St. Louis-San Francisco Ry. Co. v. McCORNACK, 1319.
| Decision Date | 25 May 1940 |
| Docket Number | No. 1319.,1319. |
| Parties | ST. LOUIS-SAN FRANCISCO RY. CO. v. McCORNACK et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Oklahoma |
Cruce, Satterfield & Grigsby, of Oklahoma City, Okl., for plaintiff.
E. E. Blake, of Oklahoma City, Okl., for James M. and Elizabeth J. McCornack.
Hayes, Richardson, Shartel & Gilliland, of Oklahoma City, Okl., for Terminal Land Co.
Vernon E. Cook, of Oklahoma City, Okl., for Oklahoma Traders, Inc.
J. B. Dudley, of Oklahoma City, Okl., for Mid-Texas Co.
This action was originally brought by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, a corporation, as plaintiff against James M. McCornack, et al., to quiet title to certain lands acquired by the railway company in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
On February 7, 1936, a decree was entered in this action disposing of all the issues except the controversy between the plaintiff and the defendants, Terminal Land Company, Argo Royalty Company, S. R. Cohagan, James Owens, and Oklahoma Traders, Inc., said controversy involving a portion of Parcel No. 3 lying between the south line of Frisco Avenue extended east through the northwest quarter, section 3, township 11 north, range 3 west and the southwest quarter section line of said quarter section.
The facts in this case have been stipulated.
On March 3, 1902, James M. McCornack, who was the patentee of the northwest quarter, section 3, township 11 north, range 3 west, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, for a recited consideration executed and delivered to the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company a conveyance to a strip of land fifty feet wide through said northwest quarter of section 3, said conveyance reciting that said land was to be used for a right of way for said railroad company.
The conveyance above described was signed by James M. McCornack only, and in June, 1909, Elizabeth J. McCornack, the wife of James McCornack, instituted an action in the District Court of Oklahoma County attacking said conveyance on the ground that the land conveyed was a portion of her homestead and that she had not signed the deed. A settlement was reached, however, between the railroad company and James M. McCornack and his wife, Elizabeth J. McCornack, whereby on the 5th of June, 1909, the said James M. McCornack and Elizabeth J. McCornack, for a cash consideration of $250 executed a warranty deed to the land in controversy, which deed was filed for record on the 15th day of June, 1909.
Soon after the delivery of the deed of the 5th of June, 1909, James M. McCornack and others entered into an agreement with the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company whereby in consideration of the removal of the tracks of the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad from a portion of the property covered by the deed of June 5, 1909 and reconveyance of a portion of said property covered by the deed of June 5, 1909, to James M. McCornack and wife, the said James M. McCornack and Elizabeth J. McCornack executed to the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company a warranty deed, delivered and signed the 16th day of July, 1909, and recorded in Book 122, Deeds, page 51 on the records of the County Clerk of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, on August 8, 1910. The deed of July 16, 1909, conveyed fee simple title to the railroad company to Parcel No. 3 as set out in the petition.
Within the following year, the railroad company constructed its railroad tracks on said land, which land has been and is now being used for railroad purposes.
On June 20, 1901, a certain bond issue was made by said railroad company to secure refunding bonds in the sum of $68,557,000 and a mortgage to secure said bonds given to cover all of its properties wherever situated and covering all "after-acquired property."
On August 27, 1907, the railroad company executed a second mortgage to secure its outstanding bonds in the sum of $69,384,000, covering all property belonging to said railroad company and all "after-acquired property." Said mortgages above described were duly filed with the Secretary of State of Oklahoma and in the office of the Register of Deeds of Oklahoma County.
On May 27, 1913, the mortgage holders filed a bill of complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, praying for the foreclosure of the first mortgage and for the appointment of receivers for all of the properties of said railroad company. On the same date an order was entered by said court appointing receivers for said railroad company and said receivers immediately took charge of the properties of said railroad company, including the property situated in Oklahoma County hereinabove described.
On June 2, 1913, ancillary proceedings were filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and the same receivers were appointed by said court.
On June 9, 1914, the trustee under the second mortgage filed suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to foreclose said mortgage. Thereafter, the suits pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri were consolidated.
On October 1, 1912, James M. McCornack and Elizabeth J. McCornack executed a real estate mortgage to Fred W. Fleming of Kansas City, Missouri, and the right of way land hereinbefore described was included in said mortgage. In June, 1914, Fleming filed suit in the District Court of Oklahoma County to foreclose said mortgage and the railroad company was made a party defendant but the receivers were not named as defendants. In the petition filed in the District Court of Oklahoma County, the plaintiff stated: "The defendant, St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Company, claims some right, title, equity or interest in said real estate, or a part thereof, by reason of a purported agreement which appears to have been filed for record in the office of the Register of Deeds of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, on the 8th day of February, 1913, at 8:00 o'clock A.M., and recorded in Book 13, page 618 thereof, and is made a party defendant herein for the purpose of permitting and requiring it to come in to court and setting up and asserting what right, equity, or interest it has or claims to have in and to any part of said land covered by said mortgage."
It is agreed that the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Company was the grantee in the McCornack deed to the land in controversy and that the title in the property was in the said railroad company until the purchase of same at the receiver's sale by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company on July 19, 1916.
The parties agree in the stipulation that the contract referred to in the Fleming petition was an agreement for the execution of a lease by the McCornacks to the railroad company for certain lands for a period of five years from the 21st of October, 1912, for the use of the said railroad company as stock pens, and that the lands covered by this contract did not include the lands involved in this suit.
The railroad company filed an answer in which it in effect disclaimed any interest in the land covered by the contract referred to in the plaintiff's petition.
As stated, the receivers of the railroad company were never made parties to the suit in the state court and no leave of federal court was sought to make said receivers parties defendant.
Judgment was had in said state court on January 25, 1915; a sale was had on August 7, 1915, and confirmed on October 9, 1915.
On March 31, 1916, a final decree was entered in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in the consolidated cases, directing the sale of the railroad property, and on July 19, 1916, a sale of all of the property of said railroad company was made to the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, a new corporation, and on August 29, 1916, the sale was confirmed.
The parties themselves cannot explain satisfactorily why the judgment in the District Court of Oklahoma County included the foreclosure of the right of way land hereinbefore described.
The mortgages executed by the railroad company to secure the bonds hereinbefore described contained the following description of the property:
And as stated above, said mortgages were recorded as provided by the laws of the state of Oklahoma.
In the sale in the District Court of Oklahoma County, the lands covered by the Fred W. Fleming mortgage were purchased by J. H. Everest. Thereafter, said J. H. Everest, joined by his wife, conveyed the property covered by the sheriff's deed to one Joseph B. Reynolds, and thereafter, Reynolds and his wife conveyed by warranty deed to Fred W. Fleming.
On February 21, 1930, the...
To continue reading
Request your trial