Davis v. Hall

• Decision Date: 23 October 1905
• Citation: 105 N.W. 122,128 Iowa 647
• Parties: SARAH GRACE DAVIS, Appellee, v. J. J. HALL, Appellee, and ERMINE E. BARTELS and AUGUST BARTELS, Appellants
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

105 N.W. 122

128 Iowa 647

SARAH GRACE DAVIS, Appellee, v. J. J. HALL, Appellee, and ERMINE E. BARTELS and AUGUST BARTELS, Appellants

Supreme Court of Iowa, Des Moines

October 23, 1905

Appeal from Woodbury District Court.--HON. GEORGE W. WAKEFIELD Judge.

ACTION in equity for partition of real estate. Decree dismissing bill, and the defendants Ermine E. Bartels and August Bartels appeal.

Affirmed.

R. E Evans and Sullivan & Griffin, for appellants.

J. A Prichard, for appellees.

OPINION

WEAVER, J.

The real estate in question was formerly the property of Jonathan Hall, who conveyed the same to his son, the defendant J. J. Hall, in the year 1875. In the year 1876 J. J. Hall executed a deed for the same premises to his wife, Sarah J. Hall, and the record title remained in her until her death in the year 1883. After the death of Sarah J. Hall her husband remained in possession of the property, claiming, using, and controlling the same as his own, until the institution of this action on February 7, 1902. By his answer J. J. Hall alleges that he is, and at all times since the conveyance to him by his father has been, the owner of the property, and that the deed to his wife was never made effective by delivery. It is his claim, and the testimony tends strongly to sustain it, that he executed the deed and left it in the hands of the notary, subject to his own order, and that the notary, by mistake or in disobedience of his instructions, caused the instrument to be recorded. The wife does not appear to have ever claimed or exercised the rights or authority of ownership over the land, and for nearly twenty years after her death the children left their father in its undisturbed possession and use. Before the case came on for trial most of the children had made conveyance to their father of all their interest, real or apparent, in the property, and, from the decree confirming in him the title to the entire estate in the land and denying partition, the daughter Ermine Bartels alone appeals.

The question presented is one of fact alone, and upon this we are disposed to agree with the conclusion of the trial court. It is true that the execution and recording of a conveyance create a presumption of sufficient delivery, and this presumption can be overcome only upon a clear and satisfactory showing. But the conceded facts in this case re-enforced by the testimony of several witnesses to conversations with...