Henry French v. Taylor

• Citation: 50 L.Ed. 189,26 S.Ct. 76,199 U.S. 274
• Decision Date: 27 November 1905
• Docket Number: No. 57,57
• Parties: HENRY FRENCH (Substituted in place of Sarah Woodward and John H. McGraw, as Administrator of the Estate of Henry S. Woodward, Deceased), Plff. in Err. , v. H. C. TAYLOR and Lida R. Taylor, His Wife, and J. W. McConnaughey, D. F. McConnaughey, and C. K. McConnaughey
• Court: United States Supreme Court

199 U.S. 274

26 S.Ct. 76

50 L.Ed. 189

HENRY FRENCH (Substituted in place of Sarah Woodward and John H. McGraw, as Administrator of the Estate of Henry S. Woodward, Deceased), Plff. in Err.,

v H. C. TAYLOR and Lida R. Taylor, His Wife, and J. W. McConnaughey, D. F. McConnaughey, and C. K. McConnaughey.

No. 57.

Argued November 8, 1905.

Decided November 27, 1905.

This was a suit to quiet title to certain real estate, brought in the superior court of King county, Washington, by Sarah Woodward and Sarah Woodward as executrix of Henry S. Woodward, against H. C. Taylor and others. Sarah Woodward resigned her letters as executrix and John H. McGraw was appointed administrator with the will annexed, and thereupon was made a coplaintiff. The superior court entered a decree of dismissal and plaintiffs took the cause by appeal to the supreme court of Washington, which affirmed the judgment. 33 Wash. 1, 73 Pac. 785. A petition for rehearing was filed and denied. 33 Wash. 11, 75 Pac. 646. Henry French was substituted as appellant, and he brought this writ of error.

The case is stated by the supreme court thus:

'Several causes of action are alleged in the complaint. Each cause is to set aside a separate deed to the property in question. It is necessary to notice only the first cause alleged. For some time prior to the year 1891, Sarah Woodward was a nonresident of the state of Washington, and is still such nonresident. She was the owner of lot 8, in block 11, Maynard's plat to the city of Seattle. This property was assessed for general, state, and county taxes for the year 1891, in the name of C. Winehill. It does not appear that the taxing officers knew, when the assessment was made, that the property belonged to Mrs. Woodward. Subsequently the taxes for that year became delinquent, and the property was sold in 1894, under the provisions of the revenue act of 1893. . . . The county of King became the purchaser. Subsequently the county transferred the certificate of sale to the respondents, who thereafter obtained a tax deed. At the trial of the cause the lower court held that this tax deed conveyed a valid title, and dismissed the action. The points relied upon by appellants to secure a reversal are that the property was not assessed in the name of the owner, that no notice of the sale, or of the expiration of the time of redemption, or of the application for a deed, was given to the owner, and that, therefore the respondents acquired no title to the land by virtue of the sale and tax deed.'

Mr. Twyman O. Abbott for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. Richard Saxe Jones, Jefferson Chandler, and William H. Brinker for defendants in error.

Statement by Mr. Chief Justice Fuller:

Mr. Chief Justice Fuller delivered the opinion of the court:

We understand it to be conceded, as it must be, that no Federal question was raised on the record prior to judgment unless by the 11th clause of paragraph 5 of the first cause of action set forth in the complaint. The paragraph asserted in substance the invalidity of the tax deed in that the names of the real owners of the property were not given and the name of a person was given as owner who was not such; that the return of the assessor was insufficient; that the certificate of the county auditor was not attached to each book containing the tax list; that the delivery of the assessment rolls to the county treasurer was not strictly in compliance with law; that the names of the real owners were not given in the 'Tax Judgment Sales, Redemption, and Forfeiture Record;' that the certificate of purchase was insufficient; that personal notice of the application for the tax deed was not given; that the affidavit of notice was insufficient; that Taylor had not paid all the previous taxes; that the signature to the tax deed was not sufficient. Copies of certificates, affidavit, etc., were set out with these specifications.

Then followed subdivision 11: 'That all the proceedings in this paragraph hereinbefore enumerated was and were in violation of article 5 and the 1st section of article 14 of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States, and of §11 of article 1 of the Constitution of the state of Washington, in this: That they constituted an attempt to deprive plaintiffs of their property without due process of law.'

The second class of cases in which the judgments and decrees of state courts may be re-examined here under § 709, Rev. Stat. (U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 575), consists of those 'where is drawn in question the validity of a statute of, or an authority exercised under, any state on the ground of their being repugnant to the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, and the decision is in favor of their validity.' Clause 11, thrown into paragraph 5, does not allege that the tax acts of the state of Washington for 1889, 1890, 1891, or 1893 are in themselves in conflict with ...