Hall v. Law

• Decision Date: 01 October 1880
• Citation: 102 U.S. 461,26 L.Ed. 217
• Parties: HALL v. LAW
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

102 U.S. 461

102 U.S. 461

26 L.Ed. 217

HALL v. LAW.

October Term, 1880

APPEAL from the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Indiana.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.

Mr. James C. Denny and Mr. Charles E. Marsh for the appellants.

Mr. Asa Iglehart and Mr. J. E. Iglehart, contra.

MR. JUSTICE FIELD delivered the opinion of the court.

This is a suit to quiet the title to certain real property in the State of Indiana, of which it is charged that one William P. Hall, who died intestate in 1857, was seised in fee. By the law of Indiana, his real estate descended to the complainants.

The premises in controversy are situated in the city of Evansville, in that part known as Lamasco. They constitute a part of a fractional section in the subdivision of the public lands in a township of the State. A small stream runs through the section, known as Pigeon Creek, on the west of which four-sevenths of the section lie, and on the east three-sevenths. The premises in suit are on the west side of the creek.

In 1831, the deceased William P. Hall became the owner of two undivided sevenths of the section. In 1833, proceedings were taken in the Circuit Court of the county in which the section lies, at the instance of the possessor of an undivided interest, for a partition of the land and an assignment in severalty of the interests of the different owners. These proceedings resulted in a partition, by which the interest of Hall was set apart out of that portion of the section lying east of Pigeon Creek. If these proceedings are valid, the claim of the complainants, as the children and the widow of the deceased, is without foundation. He was divested of all interest in the property in controversy several years before his death.

The proceedings were taken under an act of the State, of February, 1831, entitled 'An Act to provide for the partition of real estate,' the first section of which enacts:——

'That when two or more persons are proprietors of any real estate, any of whom are desirous of having the same divided, it shall and may be lawful for the Circuit Court of the county where such real estate may be situate, on the application of any such person (notice of such application having been previously given by the party so applying for at least four weeks in some public newspaper in the State), to appoint three disinterested freeholders, residents of said county, not related to either of the parties, as commissioners for dividing the said estate; and said commissioners having previously taken an oath or affirmation, before some justice of the peace in said county, honestly and faithfully to execute the trust reposed in them as commissioners aforesaid, shall proceed to make division of said estate, as directed by the court, among the owners and proprietors thereof, according to their respective rights; which partition being made by the said commissioners, or any two of them, and return thereof being made by the said commissioners, in writing, under their hands, to said court, particularly describing the lots or portions allowed to each respective owner or proprietor, mentioning WHICH OF THE Owners or proprietors are minors, if any such there be, which return being acknowledged by the commissioners making the same, before any one of the judges of the court aforesaid for the said county, and accepted by the court, and entered and recorded in the clerk's office, shall be a partition of such lands, lots, and tenements therein mentioned.' Rev. Laws of Ind., 1838, 426.

The record of the proceedings of the partition in this case consists of the order of the Circuit Court of Sept. 12, 1832, appointing three commissioners to divide the section between the several proprietors, and to report to the court at the next term; their report at the next term, in March, 1833, showing the partition made and the part assigned to each proprietor; the confirmation of the report at that term by the court, and its apportionment of the expenses of the partition among the proprietors.

The order appointing the commissioners recites that it was proved to the satisfaction of the court that David Miller (one of the proprietors) had given due and legal notice that he would, on the third day of the court (which was that day, September 12), make application for the appointment of commissioners to divide among the several proprietors thereof the fractional section.

The report gives the boundaries of the section, and sets forth with proper description the portion assigned to each proprietor. It complies in its details with the requirements of the statute and is accompanied with a plat of the land showing the tract assigned.

The validity of this partition is assailed because no complaint or petition of the applicant for the partition appears in the record as the foundation of the proceedings, and without one it is contended that they were void.

The statute does not in terms require the application of the proprietor seeking a partition to be presented in writing, or, if one be presented, to be filed among the records of the court. All that it designates as necessary to authorize the court to act is, that there should be an application for the partition by one or more joint proprietors, after giving notice of the intended application in a public newspaper for at least four weeks. When application is made, the court must consider whether it is by a proper party, whether it is sufficient in form and substance, and whether the requisite notice has been given as prescribed. Its order made thereon is an adjudication upon these matters.

The recitals in the order show a compliance with the statute; they show jurisdiction in the court over the subject. That jurisdiction arises upon the presentation of the application, accompanied with proper proof of previous notice of it. The order of the court appointing the commissioners is a determination that the application is sufficient, and that due notice of it has been given. This conclusion is not open to collateral attack; it can only be questioned, on appeal or writ of error, by a superior tribunal invested with appellate jurisdiction to review it. Voorhees v. The Bank of the United States, 10 Pet. 449; Thompson v. Tolmie, 2 id. Comstock v. Crawford, 3 Wall, 396.

The cases of Lease v. Carr (5 Blackf. (Ind.) 353) and Shaw v. Parker (6 id. 345), cited by complainants, do not support their position. In...