Harkness v. Cleaves

• Decision Date: 25 January 1901
• Citation: 84 N.W. 1033,113 Iowa 140
• Parties: JOHN W. HARKNESS, Appellant, v. A. J. CLEAVES and DELIA CLEAVES
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

84 N.W. 1033

113 Iowa 140

JOHN W. HARKNESS, Appellant, v. A. J. CLEAVES and DELIA CLEAVES

Supreme Court of Iowa, Des Moines

January 25, 1901

Appeal from Hancock District Court.--HON. J. C. SHERWIN, Judge.

ACTION to set aside a certain deed of conveyance executed by the plaintiff and wife to a hotel property in the town of Garner Iowa, and to recover damages for the wrongful holding of the property by the defendants, upon the ground that said deed was not delivered by, nor with the authority of the plaintiff.Defendants answered, denying that the deed was not delivered by authority of the plaintiff.Decree was rendered dismissing plaintiff's petition, and he appeals.

Affirmed.

C. R Wood and E. H. Smalley for appellant.

William H. Hughes for appellees.

GIVENC. J. SHERWIN, J., took no part.

OPINION

GIVEN, C. J.

I.

The contentions are as to the facts only; the law applicable is well settled, and not disputed.Plaintiff was desirious of selling hs equity in his hotel property in the own of Garner Iowa, or exchanging it for land, and with the latter view he visited and examined certain lands in South Dakota.The defendants were desirous of exchanging a property owned by them in Belmond, Iowa, for plaintiff's hotel, and with that view Mr. Cleaves visited the plaintiff, but they failed to agree upon terms of exchange.Thereafter, May 3, 1898, the plaintiff and wife executed to one W. G. Clark, a real estate broker of Artesian, S. D., whom plaintiff had met on his visit to that state, authority in writing to sell the hotel property on terms named, and informed him of the desire of the defendants to exchange properties.Clark called on the defendants, examined their property in Belmond, and agreed with them on terms of exchange, they to give a certain sum of money as difference.May 19, 1898, Harkness and wife executed their deed to Delia Cleaves for the hotel property, and on May 20, 1898, the defendants executed their deed to the Belmond property to Mary Clark, who was the wife of W. G. Clark.Thereafter the name of Mrs. Clark was erased by the attorney who drew the deed, and who then held it in escrow, at the request of the plaintiff and his wife, and by authority of Clark, and inserted the name of Alice L. Harkness, the wife of the plaintiff, as grantee.This deed, thus changed, was placed on record by said attorney, and thereafter sent to Mrs. Harkness by mail.The defendants paid the money as agreed...