Mothner v. Ozark Real Estate Company

• Decision Date: 13 March 1962
• Docket Number: No. 16728.,16728.
• Citation: 300 F.2d 617
• Parties: Leonard M. MOTHNER, J. Richard Mothner, Elise Sharp and Miriam Richard, Appellants, v. OZARK REAL ESTATE COMPANY, Stephens Production Company, Murphy Corporation, J. T. Stephens, W. R. Stephens and Vernon Giss, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

300 F.2d 617 (1962)

Leonard M. MOTHNER, J. Richard Mothner, Elise Sharp and Miriam Richard, Appellants, v. OZARK REAL ESTATE COMPANY, Stephens Production Company, Murphy Corporation, J. T. Stephens, W. R. Stephens and Vernon Giss, Appellees.

No. 16728.

United States Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit.

March 13, 1962.

Leonard L. Scott, of Eichenbaum, Scott & Miller and C. Richard Crockett, Little Rock, Ark., made argument for appellants. King, Sharfstein & Reinstra, Beaumont, Tex., were with them on the brief.

William J. Wynne, of Crumpler & O'Connor, El Dorado, Ark., made argument for Stephens Production Company, Murphy Corporation, J. T. Stephens, W. R. Stephens and Vernon Giss and Thomas Harper, of Harper, Harper, Young, & Durden, Fort Smith, Ark., was with him on the brief.

Sam Sexton, Jr., Fort Smith, Ark., made argument for Ozark Real Estate Company and was on the brief.

Before SANBORN, MATTHES, and RIDGE, Circuit Judges.

MATTHES, Circuit Judge.

In this action instituted in the United States District Court, Western District of Arkansas, appellants, plaintiffs below, seek to establish ownership of the oil and gas underlying certain real estate in Johnson County, Arkansas. The trial court found against plaintiffs and dismissed their complaint with prejudice. They have appealed. Diversity of citizenship and the amount involved establish jurisdiction.

Much of the evidence was documentary, other facts were stipulated, and oral testimony was offered. In summary, the pertinent facts are:

Prior to May 27, 1891, legal title to the subject lands was in J. Richard, who, on the date, with his wife, conveyed the premises, by deed, to M. H. Johnson, Trustee. On March 1, 1893, M. H. Johnson executed a deed of release to J. Richard in which the prior deed of May 27, 1891, was referred to as a mortgage. The deed of release conveyed to Richard "the surface and everything above the surface of the following described land, to wit:" (Land here involved is described). This instrument provided:

"But this release is not intended to affect the coal and minerals beneath the surface of said land, and the right of ingress and egress for the purpose of mining the coal upon the said land, and carrying the same away, is hereby reserved, including the right to build and maintain the necessary trams, roadways, buildings and machinery necessary for the purpose of getting out and carrying away the coal in said land, it being the object and intent of this instrument to release said land so far as may be necessary to authorize said Richard to sell and convey that portion thereof which may be necessary for agricultural purposes." (Emphasis supplied).

By deed executed on the same day (March 1, 1893), Richard, et ux. conveyed the property to L. F. Griffin, but expressly reserved "all Coal, Mineral, Oil, or Gas contained or found on or under said lands or any part thereof * * * together with the privilege of mining, digging for and removing same and to that end to have full and unrestricted ingress, egress and regress at all times on and over said lands * * *."

Thereafter, by deed dated February 4, 1897, Richard, his wife having died, conveyed to A. Stiewel all "coal and minerals lying on or under" the land in question "with all the privileges and agreement thereto appertaining and as set forth in a certain deed made by Julius Richard to L. F. Griffin dated the first day of March, 1893, * * *."

Following the latter transaction, and on April 11, 1903, M. H. Johnson, Trustee, et ux., by quitclaim deed conveyed the subject lands together with others to A. Stiewel and Stiewel by warranty deed dated April 11, 1906, conveyed the "coal and mineral" in the subject land to Consolidated Anthracite Coal Company. Appellee Ozark Real Estate Company by stipulation of the parties is the successor to whatever title Consolidated Anthracite Coal Company acquired from Stiewel. Ozark leased the oil and gas rights to appellee Stephens.

A chart which the plaintiffs have prepared has been helpful in showing the numerous conveyances and with slight modifications it has been reproduced and appears as an appendix to this opinion.

Appellants are the descendants and heirs of J. Richard, deceased, and as such they claim ownership of the gas and oil underlying the lands in question, asserting that Richard died seized and possessed of such gas and oil. To substantiate their claim, appellants advance these basic contentions: first, the deed from Richard to Johnson, Trustee, (May 27, 1891) was in fact a mortgage given to secure payment of a debt; that the debt was paid and title to the property reverted to Richard; second, that the deed of release from Johnson to Richard (March 1, 1893) which conveyed the "surface" only, must be construed as carrying with it oil and gas under the surface of the lands; third, that Richard expressly reserved "coal, mineral, oil or gas" in his conveyance to Griffin (March 1, 1893) and, fourth, that the deed from Richard to Stiewel (February 4, 1897) of all coal and minerals and the deed from Stiewel to Consolidated (April 11, 1906) did not include and convey "gas and oil."

Alternatively, plaintiffs claim that they are residuary legatees of A. Stiewel, deceased, and that if title to the gas and oil became vested in him either by virtue of the conveyance from Johnson to Stiewel or from Richard to Stiewel, they are by virtue of an agreement with other residuary devisees and other interested parties, owners of an undivided one-sixth interest in said oil and gas.

The trial centered on and brought into focus the legal effect of the various instruments above mentioned and in particular the deed from Richard to Johnson; the deed of release from Johnson to Richard; and the meaning of the term "coal and mineral" as used in the instruments. After due consideration, the court filed detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Additionally, at the conclusion of the trial, the court rendered an oral decision (appearing as a part of the record but not officially reported). The latter amplified the court's views as contained in the findings of fact and conclusions of law.

In summary, the court found that the deed from Richard to Johnson conveyed the fee simple title to the land; that the burden was upon appellants to prove that said deed was intended as a mortgage to secure a debt by clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence, and that the appellants had failed to discharge this burden; that subsequent to this deed there was never any reconveyance of the lands to Richard except for the release to him of the surface only for agricultural purposes and this instrument did not convey to Richard any title to any coal, oil, gas or other minerals in and under said lands; that by quitclaim deed of April 11, 1903, Johnson conveyed the title to all of said lands to Stiewel except the surface theretofore conveyed by Johnson to Richard, and that even if the deed of release from Johnson to Richard did convey the oil and gas which Richard reserved in his conveyance to Griffin, Richard thereafter unequivocally conveyed to Stiewel all the privileges and agreement reserved in Richard's deed to Griffin. Therefore, in any event, Stiewel wound up in 1903 with the fee simple title to the minerals, including oil and gas, whether by deed from Richard or Johnson, or both, and that since obviously Stiewel knew he had acquired the gas and oil in and under these lands and did not make any reservations in his deed to Consolidated Anthracite Coal Company in April, 1906, he divested himself of any title to anything he owned in the lands and vested fee simple title thereto in Consolidated. Thereafter Consolidated conveyed the title to Ozark Coal Company which in turn conveyed its title to appellee Ozark Real Estate Company subject to lease to...