which we have stated them.

There is a large mass of evidence in the record introduced to prove that from a long course of dissolute and intemperate habits Nailor had become insane and incapable of transacting business. On the other hand, there is, in our judgment, a great preponderance of evidence to show that when he executed the deeds, though in feeble health, he was of sound mind, and capable of intelligently executing and making the conveyances. It would serve no useful purpose to discuss the evidence in detail. But there are some striking facts which should be stated. Of the 43 witnesses for the plaintiffs who testify in regard to the mental capacity of Nailor, 33 give their opinion from having seen him when drunk. Of these 33, 18 swear that they never saw him sober, 3 that they never saw him sober but once, and 12 that they seldom saw him when not intoxicated. Six others of the 43 witnesses speak of him as incompetent to transact business when he had been drinking. Only 4 witnesses testify that he was incapable of doing business when sober. Three of these are plaintiffs in this case, namely, W. T. Nailor, Matthew Trimble, and James W. Clarke. W. T. Nailor testifies generally that, for the last eight or ten years of his life, Allison Nailor, his father, was incapable of transacting business; and that neither on November 27, 1872, when the first deed was executed, nor on March 29, 1878, when the other three were executed, was he mentally competent to make a valid conveyance. But the same witness testifies that during the last year of his father's life he took from him a 30-years lease for certain stables in the city of Washington, at a rent of $50 per month and the taxes on the property. Matthew Trimble and James W. Clarke both swear generally, the first that for the last three years, and the other that for the last six or seven years, of his life, Allison Nailor was not competent to transact such business as the disposition and conveyance of valuable property. Fairly construed, the testimony of these three plaintiffs may be considered to mean that, whether inebriated or not, Nailor was mentally incompetent during the latter years of his life to attend to business of moment. After Nailor left his family, and went to live with the defendant, it does not appear that these witnesses had any better opportunities for observing his mental condition than many others. There is but one witness, not a plaintiff in the case, who testifies that during the time covered by the transactions set out in the bill, Nailor, if sober, was not mentally capable of making the conveyances which the bill seeks to set aside.

The question to be decided is not whether Nailor had the mental capacity to make the conveyances when he was intoxicated, but whether he was competent when sober, and whether he was sober when he executed them. On these questions the evidence does not leave us in doubt. There is abundant testimony to show that during the last six or seven years of his life Nailor, though habitually intemperate, was often sober and free from the influence of intoxicating liquors. This fact is shown by the testimony of 14 witnesses, who swear that they had interviews with him, many of them frequently, during the time above mentioned, and found him...