Conner v. Conner

• Decision Date: 28 March 1960
• Docket Number: No. 41282,41282
• Citation: 238 Miss. 471,119 So.2d 240
• Parties: Dr. Oscar W. CONNER et al. v. Mrs. Alma G. CONNER et al.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 240

119 So.2d 240

238 Miss. 471

Dr. Oscar W. CONNER et al. v. Mrs. Alma G. CONNER et al.

No. 41282.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 28, 1960.

Satterfield, Shell, Williams & Buford, Jackson, for appellants.

Wells, Thomas & Wells, Milton H. Mitchell, Jackson, for appellees.

KYLE, Justice.

This case is before us on appeal by Dr. Oscar W. Conner, an original defendant and cross complainant in the court below, and Mrs. Maude Conner and Mrs. Frances Conner Wright, Mrs. Jacquelyn Conner Galloway and Jack Michael Conner, surviving widow and children of W. F. Conner, deceased, intervening defendants and cross complainants in the court below, from a decree of the Chancery Court of Covington County rendered in favor of Mrs. Alma G. Conner and Lady Rachel Conner Biggs, surviving widow and only child of Martin Sennett Conner, deceased, complainants and cross defendants in the court below: (1) Confirming the title of the complainants in and to an undivided 21/32 interest in approximately 2,600 acres of land, situated in Covington County, and declaring the said defendant, Dr. Oscar W. Conner, to be the owner of the remaining undivided 11/32 interest in said lands; (2) cancelling all claims of title asserted by the defendants, intervenors and cross complainants in and to the said undivided 21/32 interest in said lands owned by the complainants; (3) ordering that a partition be made of the above mentioned lands among the said cotenants according to their respective interests; (4) vesting in the complainants and the defendant, Dr. Oscar W. Conner, according to their respective interests, title to 1,149 shares of the capital stock of the First National Bank of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, standing on the books of said bank in the name of Sennett Conner, as the owner thereof, at the time of his death; (5) directing the sale of certain jewelry owned by Mrs. O. W. Conner, Sr., now deceased, at the time of her death, for a division of the proceeds among the heirs of the said Mrs. O. W. Conner, Sr., according to their respective interests; (6) appointing a special master for the statement of an account of all rents, issues and profits received for or on behalf of the Conner Company or the Conner Trust, by Sennett Conner, Mrs. Alma G. Conner, Lady Rachel Conner Biggs, and Dr. Oscar W. Conner, individually or as of the Conner Trust, or any one or more of them, in connection with the operation of the above mentioned properties, and the indebtedness of any one or more of them to the other or others; and (7) dismissing with prejudice the cross bill of Mrs. O. S. Mayfield, intervenor and cross complainant, and the cross bills of Mrs. W. F. Conner, Frances Conner Wright, Jacquelyn Conner (now Jacquelyn Conner Galloway) and Jack Michael Conner, intervenors and cross complainants, except as to the apportionment of the proceeds from the sale of the jewelry referred to above, and dismissing with prejudice the cross bill of Dr. Oscar W. Conner, defendant and cross complainant, except as to the relief accorded him in said decree.

The record in this case shows that O. W. Conner, Sr., died intestate on August 4, 1923, and that he left surviving him, as his only heirs at law, his widow, Mrs. O. W. Conner and four children, namely, Martin Sennett Conner, W. F. Conner, who is referred to in the record as 'Jack' Conner, Dr. Oscar W. Conner and Mrs. O. S. Mayfield, also known as 'Mrs. Bernice Conner Mayfield', all of whom were adults; that the said O. W. Conner, Sr., left an estate, which consisted of personal property, the value of which is not disclosed by the record, and also approximately 2,600 acres of land, situated in Covington County, Mississippi, which was encumbered by three mortgage deeds of trust given to secure indebtedness owing to the Federal Land Bank of New Orleans aggregating the principal sum of approximately $25,000.

The record shows that the said Martin Sennett Conner, who will be referred to hereinafter as 'Sennett Conner' and as 'Governor Conner', was duly appointed administrator of said estate by a proper decree of the Chancery Court of Covington County rendered on August 18, 1923; that the administration of said estate was completed about the end of the year 1926; and that a decree was entered by the chancellor on January 15, 1927, finally discharging the administrator and his bondsmen. That decree, a copy of which appears in the record which we have before us on this appeal, recites that the cause was heard in vacation on petition of the administrator, joined in by all distributees of said estate, namely, Mrs. O. W. Conner, Sennett Conner, Mrs. O. S. Mayfield, W. F. Conner and O. W. Conner, Jr., all of whom were of legal age. The decree recites a finding by the court that all State and Federal estate taxes and all probated claims had been fully paid, and that the time for probating claims had expired; that the acts and accounts of the administrator should be ratified and confirmed; and that the administration should be terminated and the administrator and his bondsmen discharged. It was therefore ordered that the administrator be authorized and directed to assign, transfer and convey to Sennett Conner, individually, all judgments, notes, accounts and choses in action belonging to the estate; that all accounts and expenditures, and all acts and deeds made and done by the administrator during the course of the administration be ratified and confirmed, and that the administrator and his bondsmen be discharged from further liability. By a separate decree of the same date it was further ordered that the administrator be empowered to transfer to Sennett Conner, individually 100 shares of capital stock of the First National Bank of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, then held in the name of the deceased. That decree recited a finding by the court that it was the desire of all distributees that the 100 shares of bank stock belonging to the estate should be transferred to Sennett Conner, individually.

The record also shows that on February 9, 1927, Mrs. O. S. Mayfield, for a valuable consideration, conveyed by warranty deed her interest in all lands inherited by her from her father, and all of her interest in all chattels, choses in action, and other personal property belonging to the estate of O. W. Conner, deceased, to Mrs. O. W. Conner, Sennett Conner, W. F. Conner and O. W. Conner, Jr. The deed was filed for record on February 11, 1927. On January 3, 1930, W. F. Conner, who, as stated above, is referred to in the record as 'Jack' Conner, conveyed to Sennett Conner, for a consideration of $5,000, all of his interest in the above mentioned lands, and all his interest in all personal property, accounts and assets of the Conner Company. The deed was an absolute conveyance on its face and Sennett Conner's cancelled check for the $5,000 appears in the record before us on this appeal. The deed was filed for record on January 20, 1930. Mrs. O. W. Conner, Sr., died intestate on or about August 15, 1937, leaving as her only heirs her four children, Sennett Conner, Mrs. O. S. Mayfield, Dr. O. W. Conner, Jr., and W. F. Conner, each of whom inherited a 1/4 interest in her estate; and on August 30, 1937, Mrs. O. S. Mayfield conveyed to Sennett Conner by warranty deed all the interest inherited by her from her mother, Mrs. O. W. Conner, deceased, or otherwise belonging to her, in the above mentioned lands, and also, 'all personal property of whatsoever kind belonging to the Conner Co.'

The record shows that W. F. Conner died intestate on June 27, 1941, leaving as his only heirs his widow, Mrs. Maude Conner and three children, namely, Frances Conner, who is also referred to in the record as 'Mrs. Frances Conner Wright,' an adult, and Jacquelyn Conner and Jack Michael Conner, minors at the time of their father's death. At the time of his death W. F. Conner was the owner of the undivided 1/16 interest in the above mentioned lands, which he had inherited from his mother, and that interest passed by inheritance to his surviving widow and the three children mentioned above. On January 3, 1942, Mrs. Maude Conner and Mary Frances Conner executed a special warranty deed conveying their interests in the above mentioned lands to Sennett Conner and O. W. Conner, Jr. The deed recited a valuable consideration, the receipt of which was acknowledged. On January 15, 1942, S. O. Herrington, special commissioner of the Chancery Court of Covington County, pursuant to authority conferred upon him by a decree of said court rendered on January 13, 1942, in Cause No. 715, as shown on the General Docket of said court, for a consideration of $550 'cash in hand paid, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged,' sold and conveyed to Sennett Conner and O. W. Conner, Jr., subject to the liens existing against said lands, all the interests of Jacquelyn Conner and Jack Michael, Conner, minors, in said lands, being the interests inherited by them from their father, W. F. Conner, deceased; and a decree was entered on January 24, 1942, approving said sale. The decree recited that the provisions of the former decree directing the sale had been fully complied with, and that the purchase price had been paid to the commissioner; and a receipt dated January 15, 1942, signed by Mrs. Maude Conner, as mother and next friend of said minors, acknowledging the receipt from S. O. Herrington, special commissioner, of the sum of $275 for the use and benefit of Jacquelyn Conner, a minor, and $275 for the use and benefit of Jack Michael Conner, a minor, appears in the record.

The record shows that after the execution of the above mentioned deeds, all of which had been duly recorded, the record title to said lands was vested in Sennett Conner, as the owner of an undivided 21/32 interest in said lands, and Dr. O. W. Conner, as the owner of an undivided 11/32 interest in said lands. The record also shows that on October 25, 1943, Governor Conner and Dr. Oscar W. Conner, Jr.,...