Pearsol v. Maxwell

• Decision Date: 02 March 1895
• Docket Number: 1.
• Parties: PEARSOL et al. v. MAXWELL et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania

68 F. 513

PEARSOL et al. v. MAXWELL et al.

No. 1.

United States Circuit Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

March 2, 1895

This was an action of ejectment brought by William S. Pearsol and others against George C. Maxwell and others. In pursuance of a written stipulation, the case was tried by court without the intervention of a jury. The following facts were found by the court:

CONSTRUCTION OF WILL-- ESTATES TAIL-- BARRING REMAINDER.

A testator devised land to E., 'to have and to hold the same to the said E. and the heirs of her body, provided however, that the children of the said E. do not marry or be given in marriage to any of the children of my uncle J., or to any of his grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, or other lineal descendants of the said J.; but should any of the children of the said E. marry any of the descendants of the said J., the share of my estate of he, she, or they so marrying as aforesaid shall go to and become vested in the other child or children of the said E., share and share alike'; and the testator charged E. with the payment of a legacy of $2,000: Held, that E. took an estate tail, which became converted into a fee simple absolute by her deed executed agreeably to the Pennsylvania statute for the barring of estates tail.

(1) This action of ejectment is for the recovery of the undivided one-half part of a tract of land situate in Luzerne township Fayette county, Pennsylvania. (2) The plaintiffs and the defendants respectively claim title to said land under the will of Samuel N. Crawford, who died in the year 1853, seised in fee of said land, having first made his last will, dated May 15, 1853, which will was duly probated after his death namely, on July 13, 1853, and is recorded in said county of Fayette in Will Book No. 3, page 86. Said will contains the following clauses; 'Item. I give and devise to my cousin Edith Pearsol, daughter of Benjamin Sharpless, all that portion of the farm upon which I now reside, and bounded and described as follows, viz.: Beginning on the Monongahela river where my lands adjoin those of Joseph Crawford's and said river; thence north 74 degrees, west 30 perches south 83 degrees, east 75 perches, to lands of William Crawford; thence south 14 degrees, east 207 perches; thence north 89 3/4 degrees, each 134 perches, to a post; thence along the lands of Joseph Crawford north 1/4 degrees, west 205 perches, to the place of beginning, on the Monongahela river aforesaid,-- to have and to hold the same to the said Edith Pearsol and the heirs of her body, provided, however that the children of the said Edith Pearsol do not marry or be given in marriage to any of the children of my uncle Joseph Crawford, or to any of his grandchildren or great-grandchildren, or to any other lineal descendant of the said Joseph Crawford; but should any of the children of the said Edith Pearsol marry any of the descendants of the said Joseph Crawford, the share of my estate of he, she, or they so marrying as aforesaid shall go to and become vested in the other child or children of the said Edith, share and share alike. The part of my farm above devised to Edith Pearsol contains one hundred and seventy-five acres by a survey thereof made by James Moffit. It is my will and desire and I do hereby bequeath to the said Edith Pearsol all my household and kitchen furniture, and that she shall pay to my cousin Benjamin W. Crawford, Sr., the sum of two thousand dollars within five years after my decease, without interest on the same. ' Said will (prout) is made part of this finding. (3) By deed dated June 10, 1858, William Pearsol and Edith, his wife (the above-named devisee), conveyed the said tract of land to Christopher Cox, his heirs and assigns; the said grantors declaring in said deed that it was their intention by said deed forever to debar any estate tail in possession, reversion, or remainder, which the said Edith had in the said land, which deed was executed, acknowledged, and recorded agreeably to the provisions of the act of assembly of January 16, 1799, for the barring of estates tail. (4) The defendants (or some of them) have succeeded to and are invested with the title of Christopher Cox by virtue of sundry deeds recited in their abstract of title (prout). (5) Edith Pearsol died in April, 1893. Her husband died previously. (6) The land which is described in the writ of ejectment is the same devised in and by the above-quoted provisions of the will of Samuel N. Crawford. (7) The plaintiff William S. Pearsol is a son of Edith Pearsol, and the other plaintiffs are her grandchildren, being...