Parsons v. Sharpe

Decision Date11 March 1912
PartiesPARSONS et al. v. SHARPE.
CourtArkansas Supreme Court

Appeal from Circuit Court, Jackson County; R. E. Jeffery, Judge.

Actions by Robert W. Sharpe against Frank M. Parsons and W. T. Altman. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendants appeal. Reversed and remanded.

Gustave Jones and John W. & Jos. M. Stayton, both of Newport, for appellants. Stuckey & Stuckey, of Newport, for appellee.

McCULLOCH, C. J.

In the year 1889 one Brewer sold and conveyed two lots in the town of Swifton, Jackson county, Ark., to appellee, R. W. Sharpe, and his mother, Sarah Sharpe, and brother, George M. Sharpe, as tenants in common. Sarah Sharpe died intestate on January 19, 1891, leaving surviving as heirs at law her children, the appellee, and George M. Sharpe, James B. Sharpe, C. L. Sharpe, and Lulu E. Coffin. Some time during the year 1892 appellee disappeared from his home at Wynne, Ark., and was not heard from by any of his friends or kindred until the year 1909, when his brother, C. L. Sharpe, received a letter from him written in California, where he resides. In the meantime James B. Sharpe, on June 11, 1897, conveyed his undivided interest in the lots, by quitclaim deed, to M. E. Coffin; on March 23, 1901, C. L. Sharpe, George M. Sharpe, and Lulu E. Coffin conveyed their undivided interests in said lots to said M. E. Coffin; and on December 9, 1899, M. E. Coffin conveyed all of her interest in said lots to F. M. Parsons, one of the appellants, who, on April 26, 1905, conveyed one of the lots to his coappellant, W. T. Altman. Appellant Parsons took possession of the lot at the date of his said purchase, and with his grantee, Altman, occupied the same continuously up to the present time. At the time of said purchase by appellant Parsons, there was a small dwelling house on lot No. 6; the other lot being fenced and used as a garden. During the period of his occupancy, he expended the sum of $432.29 in enlarging and repairing the house, and appellant Altman, after the conveyance of lot No. 5 to him, built a dwelling house thereon at a cost of $800. They also paid taxes on the lots each year. Appellee wrote to his brother, C. L. Sharpe, from California in the year 1909, and subsequently employed an attorney, who instituted for him separate actions in the circuit court of Jackson county against appellants, Parsons and Altman, on December 17, 1909, to recover possession of said lots. Appellants each pleaded the seven-year statute of limitations, and by consent of all parties the cases were consolidated and tried together before the court sitting as a jury.

The evidence tends to establish the fact that appellee was sick and very feeble when he left Wynne in 1892, and that his relatives, after failing to hear from him, supposed that he was dead. None of them ever heard from him until his brother, C. L. Sharpe, received the letter from him in 1909, as before stated. J. B. Coffin, who is the husband of M. E. Coffin, and negotiated the purchase of the property from the Sharpes, testified that, when he negotiated the purchase, they all took it for granted that appellee was dead, and that his (witness') wife, M. E. Coffin, was getting title to the whole property, having previously purchased the interest of James B. Sharpe, one of the heirs. C. L. Sharpe, who represented the other grantors in the negotiations, testified that nothing was said about his brother (R. W. Sharpe) being dead, but admitted that they had not heard from him since he left in 1892 and all supposed he was dead. Appellant Parsons testified that he purchased the lots and paid the full value therefor on the basis that he was getting title to the whole; that appellee had not been heard from since he left and was supposed to be dead; that his grantor represented to him that all the heirs were satisfied appellee was dead. This is not contradicted. He testified further that he occupied the property, claiming it as his own, and improved it. The testimony further shows that, aside from the improvements placed upon the lots, they became greatly enhanced in value...

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