Wyatt v. Wycough

• Decision Date: 21 November 1960
• Docket Number: No. 5-2245,5-2245
• Citation: 341 S.W.2d 18,232 Ark. 760
• Parties: D. A. WYATT, Appellant, v. Paul WYCOUGH and Opal Wycough, Appellees.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 18

341 S.W.2d 18

232 Ark. 760

D. A. WYATT, Appellant, v. Paul WYCOUGH and Opal Wycough, Appellees.

No. 5-2245.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Nov. 21, 1960.

Rehearing Denied Jan. 9, 1961.

Chas. F. Cole, Batesville, for appellant.

Murphy & Arnold, Batesville, for appellees.

HOLT, Justice.

This is a suit in ejectment for possession of land. Paul Wycough and his wife filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Independence County sounding in ejectment, stating that they were the owners of a certain parcel of land described as the Northeast Fraction Northwest Quarter of Section 26, Township 12 North, Range 5 West, and that they were rightfully entitled to possession of the land, but that the defendant, D. A. Wyatt, had refused to allow them to take possession, and prayed they be awarded immediate possession. At the trial of the cause, the Wycoughs produced deeds tracing their chain of title back to the original government patent to the lands. Exhibits, photos, plats, maps, and testimony relating thereto, were introduced to show the location, character, and change in the lands through the course of the years. The testimony and exhibits show that the land in question was, during early official government surveys date 1826 and 1854, located on the east side of White River. Immediately north of the land at the time was an island known locally as Crow Island. Sometime around 1900 (the witnesses could not pinpoint the exact year), the river changed its course, cutting around the Wycough lands. Subsequently, the river has since changed its course twice. As a result of these changes, the land of the Wycoughs is now on the west side of White River and lies adjacent to Crow Island. D. A. Wyatt, who owns part of Crow Island, claims that the Wycough land is an accretion to his property, and further, that he had acquired title by adverse possession. The following drawing shows the present location of the land here involved after river changes.

NOTE: OPINION CONTAINS TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE

The trial court entered judgment for the plaintiffs and Wyatt has appealed. For reversal the appellant first contends that the lower court erred in declaring in its judgment that the appellees were the owners of the lands. Although it is true that ejectment is in its nature a possessory action, it is equally well settled in this state that title to real property may be settled as between the parties in an action of ejectment. Brasher v. Taylor, 109 Ark. 281, 159 S.W. 1120. And we have many times held that a plaintiff must recover on the strength of his own title and not on the weakness of the defendant's. Chavis v. Henry, 205 Ark. 163, 168 S.W.2d 610; Jackson v. Gregory, 208 Ark. 768, 187 S.W.2d 547. Some contention is also made as to whether the judgment can bind R. K. Wyatt, who secured title to some of the lands from D. A. Wyatt, after filing of the suit but before judgment was rendered. In Ritchie v. Johnson, 50 Ark. 551, 8 S.W. 942, under a somewhat similar factual situation, this Court held that a presumption exists that one who secures title in such a situation holds in privity with the defendant in the ejectment suit, and that if such a person holds by an independent title, it is incumbent upon him to then show it. Here there was no showing that R. K. Wyatt secured title independent of D. A. Wyatt. In Hobbs v. Lenon, 191 Ark. 509, 87 S.W.2d 6, 11, we laid out the general rule in the following language:

'It follows from the general rule that a person who acquires the property pendente lite takes subject to the court's adjudication of the rights in the property which is the subject-matter of litigation; such persons will be bound whether a party to the litigation or not. Parties, their privies, and purchasers pendente lite are all grouped together as bound by the court's decision, R.C.L. vol. 17, § 28, p. 1031. Also to same effect, Pomeroy's Equity Juris., 3d Ed. vol. 2, pp. 632-635. The rule as above stated has been recognized and followed by this court from its early days to the present time * * *.'

Since it is not shown in the present case that R. K. Wyatt holds a title independent of D. A. Wyatt, it follows that the fact that R. K. Wyatt is not a party to this case is not a ground for its dismissal.

The appellant also argues that the deeds under which the appellee claimed title were void because the description was vague and indefinite, and there is a discrepancy in the amount of acreage shown in the parcel. Without an extended discussion, suffice it to say that three surveys were run on the property, and they all agreed within approximately four feet of each other. No contention was made at the trial that the surveys were inaccurate. In order to locate the parcel, it is only necessary to locate the NW corner of the NE 1/4 of Section 26, and from there, by surveying west and...