Moore v. Jennings
| Decision Date | 28 November 1899 |
| Citation | 34 S.E. 793,47 W.Va. 181 |
| Parties | MOORE et al. v. JENNINGS et al. |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
Submitted June 17, 1899,
Syllabus by the Court.
1. The unlawful extraction of oil or gas from land, they being part of the land, is an act of irreparable injury, and equity will enjoin it.
2. Where proper parties are not properly before the court, the decree will be reversed, and the cause remanded for further proceedings.
3. When the lessors and lessees of one tract of land bring their suit against the lessees of an adjoining tract, to enjoin them from trespassing upon the plaintiff's premises, and from continuing to drill a well for oil and gas which defendants had commenced, as plaintiffs claim, on their premises, and praying in their bill that the boundary line between the tracts claimed by the parties respectively be ascertained, fixed, and determined; that plaintiffs be decreed to be the owners of the land on which said well had been located by the defendants, and of all the oil and gas which could or might be obtained through said well; that the defendants be decreed to have no estate, right, title, or interest whatsoever of, in, or to said land, or said oil or gas, nor any right whatsoever to the possession of said land or said well,-- held, in such case, all the owners of the fee of both tracts are necessary parties to the suit to enable the court to settle the rights of all parties interested or affected by the subject-matter in controversy.
Appeal from circuit court, Tyler county; Romeo H. Freer, Judge.
Bill by E. H. Jennings and others against Clint Moore and others. Judgment for plaintiffs, and defendants appeal. Reversed.
Charles T. Caldwell, Okey Johnson, and McDougle & Johnson, for appellants.
W. P Hubbard and Weil & Thorp, for appellees.
On the 1st day of April, 1897, E. H. Jennings, J. G. Jennings, R. M Jennings, H. W. Richardson, S. C. Wells, D. H. Cox, Sarah Tustin, Minerva Tustin, Mary J. Woodburn, Noah Woodburn Samantha Tustin, and Sarah Tustin, guardian of Emma Tustin, John Tustin, and Sarah Tustin, filed in the clerk's office of the circuit court of Tyler county, against Clint Moore, Henry Rauch, L. M. Gorham, J. F. Hall, and C. Hall, defendants, their bill in chancery, with an order of injunction indorsed thereon by Hon. H. C. Hervey, judge of the First circuit, according to the prayer of the bill. The bill alleges that the plaintiffs the Tustins and Woodburns are the owners in fee of a tract of 102 acres, more or less, of land described in the bill, situate in Ellsworth district, Tyler county; that they were in full, peaceable, and lawful possession thereof; that on the 1st day of March, 1896, a legal and valid lease for oil and gas was executed by the said Sarah Tustin in her own right, Minerva Tustin, Mary J. Woodburn, Noah Woodburn, Samantha Tustin, and Sarah Tustin as guardian of Emma, John, and Sarah Tustin, to plaintiffs H. W. Richardson and S. C. Wells, who subsequently by deed conveyed the full equal and undivided one-half interest in said lease to D. H. Cox, which lease is exhibited with the bill; that said Richardson, Cox, and Wells entered into an agreement with plaintiffs E. H., J. G., and R. M. Jennings whereby it was agreed that in consideration of one undivided one-half interest in said lease said Jennings would drill an oil or gas well upon said tract of land; that in pursuance of said agreement they located and drilled a well upon said premises, "which produced oil in paying quantities, and made the premises and adjoining property very valuable for oil or gas purposes"; that adjoining said tract belonging to the Tustin heirs is another tract of two acres, more or less, known as the "Arnett Lot," part of a tract or parcel known as the "J. S. Haught Tract," containing 13 1/2 acres; that defendants Clint Moore, Henry Rauch, and L. M. Gorham held what purported to be a lease for oil and gas upon the said Arnett tract of 2 acres; that by virtue of said lease they entered upon and proceeded to develop said 2-acre lot for oil and gas purposes, and made the location at which said well for oil and gas should be bored; that, while said location was pretended to be upon said 2-acre tract, in truth and in fact it was upon the said Tustin tract, and not upon the Arnett lot of 2 acres; that in making said location defendants were trespassing upon the premises owned and controlled by, and upon the rights and privileges of, plaintiffs; that defendants shortly after making the location aforesaid were notified that they had located said well upon the tract or parcel of land owned and controlled by plaintiffs, and that defendants were trespassing thereon, yet notwithstanding said notice said defendants, contrary to law, and in violation of the rights of plaintiffs, proceeded to erect the necessary wood rig, a large portion of which is situated on the lands of plaintiffs, and to drill at said location and upon plaintiffs' land a well for oil and gas; that frequently during the progress of said drilling additional notices were given to defendants that they were drilling said well upon said Tustin farm, and upon the premises owned and controlled by plaintiffs, but that notwithstanding such repeated notices, defendants continued to prosecute the drilling of said well; that said well is located and drilled by defendants upon the premises of plaintiffs without legal right and authority, and without the consent of plaintiffs, and if the drilling of said well should be completed it would be of great and irreparable damage to plaintiffs; that defendants had been advised by their own surveyor, and had admitted, that said well was on the land and premises of plaintiffs. It further alleged that if the well should be completed, and prove to be productive of oil or gas, plaintiffs would be unable to operate it, although on their premises, for the reason that it was located so near the boundary of their premises that they would be unable to erect the necessary wood rig with which to further operate the well, and that the loss and damage would be irreparable and almost incalculable; and alleged the insolvency of defendants, and that plaintiffs were without adequate remedy at law; and prayed that defendants, their agents and employés, might be enjoined and restrained from trespassing upon their said premises, from drilling said well any deeper, and from completing the same, and from doing and performing any work or labor of any kind whatever thereon, or entering thereon for any purpose, and for general relief. On the 31st day of March, 1897, an injunction was granted as prayed for in the bill, to take effect on bond being given in the penalty of $2,000. On the 8th day of May, 1897, defendants Clint Moore, Henry Rauch, L. M. Gorham, J. F. Hall, and C. Hall filed their demurrer to plaintiffs' bill, alleging, for grounds of demurrer, that it was not sufficient in law, and that interested and proper persons, as shown by the bill, had not been made parties to the suit or bill, and for other reasons appearing on the face of the bill, but not stated. On the ___ of May, 1897, plaintiffs filed an amendment to their bill, sworn to on the 18th of May, 1897, making Kora Queen a party thereto, and adding prayer to their bill as follows: On the 19th of May, 1897, defendant L. M. Gorham filed his demurrer to plaintiffs' bill, as being not sufficient in law, and not entitling plaintiffs to the relief prayed for, nor to any relief, and for other reasons appearing on the face of the bill. Also, on the same day, defendants J. F. and C. Hall filed their joint demurrer for the same reason, and because sufficient and proper persons interested in the subject-matter of the suit had not been made parties. On the 19th of May, 1897, defendants Clint Moore and Henry Rauch, not waiving their demurrer, filed their joint answer. On the same day the defendant L. M. Gorham, without waiving his demurrer, filed his answer. And on the same day the defendants J. F. Hall and C. Hall, not waiving their demurrer, filed their joint answer.
The following stipulation was filed on the 21st day of May, 1897 ...
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