Longworth v. Aslin

• Decision Date: 12 October 1891
• Citation: 106 Mo. 155,17 S.W. 294
• Parties: LONGWORTH v. ASLIN.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

17 S.W. 294

106 Mo. 155

LONGWORTH v. ASLIN.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

October 12, 1891.

SALE OF LAND — ESTOPPEL.

Where plaintiff agreed to sell her interest in certain lands to defendant, and advised and encouraged him to purchase the adverse title thereto held by a third party, and after defendant, acting on her advice and encouragement, had purchased the adverse title, did by her agent sell her interest therein to defendant, and receive the price therefor, she is estopped to deny defendant's title thereto, even if she was at the time acting under a mistake of law as to the validity of her title.

Appeal from circuit court, Stoddard county; JOHN G. WEAR, Judge.

Ejectment by Temperance E. Longworth against John F. Aslin. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Reversed.

Sol. G. Kitchen, for appellant. Houck & Keaton, for respondent.

THOMAS, J.

This is an action of ejectment to recover possession of 80 acres of land lying in Stoddard county. The petition is in the usual form. The answer contains a general denial, and sets up an equitable estoppel. The facts alleged by way of estoppel are that the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company owned the land, and that plaintiff told defendant her title to it was bad, and agreed that if defendant would obtain the title of said company, and pay plaintiff for improvements made by her, she would not have any further claim to the land; and that defendant, relying on these representations, purchased the title of said company, and paid plaintiff for her improvements. To this answer plaintiff replied by way of general denial. Plaintiff's title arises in this manner. The Cairo & Fulton Railroad Company is the common source of title. The land in controversy, with other lands, in pursuance of authority given by the statutes of Missouri, were conveyed by said Cairo & Fulton Railroad Company to trustees, to be sold to raise money for the construction of its road. This conveyance was of date May 23, 1857. On July 23, 1859, the trustees sold the land in controversy to H. H. Bedford, and by intermediate conveyances plaintiff acquired the title of Bedford. The defendant claims title also through the Cairo & Fulton Railroad Company by virtue of the foreclosure of the state's lien thereon and a sale thereunder. The record shows that from 1869 plaintiff, and those under whom she claims, had possession of this land till 1881. In 1880 plaintiff's husband leased the land to defendant. In October or November, 1881, plaintiff's husband died. Defendant testified as follows: "After Mr. Longworth's death. Mrs. Longworth wanted me to buy the land. She said some said it was railroad land. She wanted me to go to Dexter to see if it was railroad land, and, if it was, to buy it. I told her I would not do it, unless she got some man in the neighborhood to go with me, because, if I did it, without that, they might say I did it to beat her out of it. She said she would get Mr. Evans to go with me. Evans and myself went, and Mr. Cooper, the land agent of the railroad company there, said it was railroad land." He thereupon bought the land from the railroad company, agreeing to pay $350 for it, and the railroad company executed to him a deed for it dated November 26, 1881. Defendant says Mrs. Longworth told him he could buy the land for $300, and, if he could, he was to pay her $300 for her interest, and she would be satisfied. After defendant purchased the land from the railroad company, plaintiff moved to Tennessee, and left C. H. Barham as her agent. Defendant and C. H. Barham tried to agree upon the amount defendant should pay plaintiff, but in this they failed. They finally left it to arbitrators, who fixed the amount at $288, which amount defendant paid her. The report of these arbitrators recited that they assessed the value of the improvements on the property at the sum above...