Logsdon v. Brailer Mining Co. of Allegany County

• Decision Date: 25 June 1923
• Docket Number: 3.
• Citation: Logsdon v. Brailer Mining Co. of Allegany County, 123 A. 113, 143 Md. 463 (Md. 1923)
• Parties: LOGSDON ET AL. v. BRAILER MINING CO. OF ALLEGANY COUNTY.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

123 A. 113

143 Md. 463

LOGSDON ET AL. v. BRAILER MINING CO. OF ALLEGANY COUNTY.

No. 3.

Court of Appeals of Maryland

June 25, 1923

Appeal from Circuit Court, Allegany County, in Equity; Albert A Doub, Judge.

"To be officially reported."

Suit by Stanley Logsdon and others against the Brailer Mining Company of Allegany County.From the decree, plaintiffs appeal.Affirmed in part, and reversed in part, and remanded.

Argued before BOYD, C.J., and BRISCOE, THOMAS, URNER, STOCKBRIDGE and OFFUTT, JJ.

George Henderson and A. Taylor Smith, both of Cumberland, for appellants.

John G Miller, of Cumberland (Ferdinand Williams, of Cumberland, on the brief), for appellee.

THOMAS J.

In 1850William L. Logsdon, hereinafter called William Logsdon, Sr. of Allegany county, Md., and his wife, by deed recorded among the Land Records of said county, conveyed the coal, seams, and strata of coal on certain tracts, lots, or parcels of land, owned by him in said county, to J. Washington Tyson.That part of the deed containing a description of the property conveyed, and with which we are concerned in this case, is as follows:

"This indenture made this twenty-fifth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty, between William Logsdon and Elizabeth, his wife, of Allegany county and state of Maryland of the first part, and J. Washington Tyson of Howard district in said state of the second part, witnesseth: That the said parties of the first part, for and in consideration of the sum of eight hundred dollars, current money of the United States of America to them in hand paid by the said party of the second part, at or before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged and the said party of the second part, his heirs, executors, and administrators forever released and discharged from the payment of the same, by these presents, have given, granted, bargained, and sold, aliened, remised, released, conveyed, and confirmed and by these presents do give, grant, bargain, and sell, alien, remise, release, convey, and confirm unto the said J. Washington Tyson, his heirs and assigns, all the coal and veins of coal strata and seams of coal lying on, in, and under the tracts and parcels of land hereinafter particularly mentioned and described which crop out, blossom, or show themselves at any point in or on said tracts of land higher than, and above, the residence now occupied by said William Logsdon built on one of said tracts, all of which said tracts adjoin each other, lying, being, and situate in the county and state aforesaid, and are known and distinguished on the plat of said Allegany county, and by name as follows, to wit: All that tract of land called 'Bear Camp,' and also all that tract of land called 'Lost Pin,' and also all that tract of land called 'Waterford,' and also lots number four thousand and seventy-five (4075), and four thousand and seventy-six (4076), and also part of lot number three thousand six hundred and seventy-one (3671), which was sold and conveyed to said William Logsdon by Thomas Perry, trustee, appointed by Allegany countycourt as a court of equity, to sell the real estate in the proceedings in the case of Francis Logsdon and Benedict Logsdon, complainants, against William Logsdon, Raphael Logsdon, and others, defendants, mentioned; and also full ingress, egress, and regress in and upon said afore herein described property, rights of way, for the purpose of getting to and at coal veins and strata and full right and power to open, work out and exhaust the said coal veins and strata on the west side of said above-described property, provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall grant to, authorize, or empower the said party of the second part, his heirs, and assigns to enter on or use for the purposes above stated, the east side of said property, regarding and considering all the aforesaid tracts as forming together one body of land and one property; and provided also that nothing herein contained shall grant or convey to the said J. Washington Tyson, his heirs, or assigns any coal veins, coal, or coal strata which crop out, blossom, or show themselves on any part of said property lower than, or any coal veins, coal, or coal strata lying below the residence now occupied by said Logsdon as aforesaid."

By deed dated October 5, 1895, and recorded among the land records of Allegany county, Judge A. Hunter Boyd, as the executor of the last will and testament of William Logsdon, Sr., conveyed to William R. Logsdon a part of the land mentioned in the said deed from William Logsdon, Sr., to J. Washington Tyson, called therein the William Logsdon farm, containing about 127 acres, and described in the deed as follows:

"All that farm in Mt. Savage district, Allegany county, on the road leading from Mt. Savage to the John S. Combs farm, known as the William Logsdon farm, and occupied for many years and up to the time of his death by the late William Logsdon, Senior; said farm containing about 127 acres more or less, and being all the property conveyed to the said William Logsdon by Thomas Perry, trustee, by deed dated September 24, 1850, and recorded in liber No. 6, folio 341, of the Land Records of Allegany county, Maryland (to which a reference is hereby made for a more particular description of said land); excepting, however, from the operation of this conveyance all such portions of said land as were conveyed away in his lifetime by the said William Logsdon, Senior, by deeds of record among the land records of Allegany county aforesaid," etc.

In 1916William R. Logsdon conveyed the farm mentioned in the deed to him from Judge Boyd to Anthony L. Logsdon and Rosalie E. Logsdon, his wife, but excepted from the operation of the deed "all the coal under the property" thereby conveyed, which interest reserved in said farm, or the coal under said property belonging to William R. Logsdon, passed under the residuary clause of his last will and testament, admitted to probate in November, 1918 to his four children, Emma C. Henckel, Stanley Logsdon, Augustine Logsdon, and Anthony L. Logsdon, and on the 6th of May, 1920, the said Emma C. Henckel conveyed all her interest in said property to the said Stanley Logsdon.

David J. Lewis and De Warren H. Reynolds, trustees, by deed dated the 7th of November, 1902, and recorded among the land records of Allegany county, which recites that they had been appointed trustees by the circuit court for Allegany county, "with power and authority to sell the veins and seams of coal, and strata of coal and other minerals underlying 'the home farm of the late Augustine Brailer, Sr.,' and also all the veins and seams of coal, and strata of coal underlying the lands commonly known as the 'Logsdon Lands,' " conveyed to George C. Brailer, trustee, the veins, seams, and strata of coal underlying all the land referred to as the "Logsdon Lands" in the terms hereinafter stated.

On the 2d of March, 1921, the said Stanley Logsdon, Augustine Logsdon, Anthony L. Logsdon, and Rosalie F. Logsdon, his wife, filed a bill of complaint in the circuit court for Allegany county against the Brailer Mining Company of Allegany county, alleging that they(the plaintiffs) were the owners and in possession of the farm or parcel of land which was conveyed by Judge Boyd as the executor of William Logsdon, Sr., to William R. Logsdon, now known as the "Lower Farm," and included in the yellow lines on the plat filed with the bill as "Plaintiffs' First Exhibit, Map," and that they were also the owners and in possession of the coal and other minerals under said farm or land; that the defendant, the Brailer Mining Company of Allegany county, "was vested with the title to certain coal underlying part of the original William Logsdon, Sr. tract, by virtue" of the deed we have mentioned from Lewis and Reynolds, trustees, filed with the bill, and that the terms of said grant are as hereinafter stated; that said deed was intended to convey "the same mineral rights in the original, undivided William Logsdon, Sr.," land that were conveyed by the said William Logsdon Sr., to J. Washington Tyson by the deed of September 25, 1850, to which we have already referred, and a copy of which was filed with the bill; that the defendant, by virtue of said deed, and a deed from Peter Logsdon and wife, dated March 13, 1913, a copy of which was filed with the bill, "became vested with title to the surface of and to the minerals under all that tract within the red lines on said map" marked "Plaintiffs' First Exhibit, Map"; that the defendant never acquired, by virtue of said deed, "nor in any other manner," any right in the land lying south of the yellow line A, B, C, D, E on said plat, or any right "to the coal and other minerals thereunder," but that "nevertheless"the defendant claims that it owns the minerals under said land of the plaintiffs, and has caused a plat to be prepared by a civil engineer showing that it claims the minerals under plaintiffs' farm or land; that the plaintiffs have no definite knowledge of the grounds upon which the defendant makes said claim, but that they are advised that the defendant claims that, by virtue of said deed from Lewis and Reynolds, trustees, it is entitled to the coal under "all the lands" described therein, "and not merely to the veins which crop out above the William Logsdon residence (the correct location of which is shown on said map as 'Old House')," and that it also claims that the William Logsdon, Sr., residence was further south than its real location, and that it is the one shown on said map as the "Stone House"; that the exact location of the residence of William Logsdon, Sr., in 1850 is material and should be...