Lowrey v. Mines, 1 Div. 380
| Decision Date | 02 March 1950 |
| Docket Number | 1 Div. 380 |
| Parties | LOWREY et al. v. MINES. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Barnett, Bugg & Lee, of Monroeville, for appellants.
C. L. Hybart and R. L. Jones, of Monroeville, for appellee.
This is a suit in statutory ejectment brought by Mrs. J. L. Mines (appellee) against Hunter Waters (one of the appellants). Before trial J. F. B. Lowrey (one of the appellants), as landlord of Hunter Waters, asked and obtained permission of the court to make himself a party defendant along with Hunter Waters. The property involved is a lot of land 60 feet by 210 feet situated in Monroe County, Alabama.
The case was tried before a jury and resulted in a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff and this appeal is from that judgment.
The appellee claims title to the property through a conveyance from her father O. M. Crook, who acquired the curtesy to the same through his deceased wife Laura Crook. Laura Crook acquired the property by deed from E. L. Mosley in 1914 and is claimed to have occupied the premises from that time until 1945. She died on the 17th day of June 1946 and on the 17th day of November 1947 O. M. Crook sold and conveyed the property to the appellee.
By decree of the Circuit Court of Monroe County, in Equity, dated July 22, 1935, the register was ordered to convey all the right, title and interest of Laura C. Crook with others in the lands to Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The deed was made by the register to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation pursuant to this decree on July 22, 1935. On February 12th, 1937 the Reconstruction Finance Corporation conveyed the property to J. F. B. Lowrey.
Tendencies of the evidence showed the following. From July 1935 to the 16th day of April 1944, Mrs. Laura Crook lived in Burnt Corn, Alabama, and during all this time she lived in the house on the premises here involved with the exception of a short period when she was living at the place known as the Watkin's Place at which time the premises were being occupied by her tenants Mr. and Mrs. Mines. In April 1944 Mrs. Laura Crook moved to Atlanta and left the property in charge of her agent Mr. Roberson, who lived in the immediate vicinity. She locked the house and left the keys in his possession. He agreed to look after the premises and keep the same for her. He did this until Sam Lowrey, an agent of J. F. B. Lowrey, came to him and requested him to turn over the keys to him. Mr. Roberson refused to give up the keys to Sam Lowrey and thereupon on November 20, 1945 Sam Lowrey broke into and entered the house. During all of this period Laura C. Crook was openly and notoriously claiming the property as her own as against the whole world. Tendencies of the evidence also showed that no one was in possession of the property at the time J. F. B. Lowrey got his deed to the property from Reconstruction Finance Corporation and that Laura C. Crook was not claiming ownership of the property.
The record further shows without dispute that Mrs. Laura Crook assessed the property and paid the taxes thereon every year beginning in 1935 through and including 1945.
In the original deed of E. L. Mosley to Laura C. Crook hereinabove referred to it appears that an error was made in the description of the land. The appellee introduced a decree dated June 7, 1935, reforming the description of the foregoing deed so as to correctly show the lands that E. L. Mosley had sold and conveyed to Laura Crook.
The only question presented by appellants is whether the court committed error in allowing the introduction in evidence of the deed from E. L. Mosley and the decree correcting the description in the same.
The Mosley deed and foregoing decree were introduced by the appellee for the purpose of showing claim under color of title. We think that the court was in error in this regard because at the time Laura C. Crook was in possession of the property under the Mosley deed and the decree of reformation all right, title and interest therein which she had acquired under the Mosley deed and the decree correcting the description therein, was divested out of her and conveyed pursuant to decree of the court to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. While the point does not appear to have been passed on in this state, authorities in other states clearly hold that one cannot successfully claim adverse possession under color of title where the claimant...
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Courtney v. Boykin
...made by the judge are clearly wrong, we are guided by legal principles which were applied in two Alabama cases, namely, Lowrey v. Mines, 253 Ala. 556, 45 So.2d 703 (1950), and Waters v. Mines, 260 Ala. 652, 72 So.2d 69 In Lowrey, the appellant's predecessor in title, Reconstruction Finance ......
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Godsey v. Anglin
...under section 828, Title 7, Code. But it was important to show the extent of the possession and the adverse nature of it. Lowery v. Mines, 253 Ala. 556, 45 So.2d 703(2); Marietta Fertilizer Co. v. Blair, 173 Ala. 524, 56 So. 131. We judge from the argument that the affirmative charge was gi......
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Finerson v. Hubbard
...not comply with the requirements of § 828, Title 7, Code of 1940, in their effort to show adverse possession from 1937. Lowrey, v. Mines, 253 Ala. 556, 45 So.2d 703; Cox v. Broderick, 208 Ala. 690, 95 So. The suit originally was for about 3 1/2 acres. There was a disclaimer by the defendant......
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Hart v. Allgood
...Hart of his color of title. Call v. Dancy, 144 N.C. 494, 57 S.E. 220; 2 C.J.S., Adverse Possession, § 69, p. 585. See Lowrey v. Mines, 253 Ala. 556, 45 So.2d 703. There was some effort on the part of the complainants to show the invalidity of the foreclosure sale and the deed executed there......