Henderson v. White

• Decision Date: 11 October 1887
• Citation: Henderson v. White, 5 S.W. 374, 69 Tex. 103 (Tex. 1887)
• Parties: HENDERSON v. WHITE and another.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

5 S.W. 374

HENDERSON v.WHITE and another.

Supreme Court of Texas.

October 11, 1887.

Appeal from Ellis county; ANSON RAMEY, Judge.

S. C. McCormick, for appellant.Stemmons & Field, for appellees.

WILLIE, C. J.

This is an action of trespass to try title brought for the recovery of 80 acres of land in Ellis county.The appellees were plaintiffs below, and recovered a judgment for the land against the appellant, which judgment is correct unless the tax deed under which the appellant claimed is valid.This deed is attacked by the appellees upon the following, among other, grounds: (1) The tax-rolls fail to show the number of the certificate by virtue of which the land was located; (2) the notice of sale fails to show where the land would be sold; (3) the deed made by the collector describes the land sold for taxes as being 160 acres patented to Jeremiah Heath, assignee of Benjamin F. Berry, describing it by metes and bounds, and excepting out of said tract 80 acres on which the taxes were paid by H. F. Heath.

We think these objections are well taken.It is positively required by our statute that, in listing the property for taxation, the assessor shall give the number of the certificate under which it was surveyed.It is not necessary in this case to determine whether there might not be circumstances which would excuse a failure to state this fact, and uphold a tax sale, though the number of the certificate did not appear upon the assessor's rolls.In this case no reasonable excuse for not stating the number was offered.The assessor looked nowhere else to find it except upon the abstract of titles, from which it may have been left out by mistake, when the records of the general land-office, and of the surveyor's office of Ellis county, were accessible to him, and might have furnished him the desired information.It was his duty to exhaust all available sources of knowledge before failing to comply with so plain and important a requirement of law.It...