Crawford v. Amusement Syndicate Co.

• Decision Date: 31 March 1931
• Docket Number: 29214
• Citation: 37 S.W.2d 581
• Parties: CRAWFORD v. AMISEMENT SYNDICATE CO. et al
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

37 S.W.2d 581

CRAWFORD v. AMISEMENT SYNDICATE CO. et al

No. 29214

Supreme Court of Missouri, First Division

March 31, 1931

John W. Mitchell, of St. Joseph, for plaintiff in error.

Brown Douglas & Brown, of St. Joseph, for defendants in error.

OPINION

FERGUSON, C.

This action to try and determine title under section 1970, Rev St. 1919, was instituted and prosecuted in the circuit court of Buchanan county by a minor plaintiff through her next friend, John W. Mitchell, who was duly appointed for that purpose by said circuit court in the manner prescribed by statute. After proper allegations that certain defendants are corporations, the petition continues:

'Plaintiff further states that she has an interest in, and claims to be the owner in fee simple of Lots Seven (7) and Eight (8), in Block number forty-nine (49), in the Original Town, now City of St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri, and that the defendants have, or claim to have, some right, title, estate or interest in said property; that the defendant, Lyceum Garage Company, is in possession of the same, claiming as tenants of the defendants, Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford, as Trustees: and that the plaintiff is entitled to have her right, title, interest and estate in said property, legal or equitable, present, future or contingent, as well as the interest of the defendants therein, if any, tried and determined.

'Wherefore, plaintiff prays the court to define and adjudge by its judgment and decree, the estate, title and interest of the plaintiff and of the defendants, severally, in and to such real property, and to hear and finally determine in this action any of the rights, claims, interests, liens and demands whatsoever, if any, of the defendants, or any one of them, concerning or affecting the property hereinabove described; and prays judgment for her costs herein expended.'

The joint answer filed by defendants is lengthy, but clearly and fully states the defendants' claims of title and interest in said real property. The answer admits: That the defendants Amusement Synidcate Company and Lyceum Garage Company are corporations; that the defendant Burnes National Bank of St. Joseph is a national banking corporation; and that the defendant Lyceum Garage Company is in possession of the real estate under a lease executed by the defendants Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford, as trustees. Defendants then 'deny that the plaintiff is the owner in fee simple, or that she has any legal title, estate or interest in the premises described in her petition, and state that her interest therein is an equitable interest only, of the character hereinafter described.' Further answering, defendants state: 'That Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford are the owners in fee simple of the lands and premises described in plaintiff's petition as Trustees, however, for the purposes, with the powers and upon the terms and conditions hereinafter stated, for the use and benefit of Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford individually, during their lives and the life of the survivor of them, and for the use and benefit of the plaintiff and the defendant, Olive McNown, all in the manner and upon the terms and conditions hereinafter fully recited; that the defendant, Lyceum Garage Company, is the lessee of the defendants, Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford, as such Trustees, under a written lease.' The lease is identified and referred to, and it is then alleged that the defendants William H. White and Burnes National Bank of St. Joseph are trustees for the holders of bonds issued pursuant to a deed of trust which is described and referred to, and that said deed of trust is a valid lien on the leasehold interest of the defendant Lyceum Garage Company in said real estate and secures 'the equal pro rata payment of the bonds of said company issued * * * pursuant to the provisions' thereof. The answer continues: 'And by way of cross-petition, the defendants state that on the 15th day of August, 1927, the defendant, The Amusement Syndicate Company, which is the common source of the right, title and interest of all the parties to this action, agreed to sell and convey to the defendants, Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford, for the purpose of establishing and declaring a trust of the character and upon the terms and conditions hereinafter described, the real estate described in plaintiff's petition, and undertook to convey the same to the said Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford by deed which would convey to them a legal title in fee simple, to the said lands and premises, upon the condition and understanding, however, that said defendants would accept and hold said title in trust, upon the terms and conditions and for the purposes hereinafter described, to be declared by them in a separate instrument or agreement; and pursuant thereto said The Amusement Syndicate Company did, on the 15th day of August, 1927, execute and acknowledge a deed which was subsequently, and on or about the 13th day of September, 1927, delivered to said defendants, Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford, which said deed, through the error and mistake of the scrivener who prepared the same, and through the mutual mistake and oversight of the parties thereto, contained the words, 'Trustees for Mary Louise Crawford' after the names of the grantees named therein; * * * that shortly after said deed was delivered and recorded, and pursuant to the original intention and agreement between The Amusement Syndicate Company and Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford, said parties reduced to writing an agreement and understanding, defining and stating the terms, purposes, powers and conditions under which said real estate and premises were conveyed by said The Amusement Syndicate Company to the defendants, Lester M. Crawfored and May McNown Crawford, being the identical terms and conditions upon which it was the intention of said parties that said grantees should receive and hold title to said real estate. An exact copy of said agreement and declaration of the terms, powers, conditions and purposes of said trust, is hereto attached, marked 'Exhibit A,' and made a part hereof, to all of the provisions of which the defendants aver said deed from The Amusement Syndicate Company to the said Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford was, and was by the parties thereto intended to be, subject, in equity.' Further averments are made relative to the lease to the Lyceum Garage Company, the bonds issued by said company, and the deed of trust securing same. The answer concludes:

'Wherefore, the defendants pray the court to hear and finally determine herein any and all rights, claims, interests, liens and demands whatsoever of the parties to this action or any one of them, concerning or affecting the real estate described in the plaintiff's petition, and to award full and complete relief, legal or equitable, to the several parties and each of them, as fully and with the same effect as it might or could in any other or different action brought by the parties to this action, or any one of them, to enforce any such right, claim, interest, lien or demand; and they further pray the court to reform said deed dated August 15, 1927, by striking therefrom the words 'Trustees for Mary Louise Crawford,' and to declare and determine that under said deed the defendants, Lester M. Crawford and May McNown Crawford, are seized of legal title in fee simple to the premises described therein, and to declare and determine that in equity they hold said title in trust for the uses, purposes, upon the terms and conditions, and with the powers specified and set forth in the written trust agreement between the defendants, The Amusement Syndicate Company and ...