Rawles v. Johns
| Decision Date | 20 March 1899 |
| Parties | RAWLES et al. v. JOHNS. SAME v. NEWMAN. |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
Appeals from common pleas circuit court of Aiken county; Ernest Gary Judge.
Separate actions by Eva P. Rawles and others against C. H. Johns and Richard Newman. Judgment for plaintiffs in both actions, and defendants appeal. Affirmed.
G. W Croft & Son, for appellants.
Henderson Bros., for respondents.
The two above-named cases were heard together in the circuit court and in this court. In the first, 10 acres of land were sued for; and in the second, 20 acres of land were sued for. All of the circumstances surrounding each case were the same. Verdicts were rendered in favor of the plaintiffs in each case, and after judgment each defendant has appealed, on precisely the same grounds. So, therefore, in disposing of these grounds of appeal, we will understand that our remarks cover both appeals. There are no contested facts here. All that is involved is the application of the law to a given state of facts.
Under the will of John Burgess, in the year 1829, his daughter Elizabeth S. Burgess, came into possession, as devisee in fee simple, of two considerable tracts of land. She first intermarried with one Wiley Glover, and as the fruit of that marriage were their children, Wiley C. Glover, Durant Glover Victoria Glover, Elizabeth A. Holley (wife of Charles Holley), and Martha Lamar (wife of Barney D. Lamar). Wiley Glover having died, in the year 1848 she intermarried with one A. A. Clark; but before doing so she entered into a marriage settlement, wherein Clark was to have the use of her real and personal estate during his life; if Clark should die first, then all of said property should become absolutely vested in the said Elizabeth S.; if Elizabeth S. died before Clark, then her disposition of all such property by deed or will should be valid, but, in default of a deed or will, to her children. It seems that A. A. Clark died before Elizabeth S., his wife, and that Elizabeth S. Clark died in 1868. But in the year 1859 the said A. A. Clark and Elizabeth S. Clark, his wife, conveyed, of the lands belonging to the estate of Elizabeth S. Clark, which had been devised by her under the said will of her father, John Burgess, 240 acres --with a full warranty by the grantors. The consideration of this deed was nominal, being for $5. The said Wiley C. Glover was not married at the time of the execution of the deed, but he did marry in the year 1867, and the seven children of that marriage were Eva P. Rawles, who in the year 1897 was 27 years old; Virgil Glover, 23 years; St. Julian, 19 years; Elizabeth, 17 years; Wade, 15 years; Louis, 12 years; and Henry, 8 years old. The said Wiley C. Glover, as a part of the said 240 acres of land, sold and conveyed, as of fee simple, the 10 acres now held by the defendant C. H. Johns, on May 6, 1869, for full value. The said Wiley C. Glover, as a part of the said 240 acres of land, sold and conveyed, as of fee simple, for full value, the 20 acres now held by the defendant Richard Newman, on 27th September, 1867. The said Wiley C. Glover died on the 1st day of May, 1896. On the 10th day of January, 1897, these plaintiffs, the children of Wiley C. Glover, commenced these two actions to recover the 10 acres from defendant Johns and the 20 acres from the defendant Newman. The jury found in favor of the plaintiffs in each case, and now the appeal is taken on the following grounds (the first, second, and seventh grounds of appeal were abandoned at the...
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