McHugh v. O'Conner

• Decision Date: 07 April 1891
• Citation: 9 So. 165,91 Ala. 243
• Parties: MCHUGH ET AL. v. O'CONNER.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

9 So. 165

91 Ala. 243

MCHUGH ET AL. v. O'CONNER.

Supreme Court of Alabama

April 7, 1891

Appeal from city court of Montgomery; THOMAS M. ARRINGTON, Judge.

The bill in this case was filed by appellee, Bridget O'Conner, against the appellants, Michael and James McHugh, and prayed that the action of ejectment brought by the defendants against John O'Conner, her husband, be enjoined; and that a deed made from a Michael McHugh, as executor of the will of Mary Murray, deceased, to James McHugh, be declared null and void, and be removed as a cloud from her title to the property in controversy. The testimony is very conflicting. The undisputed facts in this case may be summarized as follows: Mrs. Mary Murray, prior to 1883, lived in the county of Montgomery, in the state of Alabama, and was possessed of large fortune. She had no husband or children living. Her two nephews, Michael and James McHugh, defendants in this case, were living with her, and her niece Bridget O'Conner, who was a sister of Michael and James McHugh lived near her. These were all her relations living in America. In 1883 she executed her will. In 1884 John O'Conner, husband of the plaintiff, purchased a certain tract of land near the city of Montgomery, and obtained the money from Mrs. Murray to pay therefor. To secure the payment of this purchase money the said John O'Conner executed to Mrs. Murray his note and mortgage for the sum of $2,500 payable several years after date, with interest, which mortgage was duly recorded. On the 10th of November, 1884 Mrs. Murray died, leaving said Michael McHugh executor of her last will and testament. Michael McHugh had, among other papers of the deceased, the note given by the said John O'Conner for the purchase money on the land bought by him. In October, 1884, a short time before her death, Mrs Murray delivered to the plaintiff the mortgage executed by John O'Conner on the said land, and, according to the contention of the plaintiff, this delivery was accompanied by words denoting an intention to give to her the debt she held against her husband. It is also contended by the plaintiff that the note was at the same time delivered to her. This, however, is denied by defendants; and, on the other hand, the defendants claim that at the time of death of Mrs. Murray Michael McHugh had possession of both the note and the mortgage, and that the mortgage has since been taken from his possession. The defendants interposed a demurrer to this bill, assigning several grounds. On final submission upon pleading and proof, the chancellor overruled the demurrer, and decreed that the plaintiff was entitled to the relief prayed, ordering accordingly. It is from this decree that the present bill is prosecuted, and the same is here assigned as error.

David T. Blakey, for appellant.

A. A. Wiley and W. S. Thorington, for appellees.

STONE C.J.

We have traveled with care through the mass of conflicting and unsatisfactory testimony found in this record, and we...