Meaders v. Moore

• Decision Date: 25 October 1939
• Docket Number: No. 2267-7391.,2267-7391.
• Citation: 132 S.W.2d 256
• Parties: MEADERS et al. v. MOORE et al.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

132 S.W.2d 256

MEADERS et al. v. MOORE et al.

No. 2267-7391.

Commission of Appeals of Texas, Section A.

October 25, 1939.

Error to Court of Civil Appeals of Sixth Supreme Judicial District.

Suit in trespass to try title by W. P. Moore and others against Henry Meaders and others in which some of the defendants filed cross actions. Judgment for the plaintiffs was affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals, 113 S.W.2d 689, and cross-complainants bring error.

Affirmed.

Wheeler & Kenyon, of Gainesville, Ga., Frank C. Bolton and W. W. Caves, both of Henderson, and Austin F. Anderson, of Fort Worth, for plaintiffs in error.

James Young, of Henderson, Clower & Bezoni and L. L. James, all of Tyler, and McEntire & Shank and I. M. Williams, both of Dallas, for defendants in error.

GERMAN, Commissioner.

Plaintiffs in error were plaintiffs in the district court and we designate them plaintiffs here. Defendant in error Moore and parties holding under him were defendants, and we will designate them as such in this opinion.

The suit, as finally tried, was in the nature of trespass to try title, and plaintiffs sought recovery of an undivided four-fifteenths interest in 80.68 acres of land in Rusk County, which tract appears to have been quite rich in transitory minerals. It will be referred to as eighty acres.

For the purpose of this decision it is taken as proven that plaintiffs held the legal title to said interest as heirs of Jesse Blackwell, John Blackwell and Elizabeth Edge, who in turn were heirs of Jediah and Nancy Blackwell. Defendant Moore, who may be regarded as representative of all defendants, rested his defense upon a claim of title under the ten years statute of limitation. (Vernon's Ann.Civ.St. art. 5510.) All issues submitted to the jury were found in favor of defendants. As the judgment based on said issues is not attacked, except as being contrary to the law of the case, we think it may be said that the facts upon which the claim of limitation is based, were undisputed. Briefly, the essential facts are these:

Lots 5 and 6 containing eighty acres were a part of a 310-acre tract formerly belonging to Jediah and Nancy Blackwell. In a partition proceeding February 2, 1895, these two lots were set aside to the heirs of Rebecca Anderson, Jesse Blackwell, Elizabeth Edge, Eliza Thompson and John Blackwell jointly. None of these heirs were named and the number of heirs of the parties mentioned was left undisclosed.

The land appears to have been practically useless, except for pasturage, and seems to have been neglected by all parties until the Spring of 1908. At that time defendant Moore fenced the entire eighty acres with a substantial wire fence and began to use same as a pasture for cattle, and to claim same as his own. This use and possession by Moore continued unbroken until the oil boom began in 1931. Thereafter, and until April 14, 1933, when plaintiffs asserted their claim by way of cross action, the land was used by Moore and those claiming under him for the purpose of production of oil. These acts of open and undisturbed adverse possession were undoubtedly sufficient to vest Moore with title under the statutes of limitation, unless his claim was, as a matter of law, impaired by reason of his purchasing certain claims of some of the Blackwell heirs, as hereinafter set out.

On April 8, 1912, Moore took a deed from Jesse Blackwell and wife, Maggie Blackwell, to an undivided one-fifth interest in said Lots 5 and 6, identified by reference to the plea of partition, the deed reciting that said interest had been conveyed to R. J. Blackwell by the heirs of Rebecca Anderson August 11, 1905. This deed also conveyed a two-thirds of one-fifth interest in said lots, it being recited that this interest had been conveyed to R. J. Blackwell by the heirs of John Blackwell. The grantor, Jesse Blackwell, was not the Jesse Blackwell to whose heirs an interest in these lots had been set aside in 1895. On June 13, 1917, Emma Tucker and others executed deed to W. P. Moore for an undivided interest in Lots 5 and 6, and on September 10, 1922, Joel Eaton executed deed to Moore for another undivided interest. Both of these deeds identified Lots 5 and 6 by reference to the partition proceeding of 1895; but, so far as we can ascertain, none of these deeds contained anything to show that the grantors themselves were part of the heirs to whom these lots were set aside.

On May 28, 1931, Moore brought suit in the District Court of Rusk County against Jesse Blackwell, his unknown heirs, and other unknown heirs, for the purpose of clearing title to said lots. Citation by publication was obtained, and eighty-four parties, through numerous attorneys, appeared and claimed interests as heirs of the parties to whom these lots were set aside in 1895. Moore and those holding under him settled this litigation as to all parties appearing as defendants, and judgment was entered against them, as well as all other parties cited by publication. We may state here that the result of all of the conveyances mentioned and the judgment referred to, without regard to the real intent or knowledge of the parties, was to vest in Moore the record title to approximately ten-fourteenths undivided interest in the eighty acres. The record title of plaintiffs to an undivided four-fifteenths interest was not divested, because as to them the judgment mentioned was later set aside.

The three special issues submitted, all of which were answered in favor of defendants, were as follows:

"No. 1. Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence in this case that W. P. Moore, either in person or through a tenant or tenants, or partly in person and partly through a tenant or tenants, held exclusive, peaceable and adverse possession of the land in controversy in this suit, cultivating, using or enjoying the same, for any period of ten years, or longer, prior to April 14, 1933?

"No. 2: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence in this case that the plaintiffs herein knew that the defendant, W. P. Moore, was claiming the land in controversy in this suit adverse to them?

"No. 3: Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence in this case that the defendant, W. P. Moore, asserted adverse possession, if any, to the property in controversy in this law suit against the plaintiffs such as was and is of such unequivocal notoriety that the plaintiffs would be presumed to have notice of such adverse claim and possession?"

Upon these findings the district court entered judgment in favor of defendants, and this judgment was affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals. 113 S.W.2d 689.

Counsel for plaintiffs have exhibited commendable fairness, as well as great ability, in presenting their case in this court and in the Court of Civil Appeals. Due to their concise, accurate and fair manner of stating their case, the dominating question of law has been clearly and definitely defined. In the last analysis it amounts to this: Did the acts of Moore in taking deeds to undivided interests in the eighty acres, all of which he undisputably claimed from the Spring of 1908 to the trial of the suit, as a matter of law, constitute recognition of the superior record title of plaintiffs, and have the effect of suspending his adverse claim under the statutes of limitation? The position of plaintiffs is so aptly and concisely stated in their brief in the Court of Civil Appeals that we feel constrained to set same out here:

"1. That from the Spring of 1908 until April 8, 1912, W. P. Moore was in possession of the land in controversy as a mere trespasser without right or title of any kind whatsoever.

"2. That on April 8, 1912, less than ten years after his original entry on the land, W. P. Moore recognized the true title by purchase of the undivided interest of two of the three heirs of John Blackwell and the undivided interest of the Rebecca Anderson heirs from Jesse Blackwell, and became a cotenant with Meaders, et al., and the owner of an undivided five-fifteenths interest in the land, and at that moment his possession lost its claimed hostile character.

"3. That on June 13, 1917, less than ten years after his purchase of the undivided five-fifteenths interest in the land from Jesse Blackwell, W. P. Moore again recognized the true title by purchase of the undivided interest of two of the five heirs of Eliza Thompson from Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Wood, and again recognized a superior outstanding title, claim or better right in an owner and thereby destroyed the hostile character of any possession claimed by him subsequent to April 8, 1912.

"4. That on September 30, 1922, less than ten years after his purchase of the undivided interest from Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Wood, W. P. Moore still again recognized the true title by purchase of the undivided interest of another of the five heirs of Eliza Thompson from Joel Eaton, and again recognized a superior outstanding title, claim or better right in an owner and thereby destroyed the hostile character of any possession claimed by him subsequent to June 13, 1917.

"5. That on May 28, 1931, by the allegation contained in their original petition filed herein on that date, and on or about January 22, 1932, by their purchase of the undivided interest of the heirs of Elizabeth Edge and Eliza Thompson from eighty-four parties defendant in this suit, W. P. Moore, et al., recognized the true title and a superior outstanding title, claim or better right in an owner, and thereby destroyed the hostile character of any possession claimed by them subsequent to September 30, 1922.

"6. That each purchase was a recognition of the true title and each purchase occurred less than ten years after the preceding purchase, the last of which was less than ten years before the cross action of Meaders, et al., was filed herein on April 14, 1933."

Counsel have still in more concise language stated the "controlling question for decision" as follows:

"Did the recognition...