Little v. Herndon

• Decision Date: 01 December 1869
• Parties: LITTLE v. HERNDON
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

77 U.S. 26

19 L.Ed. 878

10 Wall. 26

LITTLE v. HERNDON.

December Term, 1869

ERROR to the Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the case being thus:

A statute of Illinois, on the subject of sales of land for taxes, passed 21st February, 1861, makes this enactment:

'All deeds hereafter made by the proper officer in pursuance of sales of real estate for the non-payment of taxes shall be held to be null and void, if it be shown that said taxes had been paid before the sale, or that said real estate was not subject to taxation, or that it had been redeemed from said sale, or if notice required by the constitution was not given, or that the description of said land was not sufficiently definite; and the validity of all such deeds hereafter made by the proper officers, for real estate sold for the non-payment of taxes, shall not be questioned in any suit or controversy in this State for any other cause, unless the party wishing to contest the same shall tender to the claimant under said tax-deed, or deposit in the court in which such suit is pending, for his use, the amount of the redemption-money now provided for by law, with ten per cent. per annum interest thereon from the date of said deed to the time of said tender or deposit; and after said tender or deposit is made, the validity of said deed may be questioned in the same manner and to the same extent as now provided by law.'

At the time of the passage of this act, by the decisions of the courts of Illinois, full and explicit,¹ a tax-deed, executed by the proper officer, had no validity unless founded upon a judgment against the parcel of land in default for non-payment of the tax, an order for the sale, and precept thereon, and it was necessary that these preliminary steps should be first shown in order to give any effect to a title under the deed.

In this state of the law, one Herndon brought ejectment against Little, in the court below, to recover possession of a lot of land in Illinois, describing it. He gave in evidence two patents, including the premises, from the government to one Hood, each dated November 1st, 1839; and a deed from Hood to himself, dated February 4th, 1842, and recorded in the recording office where the land was, and rested.

The defendant, in his defence, offered in evidence a deed from the sheriff of the county where the land was, to a certain Peck, including the premises, dated July 1st, 1864, purporting to be a deed given in pursuance of a sale for the non-payment of taxes for the year 1861, but he did not show a judgment under which the tax-deed was made. He offered, also, a quit-claim deed from Peck and wife to one Bourland, dated July 1st, 1864, and from Bourland and wife to one Underhill, dated April 29th, 1865, and then offered in evidence five tax certificates, for taxes paid on the premises for the several years therein mentioned, stating that the object of offering the same in evidence was to recover the amount of the taxes and costs paid upon the land, in case the deed from the sheriff should be questioned as title by the plaintiff, under the terms of the act of February 21st, 1861, and to defeat his using his patents as a title, if he refused to pay the taxes according to the statute. But the court was of opinion that the defendant had not brought himself within the statute, for the reason, among others, that he must first show there was a judgment, as the foundation of the tax sale and deed. And so ruled. Judgment having been accordingly rendered for the plaintiff, the other side now brought the case here.

The principal question argued here was, whether upon a true construction of the act of February 21st, 1861, the plaintiff was bound to pay the taxes which had been paid by the defendant, and by those under whom he claimed, as a condition of being permitted to attack the deed under the tax sale; the defendant taking the position that upon a true construction of the act, the sheriff's deed of the sale properly executed, with its recitals, was sufficient evidence, in the first instance, to impose this condition upon the plaintiff.

Some minor objections, it should be added, were taken below by the defendant to the admission of evidence, as, 1st. To the admission of one of the patents; the ground of the objection being an alleged erasure and interlineation, apparent, as he asserted, on the face of the same, by the erasure of the word six, and the interlineation of the word seven therefor in description of the premises. The court overruled the objection, and left it to the jury to determine whether there was any alteration. 2d. To the admission of the deed from Hood to Herndon. The ground of this objection being the acknowledgment. But the acknowledgment was in conformity with the requirements of the law of Virginia. And by statute of Illinois,² a deed acknowledged in conformity with the laws of the State in which the deed is executed, may be admitted to record in the county where the land is situated; and after being so recorded, may be used in evidence without further proof of the execution thereof. The court below overruled the objection, and allowed the deed to be read.

Mr. B. C. Clark, for the plaintiff in error.

Mr. Conway Robinson, contra.

Mr. Justice NELSON delivered the opinion of the court.

The principal question is, whether there is anything in the act of February 21st, 1861, indicating an intention, on the part of the legislature, to change the course of decision which the courts of Illinois had made, on the subject of a tax deed, made without evidence of a preceding judgment, and to give validity and effect to the naked deed of the officer?

The argument in favor of the construction of the statute which the plaintiff in error would establish is placed upon the introductory words of the act: 'All deeds hereafter made by the proper officer in pursuance of sales of real estate for the non-payment of taxes shall be held,' &c. It is contended that the words should be construed as meaning simply the deed of the 'proper officer,' and nothing more, and that they impliedly, at least, exclude the necessity of giving any evidence of the judgment, order of sale, or precept. But we are inclined to think that this idea fails to give full effect to the language used. The deed must not only be made by the proper officer, but must be made 'in pursuance of sales of real estate for the non-payment of taxes.' How are those sales made according to the law of Illinois? As we have seen, after a judgment rendered by the court against the parcel of land for default in payment of the taxes, on order of sale, and precept to the officer. Unless these steps have first been taken, the sale...