Newaygo County Mfg. Co. v. Stevens

• Citation: 44 N.W. 852,79 Mich. 398
• Parties: NEWAYGO COUNTY MANUF'G CO. v. STEVENS et al.
• Decision Date: 20 February 1890
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

44 N.W. 852

79 Mich. 398

NEWAYGO COUNTY MANUF'G CO. v. STEVENS et al.

Supreme Court of Michigan

February 20, 1890

Appeal from circuit court, Newaygo county; J. H. PALMER, Judge.

E. L. Gray, for appellant.

Arthur R. Rood, for appellees.

CHAMPLIN C.J.

The bill of complaint in this case was filed to enjoin a sale of real estate then being advertised under a power of sale in a certain mortgage executed by defendants John Kritzer and Margaret Kritzer to Wilder D. Stevens, and to have the mortgage declared null and void; and also certain tax-deeds covering the same land declared to be null and void; and compel the defendants to convey to the complainant, so as to remove all cloud upon complainant's title in fee-simple. The bill states that the Newaygo County Manufacturing Company in May, 1883, purchased of John H. Simmons the S.W. 1/4 of the N.W. 1/4 of section 25, in township 12 N range 13 W., in Newaygo county, Mich., and is in actual possession. The bill then states the source and chain of title from the United States through William J. Welles Alexander Blake, Abigail Crosby, Susan Blake, and John H. Simmons. It states that, in 1868, Alexander Blake was adjudicated a bankrupt, and Wilder D. Foster appointed assignee, to whom all of his estate was assigned. That in September, 1883, Foster died, and Noyes L. Avery was appointed his successor; and that Avery, as assignee of Blake, sold the premises, with other lands, to Wilder D. Stevens, who was a nephew of Foster. That in March, 1880, Sidney H. Sherman, a book-keeper for the firm of Foster, Stevens & Co., of which Wilder D. Stevens was a member, obtained a tax-deed of said land for the year 1872, and another deed for the delinquent taxes for the years 1873 to 1877, inclusive; and on the 15th of April, 1881, sold and conveyed said premises by quitclaim deed to defendant Stevens. The ninth clause of the bill is as follows: "That neither the said Wilder D. Foster nor Noyes L. Avery, as assignees of said Alexander Blake, although claiming the lands aforesaid were part of the assets of said Blake, paid any taxes on the land aforesaid, but permitted the same to be sold to said Stevens, March 18, 1880, for delinquent taxes for the years aforesaid, and subsequently, on April 7, 1880, conveyed the land, with others, to said Stevens as aforesaid." The bill then states that on October 24, 1881, defendants Kritzer executed a mortgage to Wilder D. Stevens, which was duly recorded, and was then being foreclosed, in which there is claimed to be due to Stevens $418.51. The bill then proceeds to the prayer, as follows: " Eleventh. That your orator charges that the said Foster and Avery, failing to pay taxes on said lands, and the said Avery conveying the same to said Stevens, and claiming the land as belonging to said Alexander Blake, assignor in bankruptcy, all of which said Stevens well knew, the said Stevens, as your orator charges on information and belief, contriving and deceiving the said Susan B. Blake into believing that she had no interest in said land, and, by obtaining the tax-titles aforesaid, hoped to cut off all her right, title, and interest in the same. Twelfth. That your orator avers that the action of said assignee in bankruptcy, as above stated, and of the said Wilder D. Stevens, as above set forth, representing, as did said Avery, said Alexander Blake in a fiduciary capacity, were in fraud of the rights of the said Susan B. Blake and her grantee, your orator. Your orator, therefore, expressly charges that, at the date of the conveyance of said land by said Avery to the said Stevens, said land was the real estate of said Susan B. Blake in law and equity, and that the actings and doings of the said Stevens and his confederates are contrary to equity and good conscience, and tend to the manifest wrong and injury of your orator." Susan B. Blake, the bill alleges, was the wife of Alexander Blake.

The bill of complaint makes no case against the title of defendant Stevens, acquired through the tax-deeds. The legality of these deeds are not attacked in any manner. The apparent title to the land in question, and all the title she ever had, was acquired through a deed from Abigail Crosby her mother, to whom Alexander Blake had conveyed them on March 16, 1855, recorded April 20, 1855. Abigail Crosby reconveyed them to Susan B. Blake on the 5th day of April, 1855, recorded November 24, 1866. The circumstances under which these conveyances were made will be noticed further on. If the statements in the bill of complaint are correct, neither Foster, Avery, Sherman, nor Stevens owed her any duty to pay the taxes upon her land. No matter how much they may have claimed that it belonged to the bankrupt's estate, it did not relieve her from the duty of paying her own taxes. The claim made was adverse to her interests, and in no sense did they occupy a fiduciary relation to her which made it inequitable for them to claim the land as belonging to the bankrupt's estate, or to purchase tax-titles thereon. The facts disclosed by the proofs show that these with other lands belonged to Alexander Blake in 1855; that they were what is known as "pine lands," valuable chiefly for the timber growing thereon; that at that time Blake became embarrassed in his business; that he was in debt, and, in order to keep certain creditors from attaching this land, he voluntarily conveyed it to his mother-in-law, Abigail Crosby, who was a member of his family. He claims that he owed her, but he does not say how much, nor that the indebtedness was canceled. Nothing, in fact, was paid by Mrs. Crosby. She held the legal title a few months, and then conveyed to Mrs. Blake without consideration. This deed was not recorded until 1866. In the mean time, and after Mrs. Crosby had conveyed to Mrs. Blake, namely, on November 24, 1856, Blake obtained from her a power of attorney, giving him full control over the lands conveyed to her, to take possession thereof, and sell the timber therefrom, or to cut and remove it himself, or to sell said land. He was cutting timber upon this land at the time he conveyed to Mrs. Crosby, to prevent its being attached by his creditors, and he continued cutting and removing the timber, so that at the time he was adjudicated a bankrupt these lands were what are classed as "stump lands," and the whole value did not exceed 75 cents an acre, which fact may account for Mrs. Blake's not paying the taxes, if she really claimed title thereto. After Stevens had acquired his claims by deeds from Sherman and Avery, he sold 80 acres to defendant Kritzer on the 19th day of October, 1881, and took back a mortgage to secure payment of part of the purchase money. This is the mortgage complainant asks to have canceled. Later, and in the year 1882, "stump lands" having obtained some value, John H. Simmons made an offer to Alexander Blake to the effect that, if he would convey to him certain stump lands, he would give him one-half of the proceeds which he should receive on sale. In looking up such lands, he fell upon the 80 acres which Stevens had sold to Kritzer. He sent a quitclaim deed from Newaygo to George R. Perry, a son-in-law of Mrs. Blake, residing at Grand Rapids, and requested him to procure the deed to be executed by Mrs. Blake, which he did, and forwarded it to Simmons. The consideration expressed in the deed is one dollar, but Mrs. Blake testifies that she received nothing, and did not know that she was signing that deed; that it was with other papers; that Simmons has never paid her anything for the deed. There is testimony tending to show that Simmons was at the time a member and an officer of the Newago County Manufacturing Company. However, on the 11th of May, 1883, he conveyed the 80 acres to that company. There is no allegation in the bill of complaint that the Newaygo County Manufacturing Company is a corporation organized under the laws of this state;...