Others v. Watson
Decision Date | 30 June 1856 |
Docket Number | No. 91.,91. |
Citation | 20 Ga. 517 |
Parties | James Boyce and others, executors of Kerr Boyce, deceased, plaintiffs in error. vs. James R. Watson, defendant in error. |
Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
In Equity, in Baker Superior Court. Decided by Judge Allen, May Term, 1856.
James R. Watson filed his bill against James Boyce and others, alleging that in 1842 one Farish Carter of Baldwin County, Georgia, held grants from the State of Georgia to a large number of lots of land in Baker County, among which was a grant to lot No. 156, in the 9th district of said county; that on the 16th day of July, 1842, said Carter conveyed a number of the lots so held by him to Kerr Boyce of Charleston, South Carolina; that as complainant is informed and believes, through the mistake of said Carter and of said Kerr Boyce, the said lot No. 156 in the 9th district, was included in said conveyance in place of another lot which was intended to be conveyed, the number of which other lot and the district in which it lies are not known to complainant; that, as complainant is informed and believes, said Carter, when he made said conveyance, took no memorandum of the lots so conveyed, and afterwards applied to said Boyce to furnish him with the numbers of the lots included in said conveyance-said Carter then still owning a number of lots in Baker County, and not knowing which lots he had sold to said Boyce; that said Boyce furnished said Carter with a list of the lots so conveyed to him, which list did not contain said lot No. 156, in the 9th district—the said Boyce inadvertently making a mistake, as complainant has learned, by taking the numbers (which were erroneous) from the back of the grants, instead of examining the deed from Carter and furnishing a list of the numbers from that; that owing to the error thus committed by Boyce, said Carter being assured that he was the owner of the lot in question, paid taxes on the same and offered to sell it; that one Jacob Watson hearing that Carter was the owner of said lot and having no notice that it had been conveyed to said Boyce, proposed to Carter to purchase the same; that Carter, after examining his papers, said he still owned said lot, and on the 18th day of November, 1851, sold the same to the said Jacob Watson for $300—the said Watson giving his notes payable at one and two years, and the said Carter executing to him a bond to make titles when the notes should be paid.
The bill charges that at that time, said lot was "wild and unimproved, " and of little value, compared with its present value; that immediately after said purchase, said Watson took possession of and made valuable improvements on said lot, and soon afterwards conveyed the same to complainant, by transferring to him said bond for titles; that complainant did not then know that said lot had ever been conveyed by said Carter to said Kerr Boyce, but believed the title thereto to be in Carter; that he went into possession in good faith and has greatly enhanced its value by the improvements made on it; that the lot is now worth $1,500; that complainant has been ready and willing and now offers to pay the purchase money to said Carter, provided he will make titles according to said bond, but that the said Carter is unable to make title on account of the error so made as aforesaid, in having inadvertently included said lot in the conveyance made to said Boyce.
The bill charges that said Kerr Boyce died before said error was ascertained, and that his estate is now represented by James Boyce and others, his executors, who reside in the State of South Carolina; that said executors have instituted an action of ejectment against complainant to recover said lot, which action is now pending on the appeal in Baker Superior Court; that complainant had hoped said executorswould desist from prosecuting said action, and cause said mistake to be rectified, and that said Carter would have executed titles to complainant, but that said executors are still endeavoring to dispossess complainant, and the said Carter still fails to make title, being unable to do so on account of the facts aforesaid.
The bill prays that said action of ejectment be enjoined, and that said executors, inasmuch as said Carter was induced to sell to said Jacob Watson by the representations of said Kerr Boyce, be decreed to make titles to complainant to said lot of land.
On the 22d of May, 1856, complainant amended his bill by attaching as exhibits, a copy of the grant from the State to Carter to said lot, and also a copy of the action of ejectment referred to in the bill. And further, by alleging that since the original bill was filed, complainant had come into possession of the original letter written...
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Underwood v. Underwood
...giving bond, and did not obtain the letters, and assumed no custody or control of the property in pursuance of such proceeding. Boyce v. Watson, 20 Ga. 517 (2); Lamar v. Pearre, 90 Ga. 377 (1), 17 S.E. Harris v. Woodard, 133 Ga. 104 (3), 65 S.E. 250; Mims v. Jones, 135 Ga. 541, 544, 69 S.E.......
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Underwood v. Underwood
...giving bond, and did not obtain the letters, and assumed no custody or control of the property in pursuance of such proceeding. Boyce v. Watson, 20 Ga. 517 (2); Lamar v. Pearre, 90 Ga. 377 (1), 17 S. E. 92; Harris v. Woodard, 133 Ga. 104 (3), 65 S. E. 250; Mims v. Jones, 135 Ga. 541, 544, 6......