Williams v. J. & C. Royalty Co., 12478
| Decision Date | 03 December 1952 |
| Docket Number | No. 12478,12478 |
| Citation | 254 S.W.2d 178 |
| Parties | WILLIAMS v. J. & C. ROYALTY CO. et al. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Cox, Patterson & Freeland, McAllen, for appellant.
Hall, Rawlins & Hall, Edinburg, Lauderdale & Bowe, Mercedes, L. Hamilton Lowe, Austin, Storey, Sanders, Sherrill & Armstrong, Dallas, for appellees.
This is a suit for a declaratory judgment construing the following mineral reservation or exception contained in two deeds dated March 23, 1934, executed by American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company to H. A. Manley (For discussion purposes, we have divided the wording of the reservation into first, second and third clauses, by inserting numbers in the text):
'This deed of conveyance is made and is accepted by the parties at interest hereto subject to a certain oil, gas and mineral lease dated December 22, 1933, executed by American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company and McCollum Exploration Company; (1) out of the grant hereby made there is, however, excepted and reserved to the Grantor herein, its successors and assigns, one-half of the royalty retained in the above mentioned lease, (2) being one-sixteenth of all oil and gas, and one-twentieth of other minerals in and to said premises hereby conveyed, except sulphur, being twenty-five cents per long ton, (3) and it is understood and agreed that the Grantor, its successors and assigns shall have, and it hereby has, the right and power to take all usual, necessary and convenient means for working getting, drilling for, laying up, dressing, making merchantable and taking away said minerals, and also for the said purpose and for any other purposes whatsoever, to make and repair wells, mines, shafts, tunnels, pipe lines and drains, in, upon, into and beneath such lands, and to lay and repair pipes under, upon or above them for carrying water to and from manufactory or other buildings.'
The granting clause in the McCollum Exploration Company lease mentioned in the above quoted reservation, provided that:
'Lessor (American Rio Grande Land and Irrigation Company) * * * hereby grants, leases and lets exclusively unto Lessee for the purpose of investigating, exploring, prospecting, drilling and mining for and producing oil, gas and all other minerals, laying pipe lines, building tanks, power stations, telephone lines and other structures thereon to produce, save, take care of, treat, transport, and own said products, and housing its employees, the following described land in Hidalgo County, Texas, to-wit: (describing property) * * *.'
This lease subsequently became inoperative and was released by a recordable instrument dated June 20, 1945.
The trial court, by judgment rendered May 31, 1952, held that the mineral interest reserved in the Manley deeds did not terminate with the expiration of the lease, but, on the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Graham v. Prochaska
...a reservation or exception together with other instruments to which it refers.”) (citing Williams v. J. & C. Royalty Co., 254 S.W.2d 178 (Tex.Civ.App.-San Antonio 1952, writ ref'd)). We harmonize all parts of the deed, understanding that the parties to an instrument intend every clause to h......
-
Myrad Properties v. Lasalle Bank Nat. Ass'n, 03-07-00240-CV.
...Property for sale at public auction at the Place of Sale, to the highest bidder for cash." Cf. Williams v. J. & C. Royalty Co., 254 S.W.2d 178, 180 (Tex.Civ.App.-San Antonio 1952, writ ref'd) (discussing use of defined terms in contracts). But, as the appellees observe, the Notice of Substi......
-
Myrad Properties, Inc. v. Lasalle Bank National Association, No. 03-07-00240-CV (Tex. App. 1/25/2008)
...Property for sale at public auction at the Place of Sale, to the highest bidder for cash." Cf. Williams v. J. & C. Royalty Co., 254 S.W.2d 178, 180 (Tex. Civ. App.-San Antonio 1952, writ ref'd) (discussing use of defined terms in contracts). But, as the appellees observe, the Notice of Subs......
-
Moore v. Wimberley
...193 S.W.2d 297 (RNERE); 3 Words and Phrases, Ambiguous, pp. 440, 444; 4 A.L.R.2d 500; 3 Summers Oil & Gas 474; Williams v. J. & C. Royalty Co., Tex.Civ.App., 254 S.W.2d 178 (Writ Ref.). We conclude the reservation is Being ambiguous the construction placed thereon by the parties is entitled......