De Graffenreid v. Iowa Land & Trust Co.

• Citation: 95 P. 624,20 Okla. 687,1908 OK 49
• Decision Date: 13 April 1908
• Docket Number: Case Number: 526 OK Ter
• Parties: DE GRAFFENREID et al. v. IOWA LAND & TRUST CO.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

1908 OK 49

95 P. 624

20 Okla. 687

DE GRAFFENREID et al. v. IOWA LAND & TRUST CO.

Case Number: 526 OK Ter

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Decided: April 13, 1908

Syllabus

¶0 1. INDIANS--Lands--Creek Allotment--Title Acquired--Statutory Provisions. A citizen of the Creek Nation, by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes duly enrolled as a Creek freedman, who on April 22, 1899, selected her allotment upon the public domain of said nation, and received a certificate of allotment therefor, describing the lands, is seised of an equitable estate in fee therein, the sole effect thereon of section 6 of the act of March 1, 1901, (31 Stat, 863, c. 676), being to place said allotment on an equal footing as to rights and title with allotments theretofore made under and by virtue of Act June 28, 1898, c. 517, 30 Stat. 495, and does not operate as a legislative grant of the legal title in fee.

2. SAME--Descent--Creek Laws. A citizen of the Creek Nation, by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes duly enrolled as a Creek freedman, who on April 22, 1899, selected her allotment upon the public domain of said nation, and received a certificate of allotment therefor, describing the lands, is seised of an equitable estate in fee therein, which upon her death on June 7, 1902 descended, both surplus and homestead, to her heirs, according to the laws of descent and distribution of the Creek Nation, as provided in Act March 1, 1901, sec. 7, c. 676, 31 Stat. 863, known as the "Original Agreement."

3. SAME--Repeal of Creek Law. The provision of the Indian appropriation act, passed by Congress on May 27, 1902 (32 Stat. 258, c. 888), repealing the provisions of the said original agreement made by the Creeks, in so far as it provided for descent and distribution according to the Creek law of descent and distribution, and substituting therefor chapter 49 of Mansfield''s Digest (Ind. T. Ann. St. 1899, c. 21), did not, by virtue of the joint resolution of Congress, take effect until July 1, 1902.

4. SAME--Issuance of Patent After Allottee''s Death--Heirs. Where a citizen of the Creek Nation, by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes duly enrolled as a Creek freedman, who, on April 22, 1899, selected her allotment upon the public domain of said nation, and received her certificate of allotment therefor, describing the lands, and on June 7, 1902, died, before patent issued, a patent afterwards issued to the heirs of such person, without naming them, vested in said heirs the title to the lands therein described; said heirs to be determined by judicial construction.

5. SAME--"Nearest Relation." Upon descent east by such Creek freedman on June 7, 1902, intestate, without child or the issue of child or children her surviving, leaving her surviving an inter-married noncitizen father, and an intermarried noncitizen husband, a mother, three sisters, and a brother, all citizens of the Creek Nation, her mother as her "nearest relation" is entitled to inherit an undivided one-half interest in her allotment, under section 6 of the laws of descent and distribution of the Creek Nation (Act March 1, 1901, c. 676, 31 Stat. 863), and the inter, married noncitizen husband of the intestate the remaining undivided one-half interest therein, under chapter 10, sec. 8, Comp. Laws Creek Nation 1900, in force in the Creek Nation at the time of descent cast, construed with article 3, sec. 1, of said Compiled Laws.

6. SAME--Agreements With Indian Nations--Construction. In construing an agreement made by Congress with the Creek Nation and submitted to the citizens of the nation for their ratification by popular vote, it is manifestly unfair to construe it in any other manner than that in which it was obviously understood by them at the time, taking the terms employed in their common and ordinary acceptance; they being a simple and dependent people.

7. STATUTES--Construction With Reference to Other Statutes. In arriving at the intent of the Legislature in enacting a statute, not only must the whole statute and every part of it be considered, but where there are several statutes in pari materia, they are all, whether referred to or not, to be taken together and one part construed with another in the construction of any material provision. Statutes are in pari materia which relate to the same person or thing, or to the same class of persons or things.

8. DESCENT AND DISTRIBUTION--"Heirs" Construed to Mean "Children." The word "heirs" in sections of the Creek law of descent and distribution, set forth in Perryman''s Digest of 1900, is construed to mean "children" in this case.

9. SAME--Murder of Intestate by Person Entitled to Inherit--Effect. In the absence of express provision excluding the husband from inheriting from his wife under the laws of descent and distribution of the Creek Nation in force at the time of descent cast, the operation of said laws is not affected by the fact that the husband murdered his wife, but not for the purpose of at once obtaining the inheritance.

Error from the United States Court for the Western District of the Indian Territory, at Muskogee; before Wm. R. Lawrence, Judge.

Action by the Iowa Land & Trust Company against R. P. De Graffenreid and others to quiet title, or for partition or sale of the premises as their respective interests might appear. Judgement for plaintiff, and defendants sued out a writ of error to the United States Court of Appeals in the Indian Territory, whence the same came before the Supreme Court of Oklahoma by virtue of enabling act, June 16, 1906, c. 3335, 34 Stat. 267. Reversed and remanded with instructions.

On June 7, 1902, Castella Reeves, hereinafter called Castella Brown, died intestate in the Creek Nation, Ind. T., without child or children or the issue of such surviving her. She left surviving Cynthia Tolliver, her mother, Viola Brown Mathews, Shellie Brown, and Henrietta Stewart, her sisters, and George Brown, a brother, all duly enrolled citizens of the Creek Nation, but not of Indian blood. She left also surviving George Brown, her father, not a citizen of the Creek Nation, and Ben Reeves, her husband, "who was at no time a citizen of said nation." She was murdered by her said husband, Ben Reeves, who at the January term of the United States Court in the Indian Territory at Muskogee, was tried and convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Prior to her death, to wit, on April 22, 1899, Castella Brown selected her allotment, and on the same day received a certificate of allotment from the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes No. 1,330 for the S.E. 1/4 of section 9, township 18 N., range 18 E., in the Creek Nation, Ind. T. After her death, to wit, on July 26, 1905, Cynthia Tolliver, her mother, for a valuable consideration, made, executed, and delivered to the Iowa Land & Trust Company a warranty deed to said lands in fee, which was duly recorded, and said company placed in possession of said lands, which they have since retained. On August 16, 1905, said Henrietta Stewart and her husband, J. R. Stewart, for a valuable consideration, also made, executed, and delivered to said company a warranty deed to her undivided interest in said land, which was duly recorded. In August, 1905, George Brown, her brother, a single man, for a valuable consideration, also made, executed, and delivered to said company a warranty deed to his undivided interest in said land, which was duly recorded. On July 15, 1904, Ben Reeves, her husband, to compensate Robert P. De Graffenreid, his attorney, for his services in defending him for the murder of his wife, Castella Brown, made, executed, and delivered to said Robert P. De Graffenreid a warranty deed to his undivided one-half interest in said land, which was duly recorded. On September 23, 1904, Shellie Brown, her sister, for a valuable consideration, made, executed, and delivered to J. P. Allen, J. S. Calfee, and B. L. Hart a warranty deed to her undivided interest in said lands, which was duly recorded. On September 24, 1904, said Allen and wife, Calfee and wife, and Hart and wife, for a valuable consideration, made executed and delivered to the Creek Land & Improvement Company a quit claim deed to all their right, title, and interest in said land, which was duly recorded.

At the time of the death of Castella Brown, the Creek laws of descent and distribution were and are as follows:

"Sec. 6. Be it further enacted that if any person die without a will, having property and children, the property shall be equally divided among the children by disinterested persons and in all cases where there are no children, the nearest relation shall inherit the property."

"Sec. 8. The lawful or acknowledged wife of a deceased husband shall be entitled to one-half of the estate, if there are no heirs, and an heir''s part if there should be other heirs in all cases where there is no will. The husband surviving shall inherit of a deceased wife in like manner."

"Sec. 1. All noncitizens not previously adopted, and being married to citizens of this nation, or having children entitled to citizenship, shall have the right to live in this nation and enjoy all privileges enjoyed by other citizens, except in participation in the annuities and final participation in the lands."

On January 7, 1907, the Iowa Land & Trust Company, a corporation, filed its complaint in equity in the United States Court in the Indian Territory, Western District, at Muskogee, against said Robert P. De Graffenreid, Creek Land & Improvement Company, and Viola Brown Mathews, a sister, and George Brown, the father of Castella Brown, deceased, to cancel their deeds as a cloud on plaintiff''s title and to quiet the same, or for partition or sale as their respective interests might appear. Answers were filed; defendants De Graffenreid and Creek Land & Improvement Company each relying on their respective deeds aforesaid, and Viola Brown Mathews relying on her right to one-fifth of the land as a sister and heir of...