Noonan v. Lee
| Court | United States Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | SWAYNE. |
| Citation | 2 Black 499,17 L.Ed. 278,67 U.S. 499 |
| Parties | NOONAN v. LEE |
| Decision Date | 01 December 1862 |
[Syllabus from pages 499-501 intentionally omitted]
Page 501
Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the District of Wisconsin.
Mr. Gillet, of District of Columbia, for Appellant.
Mr. Brown, of Wisconsin, for Respondent.
Mr. Justice SWAYNE.
A careful examination of the facts disclosed in the record, is necessary to enable us to arrive at a proper solution of the questions presented for our determination.
Lee sold, on the 1st day of October, 1855, he and his wife, by deed duly executed, conveyed to Noonan certain real estate therein described, as follows:
'One equal undivided half part or share of that certain tract of land bounded and described as follows, viz.: Beginning in the centre of the Milwaukie river, on the centre of the road represented on the recorded plat of the village of Mechanicsville as running east and west between blocks five (5) and six (6) in said village of Mechanicsville; running thence easterly in the centre of said street to the centre of a street running north and south between blocks three (3) and (5) in Mechanicsville aforesaid; thence southerly in the centre of the last mentioned street to the centre of a street running east and west between blocks three (3) and four (4) in said village of Mechanicsville; thence easterly in the centre of said last mentioned street to a point that would be intersected by a north and south line through the middle of block three (3) in Mechanicsville aforesaid; thence southerly on the line bounding the west ends of lots one (1), two (2), three (3), and four (4) in block four (4) in Mechanicsville aforesaid, to south line of said lot four (4) in block four (4) aforesaid; thence easterly on the south line of lot four (4) in block four (4) to the west line of a lot of land containing about one-half (1/2) an acre, represented on said plat of Mechanicsville as being nearly in a square form in the southeast corner of the town plat of Mechanicsville aforesaid; thence southerly on the west line of said last-described tract of land to the south line of
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the town plat of Mechanicsville; thence easterly on said last mentioned line to the east line of fractional lot two (2) in section four (4), in township seven (7), north of range twenty-two (22) east; thence south to the south line of said fractional lot two (2); thence westerly on the south line of said fractional lot two (2) to the centre of the Milwaukie river; thence northerly in the centre of the Milwaukie river as it winds and turns to the place of beginning. Also the privilege of damming and flowing the Milwaukie river on said fractional lot two (2), as high as said river would be raised by maintaining a dam at least nine feet high, where a certain dam was located across said river, near the south line of fractional lot two (2), in the year 1837, as described in deed from Daniel Bigelow and Amasa Bigelow to Herman V. Prentice, recorded in Volume 'C' of deeds, on page 329, as to flow-water.'
The deed contains a covenant of general warranty.
Upon the same day Noonan executed to Lee a mortgage upon the same premises, conditioned to secure the payment of $4,000, in four equal annual instalments, with interest at the rate of 7 per cent. per annum, payable annually, according to the condition of a bond of the same date executed by Noonan to Lee; and also to secure the payment, by Noonan, of all taxes upon the mortgaged premises. It was further provided, that upon any default by Noonan in respect of the due payment of principal, interest, or taxes, the entire principal of the mortgage debt should, at the option of Lee, thereupon be deemed to have become due, and should, with the interest thereon, be collectable.
At the time of the execution of the bond, Lee made and signed the following endorsement upon it:
'I agree, if my title fails to the property, for the consideration of which this bond is given, except as against the United States, for the portion of the river beyond the meandered line, that I will not enforce this bond; and if any incumbrance shall be found, that the amount of the same shall be deducted from the moneys to fall due on this bond.'
On the 4th of March, 1859, Lee filed his bill setting forth that Noonan had paid nothing either of principal of interest of the
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mortgage debt; that he had notified Noonan that he claimed the entire debt to be due, and praying for a sale of the mortgaged premises, the payment of the mortgage debt, and for general relief.
The decree finds the amount due Lee to be $5,267.20; directs the sale of the mortgage premises, the payment of the mortgage debt, and the bringing of the surplus moneys, if there were any, into Court, and then provides that if the moneys arising from the sale were insufficient to pay the debt, interest and costs, that the Marshal in his report of the sale should specify the amount of the deficiency, that Noonan should pay it with interest, 'and that the complainant may have execution therefor.'
From this decree Noonan appealed to this Court
Several objections are made here to the decree:
I. It is said the deed is void because it refers for a part of the boundaries to the recorded plat of the town of Mechanicsville.
The law of Wisconsin (revision of 1849) requires that a town plat shall give 'the names, width, courses, boundary, and extent,' of all streets and alleys; that it shall be certified by the surveyor, acknowledged before an officer authorized to take the acknowledgment of deeds, and that it shall then, with the certificate of acknowledgment, be recorded.
The 9th section of the Act provides that if any person 'shall dispose of, offer for sale or lease' any lot or part of a lot before these requirements are complied with, he 'shall forfeit and pay the sum of $25 for each and every lot or part of a lot sold or disposed of, leased or offered for sale.'
This plat was acknowledged on the 15th of March, 1836, and recorded on the 15th of September, 1855. It does not give the names, courses, boundary or length of the streets, and it is not certified by the Surveyor. The certificate of acknowledgment represents the plat as laid out on the 'south-east part of the S. E. quarter of section No. 4 in T. No. 7, in R. No. 22 E., on the east side of the Milwaukie river.' It was in fact laid out on fractional lot 2, of the section named. The southeast quarter is upon the other side of the section and does not approach the river. Lot 2 bounds upon the river. A large lot delineated on
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the plat bounding upon the river is marked 'reserved for hydraulic purposes.' An island opposite to it is laid down upon the plat. Fractional lot 2, which is twice referred to in the boundaries as given in the deed, bounds upon the river. Parol evidence, not inconsistent with a written instrument, is admissible to apply such instrument to its subject. The designation of the 'southeast quarter' in the certificate of acknowledgment was a clerical mistake....
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Burnet v. Coronado Oil Gas Co, 341
...v. Toombs, 18 Wall. 648, 652, 653, 21 L. Ed. 966, overruling Orchard v. Hughes, 1 Wall. 77, 17 L. Ed. 560; Noonan v. Lee, 2 Black, 499, 17 L. Ed. 278, and Dunphy v. Kleinschmidt, 11 Wall. 610, 20 L. Ed. 223; Mason v. Eldred, 6 Wall. 231, 238, 18 L. Ed. 783, in effect overruling Sheeby v. Ma......
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Snow v. Duxstad, 766
...Howland, 4 L.Ed. 526, 4 Wheat. 108; Boyle v. Zacharie, 6 Pet. 658, 8 L.Ed. 532; Neves v. Scott, 13 HOW 268, 14 L.Ed. 140; Noonan v. Lee, 2 Black 499, 17 L.Ed. 278.) It is not necessary, in view of these authorities, to decide what the power of a state court might be in a case of this charac......
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Damsky v. Zavatt, 26641.
...438. In the federal courts, the Supreme 289 F.2d 55 Court held equity had no power to enter a deficiency judgment, Noonan v. Lee, 1863, 2 Black 499, 67 U.S. 499, 17 L.Ed. 278; Orchard v. Hughes, 1864, 1 Wall. 73, 68 U.S. 73, 17 L.Ed. 560; then it immediately promulgated a rule of court auth......
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Young v. Vail, 2691.
...provision is made therefor by statute or rule of court. In the case of Noonan v. Braley, sometimes cited as Noonan v. Lee, 2 Black, 499, 17 L. Ed. 278, the Supreme Court of the United States had before it an order of the lower court on the mortgagor to pay the balance remaining unsatisfied ......
-
Burnet v. Coronado Oil Gas Co, 341
...v. Toombs, 18 Wall. 648, 652, 653, 21 L. Ed. 966, overruling Orchard v. Hughes, 1 Wall. 77, 17 L. Ed. 560; Noonan v. Lee, 2 Black, 499, 17 L. Ed. 278, and Dunphy v. Kleinschmidt, 11 Wall. 610, 20 L. Ed. 223; Mason v. Eldred, 6 Wall. 231, 238, 18 L. Ed. 783, in effect overruling Sheeby v. Ma......
-
Snow v. Duxstad, 766
...Howland, 4 L.Ed. 526, 4 Wheat. 108; Boyle v. Zacharie, 6 Pet. 658, 8 L.Ed. 532; Neves v. Scott, 13 HOW 268, 14 L.Ed. 140; Noonan v. Lee, 2 Black 499, 17 L.Ed. 278.) It is not necessary, in view of these authorities, to decide what the power of a state court might be in a case of this charac......
-
Damsky v. Zavatt, 26641.
...438. In the federal courts, the Supreme 289 F.2d 55 Court held equity had no power to enter a deficiency judgment, Noonan v. Lee, 1863, 2 Black 499, 67 U.S. 499, 17 L.Ed. 278; Orchard v. Hughes, 1864, 1 Wall. 73, 68 U.S. 73, 17 L.Ed. 560; then it immediately promulgated a rule of court auth......
-
Young v. Vail, 2691.
...provision is made therefor by statute or rule of court. In the case of Noonan v. Braley, sometimes cited as Noonan v. Lee, 2 Black, 499, 17 L. Ed. 278, the Supreme Court of the United States had before it an order of the lower court on the mortgagor to pay the balance remaining unsatisfied ......