Stryker, Ex v. Crane Chapman v. Same Wells, Ex v. Same Litchfield, Ex v. Same Litchfield v. Same

Citation31 L.Ed. 194,8 S.Ct. 203,123 U.S. 527
PartiesSTRYKER, EX'r, v. CRANE, Adm'r. 1 CHAPMAN v. SAME. 2 WELLS, EX'r, etc., and others v. SAME. 4 LITCHFIELD, EX'r, v. SAME. 3 LITCHFIELD, Adm'r, v. SAME. 3
Decision Date05 December 1887
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

C. H. Gatch and Wm. Connor, for plaintiffs in error.

George Crane, for defendants in error.

WAITE, C. J.

These suits all grew out of the delay which attended the settlement of the controversies in reference to the Des Moines river improvement land grant made by congress to the territory of Iowa, August 8, 1846, which will be hereafter referred to as the 'River Grant.' 9 St. 77. The character of those controversies may be seen by referring to the cases of Railroad Co. v. Litchfield, 23 How. 66; Wolcott v. Des Moines Co., 5 Wall. 681; Williams v Baker, 17 Wall. 144; Homestead Co. v. Railroad, Id. 153; and Wolsey v. Chapman, 101 U. S. 755. At first it was supposed, both by the officers of the United States and of the state, that the grant embraced lands above the Raccoon Fork of the river, and the state of Iowa made conveyances to the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company, under which John Stryker, Richard B. Chapman, Grace H. Litchfield, Edwin C. Litchfield, J. B. Plumb, and William B. Welles each claimed title to separate tracts in that locality as bona fide purchasers.

On the fifteenth of May, 1856, congress made another grant of lands to the state to aid in the construction of railroads. 11 St. 9, c. 28. This grant conflicted with the river grant if the last-named grant extended above the Raccoon Fork. The title of the state under the railroad grant to some of the lands above the Fork was transferred to the Dubuque & Pacific Railroad Company, and that company, on the twenty-fifth of October, 1859, began a suit in ejectment against Edwin C. Litchfield to recover possession of one of the tracts. In that suit it was decided by this court, April 9, 1860, that the river grant did not extend above the Fork. Railroad Co. v. Litchfield, ubi supra. Thereupon congress, on the second of March, 1861, passed a joint resolution relinquishing the interest of the United States in the lands above the Fork to the state for the benefit of bona fide purchasers under the river grant.

The Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company, holding title from the state to the lands above the Fork under the river grant, conveyed one of the tracts, on the eighth of August, 1859, to Samuel G. Wolcott, by deed, with full covenants of warranty. In 1865, Wolcott brought suit against the navigation and railroad company in the circuit court of the United States for the Southern district of New York to recover damages for a breach of the covenants in that deed, alleging that the title had failed. In that case it was decided by this court, May 13, 1867, that the railroad grant in 1856 did not include any of the lands above the Raccoon Fork which had been claimed under the river grant, and that the title of Wolcott under this deed from the navigation and railroad company had not failed. Wolcott v. Des Moines Co., ubi supra. While that cause was pending in this court, the attorney of the Dubuque & Pacific Railroad Company was allowed to file a brief in support of the claim of Wolcott that the title was in that company and not in the navigation company.

The title which the Dubuque & Pacific Railroad Company claimed from the state under the railroad grant passed to the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company in the month of August, 1861, and that company afterwards paid the taxes assessed and levied on the lands in idspute for the years 1861, 1862, and 1863. Those for the year 1861 were paid October 31, 1866; those for 1862, December 9, 1863; and those for 1863, January 20, 1864. On the twelfth of November, 1863, the railroad company conveyed to the Iowa Homestead Company, an Iowa corporation, its title to the lands in dispute between the railroad company and the claimants under the river grant. The homestead company afterwards paid the taxes on the lands for the years 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, and 1871.

On the twelfth of October, 1869, the homestead company began a suit in equity in the district court of Webster county, Iowa, to quiet its title to the lands, making the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company, Samuel G. Wolcott, William B. Welles, Roswell S. Burrows, Edwin C. Litchfield, William J. McAlpine, Richard B. Chapman, Albert H. Tracy, Francis W. Tracy, Harriet Tracy, Electus B. Litchfield, Edward Wade, John Stryker, the Des Moines Valley Railroad Company, Thomas Colter, Jacob Crouse, and John P. McDermott defendants. In the bill it was alleged that the homestead company had been in possession of the lands since 1861, and that 'they have paid taxes thereon to the state of Iowa since, * * * and if their title has failed they are entitled to have their taxes refunded since 1861 by the holder of the legal title, who has not paid them.'

As to the defendants Wolcott, Welles, Burrows, Edwin C. Litchfield, McAlpine, Chapman, Albert H. Tracy, Francis W. Tracy, Harriet Tracy, Electus B. Litchfield, Wade, and Stryker it was alleged that they held title to certain parcels of the lands under the river grant. The defendants Colter, Crouse, and McDermott were alleged to be pre-emption claimants. The des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company was the corporation to which the state transferred the river grant, and from which the other defendants, who hold under that grant, got their respective titles. The Des Moines Valley Railroad Company was made a defendant because of its claim of title to lands involved in the suit, but which did not pass to the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company under the river grant. The prayer of the bill as to the several claimants under the river grant was that the homestead company might be quieted in its litle, and 'that, in the event of a decree that the plaintiff's present title, or any part of it, has failed, the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company and its assigns may be decreed to repay to the plaintiff all taxes which he has paid on said lands, and interest thereon.'

Afterwards, on the thirteenth of October, 1868, Edwin C. Litchfield, Electus B. Litchfield, and John Stryker, three of the defendants, and citizens of New York, filed their petition for the removal of the suit to the circuit court of the United States for the district of Iowa, under the act of March 2, 1867, (14 St. 558, c. 196,) on the ground of 'prejudice or local influence.' This petition was accepted by the state court and an order entered 'that this cause be transferred to the said circuit court * * * as to said defendants in re.' Under this order the petitioning parties entered a copy of the record in the circuit court on the seventeenth of March, 1869, and during the summer or fall of that year the defendants, the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company, the Tracys, the Litchfields, Wolcott, Chapman, McAlpine, Welles, Wade, and Stryker, all answered, setting up their titles under the river grant to the specific tracts of land held by them respectively, and, as to the taxes paid by the homestead company, averring that they were paid 'voluntarily, with a knowledge of all the facts, and that the complainant is not entitled to have the same or any part thereof refunded.'

On the thirteenth of May, 1870, the following entry was made by the circuit court in the cause:

'The Iowa Homestead Company, Complainant, v. The Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company, Samuel G. Wolcott, Wm. B. Welles, Roswell S. Burrows, Edwin C. Litchfield, Wm. J. McAlpine, Richard B. Chapman, Albert H. Tracy, Francis W. Tracy, Harriet Tracy, Electus B. Litchfield, Edward Wade, John Stryker, et al., Defendants.

'This action was commenced in the district court of Webster county, Iowa, at the October term of said district court. The defendants Edwin C. Litchfield, Electus B. Litchfield, and John Stryker filed their affidavit, bond, and petition asking the removal of this action from said district court to this court, under the provisions of the act of congress approved March 2, 1867, entitled 'An act to amend an act for the removal of causes in certain cases from the state courts,' approved July 27, 1866.

'And it appearing to said district court that said Edwin C. Litchfield, Electus B. Litchfield, and John Stryker were non-residents of the state of Iowa and residents of the state of New York, and that their application for the removal of this cause to this court in all respects conformed to the requirements of said act of congress, the said district court, at the October term thereof, in the year 1868, made the usual order transferring and removing this cause to this court as to the defendants Edwin C. Litchfield, Electus B. Litchfield, and John Stryker, and this cause as to said defendants was removed to this court for trial. And it appearing that the defendants Samuel G. Wolcott, Wm. B. Welles, Roswell S. Burrows, Wm. J. McAlpine Richard B. Chapman, Albert H. Tracy, Francis W Tracy, Harriet Tracy, and Edwars Wade, are, each and every of them, non-residents of the state of Iowa and district of Iowa, and under the statute above referred to are also entitled to a removal of this cause from the state court, and that said defendants, with the express consent and approval of the plaintiff, have appeared and answered the bill herein, and asked to be made parties defendant, and that their rights may be heard and determined in this court and on the trial of this action. And it further appearing to this court that the defendants so asking to be made parties defendant hold under the same title as the defendants Edwin C. Litchfield, Electus B. Litchfield, and John Stryker, and that their defense is in all respects identical with the said plaintiff consenting. It is ordered that said Samuel G. Wolcott, Wm. B. Welles, Roswell S. Burrows, Wm. J. McAlpine, Richard B. Chapman, Albert H. Tracy, Francis W. Tracy, Harriet Tracy, and Edward Wade, and each and...

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