Yocum v. Parker

• Decision Date: 23 March 1903
• Parties: YOCUM et al. v. PARKER et al. SAME v. KENNEDY et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

130 F. 722

YOCUM et al. v. PARKER et al.

SAME v. KENNEDY et al.

United States Circuit Court, W.D. Missouri, Saint Joseph Division.

March 23, 1903

These are suits in ejectment for different parcels of land, growing out of the same title. The petitions in respect of diverse citizenship allege that 'plaintiffs state that Oscar M Yocum, one of the plaintiffs herein, is a resident and citizen of the state of Colorado, and that John W. Yocum, the other plaintiff herein, is a resident and citizen of the state of Idaho; that all of the defendants herein are residents and citizens of the state of Missouri, and reside in the county of Platte, in the state of Missouri. ' The premises sued for lie in Platte county, in this district, and are conceded to be of a value exceeding $2,000 in each case. While the answers tender the general issue, except as to matters not specifically admitted, they state that George W Yocum died in September, 1854, seised in fee of the demanded premises, leaving a last will, which was duly probated, which will contained the paragraph set out in the following opinion of the court. The defendants claim title through mesne conveyances from William Franklin Yocum, the devisee named in said fifth paragraph of the will. The answers then pleaded formed suits in ejectment by plaintiffs against one of the defendants, Susan Siler, and her tenants in possession of said lands, brought in the Platte circuit court, which resulted in a judgment for the defendants, which, on appeal to the Supreme Court, was affirmed, and is reported in volume 160 of the Missouri Reports, commencing at page 281, 61 S.W 208. The answers alleged that said paragraph of said will was construed by the Supreme Court on said appeal in favor of the fee-simple title acquired by said William Franklin Yocum devisee under said will. The plaintiffs in their reply to said answers admitted the facts stated in the third paragraph of the answers; setting up said will of George W. Yocum, the common source of title, and admitting that the title of William Franklin Yocum came through said will, and which had passed by mesne conveyances to the defendants; admitting that said William Franklin Yocum married and died as charged in the answers, and that the plaintiffs were two of the children born of said marriage. The reply was so framed as to present to the court for its construction, and as the governing question in the case, the provision of said will as to whether or not said William Franklin Yocum, by his marriage and having children born in lawful wedlock, held the title of the land in question in fee simple. On the pleadings, therefore, the defendants move for judgment.

Vinton Pike and J. B. Shackelford, for plaintiffs.

J. W. Coburn and B. R. Vineyard, for defendants.

PHILIPS District Judge (after stating the facts).

These are actions of ejectment for the recovery of certain lands in Platte county, in this district. The defendants have filed motions for judgment on the pleadings. And as the two cases involve the same questions of law and fact, they are submitted jointly to the court.

Both parties claim title under the will of George W. Yocum, which was admitted to probate in Platte county, Mo., in 1854; and the controversy arises on the fifth paragraph of said will, which is in words and figures as follows:

'5. To my beloved son, William Franklin Yocum, my natural son, I bequeath absolutely the northeast quarter of section seven of township fifty-three and range thirty-five, the place I now reside on in Platte county, Missouri, subject forever to the reservation for my burial place, made in clause two of this will, and, further, with the express understanding and restriction, namely, that if my said son dies without legal issue, descendants of his, legitimate issue of his, said lands shall pass to Susan Evans, wife

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