Haynes v. State

Decision Date27 March 1907
Citation100 S.W. 912
PartiesHAYNES v. STATE.
CourtTexas Supreme Court

Action by the state against Leonard Haynes. Judgment for plaintiff was affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals (85 S. W. 1029), and defendant brings error. Reversed and rendered.

James B. Wells, for plaintiff in error. R. V. Davidson, Atty. Gen., and Wm. E. Hawkins, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

BROWN, J.

The state of Texas sued Leonard Haynes to recover five leagues of land situated between the Nueces river and the lower Rio Grande, which is within the limits of the territory of the state of Tamaulipas as it existed prior to the Texas Revolution. The land was surveyed for the state in 1884, and there is, of course, no question of the state's right to it, unless the plaintiff in error has shown a right to the land which originated at a date prior to the 19th day of December, 1836, and which right is protected by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between the United States and Mexico. Haynes claims by mesne conveyances under Antonio Zapata, who claimed to have acquired a right to the land by a grant made by the governor of Tamaulipas, under decree No. 24 of the Congress of that state. We copy the decree as follows:

"No. 24. The Constitutional Congress of the Free State of Tamaulipas has decreed the following:

"Article 1. To the inhabitants of Camargo, Mier, Guerrero and Laredo, who may have no lands of their own, and who may possess stock to occupy them, there shall be given at once not exceeding five leagues each, and in compensation they shall pay the state $10 for each league.

"Art. 2. Those only are comprehended in the foregoing article who lived in said villages during the last Indian war now passed, and who did not emigrate previous to the year 1821.

"Art. 3. The respective ayuntamiento shall inform itself by previous justification whether the interested party, who may present himself, has lands of his own and stock with which to occupy them.

"Art. 4. These lands shall not be alienated until twenty years have passed after the concession; and, if so alienated, the state recovers its right to them, and he who may have been the owner loses whatever advances and useful and necessary improvements that he may have made; it being sufficient for a judgment of condemnation that the alienation shall be made to appear. Upon this point the respective administering judge shall decide summarily, without prejudice to the legal remedies of the interested party.

"Art. 5. The benefits of article 1 shall continue for three years from the day of the approval of this decree, after the expiration of which term no one shall obtain lands except according to the ordinary laws.

"Art. 6. The ayuntamientos and their individual members collectively and each one for himself are responsible personally and pecuniarily if they are wanting in the truth of the inquiry exacted by article 3, and the government having heard their defense shall make their responsibility effective.

"The governor of the state shall take care that this decree be understood, and shall order its execution, having it printed, published and circulated. Wherefore, I command that it be printed, published, and circulated, and that it be duly executed."

There is no question made of Zapata's qualification to acquire the land; that is, that he was one of those who had settled in that section of the country and remained there according to the terms of the decree. The Court of Civil Appeals (85 S. W. 1029) found the following facts which constitute the right of Zapata to the land in question: "We conclude that the evidence in the record justifies the assumption that Zapata and Bustamente denounced the lands in controversy before the ayuntamiento of Guerrero in 1835, and that that body passed favorably upon the application; that a survey was made by Canales, the surveyor general of Tamaulipas, in 1835, of these two purported grants, and the expediente was formed and became an archive of the public records at Guerrero; and that the claimants were in possession of the land prior to the denouncement. The evidence does not show any juridical possession, but the fact that they were in possession when the lands were denounced, and continued in possession thereafter, was sufficient to dispense with juridical possession, as is decided in the case of State v. Sais, 60 Tex. 88; and they continued in possession for such length of time as would justify a presumption of grant, provided the evidence in the record did not repel such presumption. The evidence also warrants the assumption that, while a copy of the expediente was not introduced in evidence, the copy of the index, as stated by the facts, indicates that an expediente was formed, and such fact is also established by the parol evidence in the record. Copies of the record of the denouncement to the ayuntamiento, and the favorable action of that body upon the application, was not introduced in evidence; but the evidence in the record, which is not objected to, tends to show that such denouncement was made to the ayuntamiento, and they acted favorably upon it. The evidence in the record also shows that the public archives in the city of Victoria were destroyed by the French troops in 1864, and that the records of Guerrero were imperfect and mutilated, and many missing, which fact would justify us in assuming that the record evidence of steps taken to acquire title which was not produced was lost or destroyed. The only evidence showing that the purchase price of the land was paid is the statement contained in a letter to Canales of date November 28, 1847, found upon page 141 of the record."

On the 28th day of November, 1847, Fabian Zapata, first supplemental alcalde of the municipality of the city of Guerrero, wrote to his honor, Gen. Don Antonio Canales, at the city of Victoria, Tamaulipas, as follows: "I remit to you seventeen titles, which contain the vacant lands denounced and surveyed from the year 1831 until that of 1835, in order that your honor may please present them to the honorable governor of the state, to the effect that they may have the necessary validation. The amount of the dues I do not send attached to said documents so as not to expose the same, and your honor will deign also to direct in the most certain manner the mode in which they may be paid, and draw against this receiver's office. God and Liberty."

The governor of Tamaulipas issued to Antonio Zapata the following final...

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14 cases
  • State v. Balli, 8187; Motion No. 16405.
    • United States
    • Texas Supreme Court
    • December 20, 1944
    ...the political authorities of Texas or by the courts. See State v. Corrigan, 94 S.W. 101; Schaeffer v. Berry, 62 Tex. 705; Haynes v. State, 100 Tex. 433, 100 S.W. 915. We are also of the opinion, as was suggested by the Honorable Court of Civil Appeals, that to construe the quoted section of......
  • State v. Valmont Plantations
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • March 29, 1961
    ...to the governor as required by Article 8 of the Colonization Law. State v. Gallardo, 106 Tex. 274, 166 S.W. 369, 373; Haynes v. State, 100 Tex. 426, 100 S.W. 912. As in State v. Gallardo, 'everything necessary to make up and complete the right of the purchasers to receive the absolute legal......
  • State v. Balli
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • June 23, 1943
    ...The title was good in equity and consequently must be recognized under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Haynes v. State, 100 Tex. 426, 100 S.W. 912; State v. Gallardo, 106 Tex. 274, 166 S.W. 369; Kenedy Pasture Co. v. State, 111 Tex. 200, 231 S.W. The State does assert that the......
  • State v. Gallardo
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • February 8, 1911
    ...32 L. Ed. 51; United States v. Pena, 175 U. S. 509, 20 Sup. Ct. 165, 44 L. Ed. 251. And the Supreme Court of Texas in Haynes v. State, 100 Tex. 426, 100 S. W. 912, held that a grant based upon a right which originated prior to the 19th day of December, 1836, was entitled to protection by th......
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