Bell v. Haynes

38 S.W.2d 619, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 431
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 29, 1931
DocketNo. 3597.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 38 S.W.2d 619 (Bell v. Haynes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bell v. Haynes, 38 S.W.2d 619, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 431 (Tex. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

HALL, C. J.

This is an action in trespass to try title filed May 12,1930, by Mrs. Flora HayneS and T. Brown Haynes against the appellant Bell, to recover a part of section 47 in block R in ■Hale county, Tex.

Bell answered by a plea of not guilty, interposing the statutes of limitation of three, five and ten years.

In reply to this plea, Mrs. Flora Haynes, who held the land as trustee for T. Brown Haynes, replied, pleading infancy on the part of T. Brown Haynes, alleging that he inherited the property from his father, who died when T. Brown Haynes was about two days of age and that T. Brown Haynes, from the 17th day of March, 1905, until the 17th day of March, 1926, was a minor, and during all of said time had title to said land until he conveyed it to Sirs. Flora Haynes to be held in trust for him, and, because of his infancy, the statutes of limitation did not run against ■him.

There was a trial to a jury, and, in response to two special issues submitted by the court, the jury found as follows:

(1) We do find from a preponderance of the evidence that the survey made by W. J. Wil *620 liams located the true boundary line upon the ground along the west side of survey No.-47 in block R.

(2) We do not find from a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant Bell or those under whom he holds have had peaceable possession and adverse possession of the land in question under inclosure, cultivating, using, and enjoying the same continuously for more than ten years beginning prior to the death of T. Haynes, father of the plaintiff T. Brown Haynes.

Based upon this verdict, the court rendered a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.

The rights of the parties depend upon whether Bell has established title to the strip of land in dispute under the provisions of the statute of limitation of ten years (Rev. St. 1925, art. 5510). The burden rested upon him to establish his defense.

It appears that in 1898 Mrs. N. W. Haynes, under whom Bell claims by mesne conveyances, bought section 48 from the state, and in November, 1901, she had section 47 leased and both fenced in one inclosure. That about the last-named date J. T. Haynes, whom we assume was not then married, bought section 47, and some time between that date and the summer of 1902 built a fence dividing the two sections, which was 132 varas east of the true line between the two sections. Bell insists that his title by limitation extends to this fence. Section 47 lies east of and adjoins section 48. J. T. Haynes died March 19, 1905, leaving the land, which was his separate estate, to his son, who was then two days old. Thereafter, in July, 1908, Mrs. N. W. Haynes sold section 48 to W. B. Armstrong. In April, 1910, Armstrong had said section surveyed, and as a result of this suo> vey it was first ascertained that the division fence was located 132 varas too far east.

The substance of appellant’s first proposition is that, where the evidence shows that Mrs. N. W. Haynes was in peaceable adverse possession of the land in question from 1898 until July 15, 1908, and from the fall of 1901 or early winter of 1902 up to the time J. T. Haynes built the fence and to the time section 48 was conveyed to W. B. Armstrong, and claimed all land up to the fence built by T. Haynes, which separated sections 47 and 48, places Armstrong in possession of all of the land up to the fence, and where Armstrong ■held and claimed the land peaceably and adversely up to the fence until 1916, making a •period of more than ten years of peaceable and adverse possession, said possession beginning to run against the father of plaintiff T. Brown Haynes, such possession vests title in the defendant, and, a finding by the jury for plaintiffs being without evidence, the court should have set aside the jury’s findings and granted defendant a new trial.

It will be seen that the contention is-that there is no evidence to sustain the jury’s finding to the effect that Bell and those under whom he claimed had not acquired title under the provisions of the ten years’ statute. The deed to Bell is dated June 13, 1929, and was recorded four days thereafter. Mrs. N. W. Haynes testified that section 48 was awarded to her in 1898, and some time thereafter she leased section 47 and fenced the two sections together. That in November, 1901, J. T. Haynes, who is also designated as T. Haynes in the record, bought section 47, and some time thereafter the dividing fence was built, but she could not remember the date. She asserted, however, that the fence was built by J. T. Haynes before his death. She stated that section 48 was the land she owned and was entitled to 640 acres under her award and did not at that time claim to be entitled to any more land than the state had awarded her, which was 640 acres more or less. She further stated that she did not intend that the fence should be placed on J.. T. Haynes’ land and did not try to get any of his land and did not suppose he wanted any of her section. The record shows at that time there had been no actual surveys that the witnesses could remember, and that section lines were run off by using a wagon wheel with a string tied around it. According to the testimony of Mrs. N. W. Haynes her possession extended from the time the fence was built until she sold to W. B. Armstrong in July, 1908, a period of approximately.six years. It further appears that in 1910 Armstrong had the land surveyed by Surveyor Whitis, and, according to his field notes, the fences were too far east and Armstrong moved his west fence farther west and his south fence farther south in the early part" of 1911, and since then had held under his inclosure more than 640 acres of land. 1-Ie testified the only reason he was claiming up to the fence was because he considered it the true line, and that he was not claiming the land in question by limitation and did not intend to claim it by limitation. That he never claimed anything by limitation. 1-Ie further stated, however, that he claimed to the fence on the east side as the line. 1-Ie admitted saying to Mrs. Haynes that Whitis’ work was in controversy, and that he wished she or some one else would have a lawsuit so they could find out whether it would stand up in court. 1-Ie stated that he moved his west fence somewhere in 1910 or 1911. That when he moved his fence farther west, True Rosser had the land lying west of him under lease. That he told Rosser that he did not want any piece of land belonging to anybody else, but wanted to get on his true line. His testimony shows that, after he had Whitis run the lines of his section, he moved his south and west lines out, taking in more land to conform to Whitis’ survey, but did not agree to the east line as fixed by Whitis, and *621 claimed that he thought the east fence was the true boundary.

Mrs. Flora Haynes testified that she remembered when Armstrong had the land surveyed and shortly thereafter she spoke to him about moving her line over to where the survey had shown it should be. That Armstrong said, according to the surveys, that some of the people thought that the state would have a strip of land on the east side of her place, and, if it was ever proved that the strip belonged to the state, that he had to buy the strip. That he wanted to do the right thing about it and he thought that would be right. That such conversation occurred within less than a year after the survey was made.

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Bluebook (online)
38 S.W.2d 619, 1931 Tex. App. LEXIS 431, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bell-v-haynes-texapp-1931.