French v. Edwards

• Decision Date: 01 October 1874
• Citation: 22 L.Ed. 534,88 U.S. 147,21 Wall. 147
• Parties: FRENCH v. EDWARDS
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

88 U.S. 147

22 L.Ed. 534

21 Wall. 147

FRENCH v. EDWARDS.

October Term, 1874

ERROR to the Circuit Court for the District of California.

French brought ejectment, on the 30th of November, 1872, in the court below, against Edwards and twelve others, for a piece of land in California. The case was submitted to the court without the intervention of a jury. The court found these facts:

(1) That R. H. Vance, on the 1st of March, 1862, was seized in fee of the premises in controversy.

(2) That on that day he conveyed the premises to the plaintiff, who thereupon became seized and the owner in fee, and remained such owner until the 9th of January, 1863.

(3) That on that day he and the defendants executed a joint conveyance of the premises to Edward Martin and F. E. Lynch, their heirs and assigns forever, upon certain trusts, which, so far as it is necessary to state them, were as follows:

To hold and convey the premises in lots of such size and for such prices as should be directed by a committee of four persons, or a majority of them, the committee to be appointed by the parties to the deed and a railroad company then forming, and thereafter to be incorporated, to construct a railroad leading from Sutteville, and connecting with the Sacramento Valley Railroad.

This deed provided,

'That no conveyance shall be made by the said party of the second part until the said railroad shall have been commenced in good faith as aforesaid; and this conveyance shall be void if such railroad shall not be built within one year from the date of these presents; provided, however, that if the iron for such railroad shall be lost or detained on its transit from the Atlantic States, from any accident, then the time for completing said railroad shall be extended to two years, instead of one year.'

(4) That the railroad company was never incorporated and the railroad was never commenced.

(5) That the defendants were in exclusive possession of the premises at the commencement of the action, holding adversely to the plaintiff and all other persons.

The court held that the legal title was vested in Martin and Lynch by the deed of the 9th of January, 1863, was still vested in them, and that the plaintiff could not, therefore, recover.

It accordingly gave judgment for the defendants, and the plaintiff brought the case here,¹ where it was elaborately argued upon the doctrine of subsequent conditions.

Mr. S. O. Houghton (a brief of Mr. John Reynolds being filed), for the plaintiff in error; Mr. J. H. McKune (a brief of Mr. Delos Lake being filed), contra.

Mr. Justice SWAYNE delivered the opinion of the court.

We have not found it necessary to consider the doctrine of subsequent conditions broken, upon which the case has been elaborately argued. Another ground of decision is disclosed which we think free from difficulty, and upon which we are satisfied to place our judgment.

It appears that the trust deed to Martin and Lynch was executed on the 9th of January, 1863. By its terms it was to become void if the railroad was not completed within one year from its date. This suit was begun on the 30th of November, 1872, more than eight years after the time limited when the deed, upon the contingency mentioned, was to lose its efficacy. The court found that the road had not been begun, and that the company had not been incorporated. There is nothing in the record indicating that either event will ever occur. It was found that the plaintiff had a perfect title when the trust deed was executed. The grantees, therefore, took their entire title from him. It is a corollary that the other grantors had nothing to convey. Their joining in the deed, so far as the title was concerned, was matter of form and not of substance. Without incorporation, the railroad company could not share in the appointment of the committee under whose direction the lots were to be sold and the proceeds were to be distributed. Hence there could be no sale, and the trustees were powerless to do anything but remain passive and hold the title. The object of the conveyance had wholly failed, and the trust was impossible to be performed. The trust thus became barren. One more dry and naked could not exist. It was the plain duty of the trustees to reconvey to their grantor. He was the sole cestui que trust, and had the exclusive beneficial right to the property. A court of equity, if applied to, could not have hesitated to compel a reconveyance. Under these circumstances such reconveyance will be presumed in equity and at law as well. In Lade v. Holford et al.,² Lord Mansfield said that when trustees ought to convey to the beneficial owner he would leave it to the jury to presume, where such presumption might reasonably be made, that they had conveyed accordingly, 'in order to prevent a just title from being defeated by a matter of form.' This case was approved, and the doctrine applied by Lord Kenyon in England v. Slade.³ Three things must concur to warrant the presumption—(1) It must have been the duty of the trustee to convey. (2) There must be sufficient reason for the presumption. (3) The object of the presumption must be the support of a just title.⁴ The case must be clearly...