Griffin v. Stanolind Oil & Gas Co.

• Decision Date: 08 March 1939
• Docket Number: No. 2202-7249.,2202-7249.
• Citation: 125 S.W.2d 545
• Court: Texas Supreme Court
• Parties: GRIFFIN et al. v. STANOLIND OIL & GAS CO.

125 S.W.2d 545

GRIFFIN et al. v. STANOLIND OIL & GAS CO.

No. 2202-7249.

Commission of Appeals of Texas, Section A.

March 8, 1939.

Error to Court of Civil Appeals of Sixth Supreme Judicial District.

Trespass to try title by K. W. Griffin and others against the Stanolind Oil & Gas Company to recover an undivided interest in the oil and gas leasehold estate held by the defendant company in a certain tract of land, wherein defendant filed a cross-action. Judgment for the defendant was affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals, 102 S.W.2d 231, and plaintiff brings error.

Judgments of the Court of Civil Appeals and of the District Court affirmed.

Wynne & Wynne, Angus G. Wynne, and Henry H. Harbour, all of Longview, and Brin & Cate, of Terrell, for plaintiffs in error.

Turner, Rodgers & Winn and M. B. Solomon, all of Dallas, and Clay Tallman and L. A. Thompson, Jr., both of Tulsa, Okl., for defendant in error.

HARVEY, Commissioner.

This suit, in so far as this appeal is concerned, is an action of trespass to try title instituted by the plaintiffs in error, K. W. Griffin, F. E. Lumpkin, individually, and John Protho, as guardian of the estate of Maurice Protho, a minor, against the Stanolind Oil and Gas Company, to recover an undivided interest in the oil and gas leasehold estate held by the Company in a certain tract of twenty and a fraction acres in Gregg County. The said tract of twenty and a fraction acres is a part of a 54-acre tract belonging to Alex Lockhart and the heirs of his first wife. The case was tried before the court without a jury and judgment was rendered in favor of the Stanolind Company. On appeal, the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court. 102 S.W.2d 231. The plaintiffs in error have been granted the writ of error.

The material facts are substantially as follows:

Prior to February, 1930, Alex Lockhart and Julia Lockhart were husband and wife. During such marriage relation, Alex bought the 54-acre tract mentioned above. The children of this marriage were Ruth (who married Frank Lockhart) and Lovie (who married Lonnie Coulter). Julia had two children by a former marriage, namely: Effie Thomas and another daughter, Minnie Protho, who died intestate leaving five children: Elihu Protho, Obie Protho, Naomi Protho, James Protho and Maurice Protho. Julia died intestate on February 3, 1930, leaving as her heirs Ruth and Lovie, Effie Thomas and the five children of Minnie Protho, deceased.

Alex married his second wife, Cohesia, soon after Julia died. On October 9, 1930, Alex and his second wife, Cohesia, and Ruth and Lovie, and their respective husbands, executed to L. A. Grelling, Jr., and O. M. Boren, an oil and gas lease covering said 54-acre tract of land along with two other tracts. The three tracts contained in the aggregate 181¾ acres. So far as appears from the record before us, only the 54-acre tract belonged to the community estate of Alex and his first wife, Julia. Omitting immaterial provisions, said lease reads as follows:

"Oil and Gas Lease

"Agreement, made and entered into the 9th day of October, A. D. 1930, by and between A. A. Lockhart, and wife, Cohesia Lockhart, and daughter, Ruth Lockhart and husband, Frank Lockhart, of Gregg County, Texas, and daughter, Lovie Coulter, and husband, Lonnie Coulter, of Dallas County, Texas, of ____, hereinafter called lessor (whether one or more), and L. A. Grelling, Jr., & O. M. Boren, hereinafter called Lessee:

"Witnesseth: That the said lessor, for and in consideration of ten and no/100 ($10.00) dollars, cash in hand paid, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, and of the covenants and agreements hereinafter contained on the part of lessee to be paid, kept, and performed ha-- granted, demised, leased, and let, and by these presents do grant, lease, and let unto the said lessee for the sole and only purpose of mining and operating for oil and gas, and of laying pipe lines, and of building tanks, power stations, and structures thereon to produce, save and take care of said products, all that certain tracts of land situated in the County of Gregg, State of Texas, described as follows, towit:

* * * * * *

"It is agreed that this lease shall remain in force for a term of ten years from date, and as long thereafter as oil or gas, or either of them, is produced from said land by the lessee.

"In consideration of the premises, the said lessee covenants and agrees:

"1st. To deliver to the credit of lessor, free of cost, in the pipe line to which lessee may connect his wells, the equal one-eighth part of all oil produced and saved from the leased premises.

"2nd. To pay to lessor, as royalty for gas from each well where gas only is found, while the same is being sold or used off of the premises, one-eighth of the market price at the wells of the amount so sold or used, the lessor to have gas free of charge from any gas well on the leased premises for all stoves and inside lights in the principal dwelling house on said land by making lessor's own connections with the well at lessor's own risk and expense.

"3rd. To pay to lessor as royalty for gas produced from any oil well, and used by lessee for the manufacture of gasoline, one-eighth of the market value of such gas. If such gas is sold by lessee, then lessee agrees to pay lessor, as royalty, one-eighth of the market price at the wells of the amount sold.

"If no well be commenced on said land on or before the 9th day of October, 1931, this lease shall terminate as to both parties, unless the lessee on or before that date shall pay or tender to the lessor, or to the lessor's credit in the First National Bank at Longview, Texas, or its successors, which shall continue as the depository regardless of changes in the ownership of said land, the sum of One Hundred Eighty One and 75/100 Dollars, which shall operate as a rental and cover the privilege of deferring the commencement of a well for 12 months from said date. In like manner, and upon like payments or tenders, the commencement of a well may be further deferred for like periods of the same number of months successively. And it is understood and agreed that the consideration first recited herein, the down payment, covers not only the privilege granted to the date when said rental is payable as aforesaid, but also the lessee's option of extending that period as aforesaid, and any and all other rights conferred.

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"If said lessor owns a less interest in the above described land than the entire and undivided fee simple estate therein, then the royalties and rentals herein provided for shall be paid the said lessor only in proportion which lessor's interest bears to the whole and undivided fee.

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"Lessee shall have the exclusive right to build, operate, and maintain pits, reservoirs, pickup stations, and plants for the purpose of picking up and conserving the waste oil that flows down the creeks, ravines, and across the land embraced in this lease, whether said oil is produced from lands covered by this lease, or other lands, and lessor shall be entitled to receive the royalty hereinbefore reserved on all such oil so saved.

* * * * * *

"Title to the minerals vested in grantee under this grant shall not end, or revert to grantor, until there is a complete, absolute, and intentional abandonment by grantor of each and all of the purposes, expressed or implied, of this grant and every part and parcel of the premises described in this grant.

"Lessor hereby warrants and agrees to defend the title to the lands herein described, and agrees that the lessee shall have the right at any time to redeem for lessor, by payment, any mortgages, taxes, or other liens on the above described lands, in the event of default of payment by lessor, and be subrogated to the rights of...