Smith v. Leavenworth

• Decision Date: 20 November 1911
• Docket Number: 14,477
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
• Parties: J. F. SMITH ET AL. v. GEORGE LEAVENWORTH

57 So. 803

101 Miss. 238

J. F. SMITH ET AL. v. GEORGE LEAVENWORTH

No. 14,477

Supreme Court of Mississippi

November 20, 1911

APPEAL from the chancery court of Coahoma county, HON. M. E. DENTON Chancellor.

Suit by George Leavenworth against J. F. Smith et al. From a decree for complainants, defendants appeal.

Complainant filed a bill in chancery, setting up his claim to fractional section twenty-four, township twenty-seven, range seven W in Coahoma county, and alleging that defendant Smith claimed title to section fourteen adjoining and that said lumber company claimed the timber on said section fourteen by virtue of a deed from said Smith. The bill further alleges that, at the time this land was originally platted, sections fourteen and twenty-four were fractional sections, extending to the old river bank, which touched the corner of sections thirteen, fourteen and twenty-four; that for many years accretions have formed along the old river bank, and the channel of the stream was changed; that on the land so formed by these accretions there has grown up valuable timber, and that said lumber company claiming under its deed from Smith has entered upon a certain portion of the accretions between the north and south line passing through said corner and an east and west line passing through said corner; that the accretions in question lie south of section fourteen and west of section twenty-four, and extend to the present channel of the Mississippi river. The bill further alleges that said lumber company is claiming the ownership of the timber on this disputed territory by virtue of its conveyance from Smith, which conveys, among other sections, section fourteen "together with all accretions thereof. The latter include the accretions lying west of a line extending from the corner of sections thirteen and fourteen and twenty-four, south to the bank of the river, as well as accretions lying west of sections fourteen and eleven." This conveyance was dated December 29, 1906. The prayer of the bill is for an injunction to restrain the cutting by the defendants of the timber of the complainant on this disputed land, and for a decree settling the rights of the parties to the accretions formed in this territory, and establishing a boundary line between the accretions belonging to complainant and defendants. The answer of the appellants attacks complainant's title to section twenty-four and to the accretions in question, and is a general denial of the allegations of the bill of complaint. The answer does not set up any claim of title to section twenty-four in the defendants. On the hearing the court entered a decree dividing the accretions between the complainant and defendants, giving equal acreage to each of the accretions in the disputed territory. From this decree defendants appeal.

The complainant deraigns his title as follows: "Tax Collector to the State of Mississippi. Tax sale, dated 1876. Consideration, $ 16.80. Sold for the taxes of 1875. Lands conveyed: All fractional section 24, township 27, range 7 west." "Tax Collector to the State of Mississippi. Tax sale, dated 318181. Consideration, taxes for 1880. Lands conveyed: All fractional section 24, township 27, range 7 west." "State of Mississippi to John Scott. State tax deed, dated 5120199, filed 1/8/01, recorded 1/21/01, Book 1, page 527. Consideration, $ 40.50. Land conveyed: All fractional section 24, town-ship 27, range 7 west." "Jno. Scott to George Leavenworth. Warranty deed, dated 3/13/02, filed 3/19/02, recorded 3/19/02, Book 4, page 22. Consideration, $ 80.00. Lands conveyed: All fractional section 24, township 27, range 7 west." It will be seen that complainant relies upon a tax sale in March, 1876, for the taxes of 1875, and also a tax sale in March, 1881, for the taxes of the year 1880. It seems that there was some irregularity in the sale for the taxes of 1875, and the lands were again listed, and sold in 1881 for the taxes of 1880. Complainant entered into possession of said section twenty-four, in the year 1899, by agreement with Scott, who afterwards executed a deed to the property, and relies, also on adverse possession for a space of three years after two years from the date of said tax sale, as provided by section 2735 of the Code of 1892, brought forward as section 3095, Code of 1906.

The defendants attack the sale of 1881, because the land was not subject to taxation at that time; the title being then vested in the state under the sale of 1876, which latter was a valid sale. It seems that the attorney general had found some objection to the sale, and had ordered the lands struck from the auditor's records and...