Gambrell v. Steele
| Decision Date | 15 November 1881 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 4359. |
| Parties | M. L. GAMBRELL v. WM. STEELE. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
ERROR from McLennan. Tried below before the Hon. L. C. Alexander.
Suit by Wm. Steele in trespass to try title against B. O. Gambrell in his life-time, to recover one hundred and sixty acres of land in McLennan county.
The petition alleged that in October or November, 1872, the land was vacant public domain; that on the 20th of October, 1872, Mrs. Sarah Shamblin settled on it, under pretense of pre-empting it; that she neither at the time of the settlement, nor at any other time, made the affidavit required by law to entitle her to the land; that no lawful survey was made of it for her; that without any lawful right she remained on the land until January, 1875, at which time she abandoned it and has not set up any claim to it since; that on April 16, 1876, appellee located a certificate for six hundred and forty acres issued to the International & Great Northern R'y Co. upon the land, numbered 411; that he had the field notes of said survey returned to the land office at Austin and applied for a patent; that his field notes were sent back for correction, in accordance with instructions from said office; that the correction was made and filed in the land office at Austin on January 19, 1877, and that at that time the land was vacant and subject to his location; that the commissioner of the land office refused a patent to him by reason of an affidavit filed by B. O. Gambrell on June 23, 1876, the substance of which was that affiant Gambrell was a bona fide settler upon one hundred and sixty acres of vacant land (the same in controversy in this suit) surveyed for Mrs. Sarah Shamblin November 20, 1872; that he and Sarah Shamblin had occupied and improved said land as a homestead for three years consecutively from November 20, 1872; that he was a married man, and made the affidavit to obtain the land as a homestead under the act of May 26, 1873.
The petition charged that this affidavit was false and fraudulent, and was made to deceive the commissioner of the land office; that he was deceived by it, and issued the patent to said one hundred and sixty acres of land to B. O. Gambrell on January 8, 1877.
The petition further alleged that this affidavit made by Gambrell was false, in this: that neither Mrs. Shamblin nor Gambrell, or both of them jointly or separately, occupied and improved said land as a homestead for three consecutive years prior to November 20, 1872; that Mrs. Shamblin abandoned the land in January, 1875; that from January to August, 1875, Gambrell occupied and claimed as a homestead fifty acres of land of the Jones survey, and during the seven months intervening he did not occupy the land in controversy; that the supporting affidavits were also false in fact; that Gambrell never did occupy said land until August, 1875; that the commissioner of the land office was deceived and defrauded by said false affidavits, and issued a patent to said land to Gambrell; that by reason of petitioner's location of the certificate upon the land, and the return of the survey and field notes to the land office at Austin, he was entitled to be invested with the title, and that the patent to Gambrell inured to his benefit, and prayed that the title to Gambrell be divested and vested in him.
The death of B. O. Gambrell was suggested, and his wife, Mrs. ____ Gambrell, as survivor, made herself a party, and answered “not guilty” and special pleas.
Steele introduced in evidence his certificate and transfer of the same; his location and survey of the land in dispute;...
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Murphy v. Johnson
...had them, of their own, in the state, and to permit these owners to acquire pre-emption titles through occupancy by tenants." Gambrell v. Steele, 55 Tex. 582. See, also, Garrison v. Grant, 57 Tex. In Daughty v. Hall, 59 Tex. 518, it is held that one who had already acquired a homestead coul......
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Witherspoon v. Olcott
... ... Fisher, 26 Tex. 239; O'Neal v. Manning, 48 ... Tex. 403; Johnson v. Eldridge, 49 Tex. 507; ... Gullett v. O'Connor, 54 Tex. 408; Gambrell ... v. Steele, 55 Tex. 582; League v. Rogan, 59 ... Tex. 430; Miller v. Moss, 65 Tex. 182; Decourt ... v. Sproul, 66 Tex. 371, 1 S.W. 337 ... ...
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Baker v. Burroughs
...it has several times been held that one who already has a homestead is not entitled to acquire other land by preemption, (Gambrell v. Steele, 55 Tex. 582; Daughty v. Hall, 59 Tex. 518; Garrison v. Grant, 57 Tex. 602.) No such requirement, however, is made of actual settlers who are given th......
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Johnson v. Townsend
...of his purchase, and did not continue the possession for three years, Lingo's possession being only of a few months' duration. Gambrell v. Steele, 55 Tex. 582. But it will be seen that Thomas went in possession by purchase from Plumner February, 1882, and he sold to Johnson, defendant, on t......