Biard v. Carlton

1952 OK 292, 251 P.2d 485, 207 Okla. 545, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 853
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 9, 1952
Docket34103
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1952 OK 292 (Biard v. Carlton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Biard v. Carlton, 1952 OK 292, 251 P.2d 485, 207 Okla. 545, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 853 (Okla. 1952).

Opinions

HALLEY, V.C.J.

J. C. Carlton commenced this action in the district court of Garvin county on August 30, 1937, to quiet title to 100 acres of land in that county. He named William C. Biard as defendant. This defendant died pending the action, but after he had filed an answer alleging that he owned an undivided one-half interest in the land. He left as his heirs his wife, Mary Ann Biard, and a minor child, Ann Biard, who were substituted as defendants and have appealed from the judgment rendered for plaintiff on November 5, 1948. Mattie Graham McFarland had been permitted to intervene, and will be referred to as “intervener.” J. C. Carlton will be referred to as “plaintiff” and Biards as “defendants.” The following facts are necessary to an understanding of the issues involved:

The land involved is a part of the homestead allotment of Simon Graham, who was a Choctaw Indian, and who died intestate in 1919. The plaintiff, J. C. Carlton, alleged that Graham left as his only heir, Irene Graham, a daughter, born after March 4, 1906. On April 27, 1931, Irene Graham conveyed an interest in the minerals in the land to Harry A. Gage, and on October 26, 1932, she conveyed to him the remaining interest. On October 28, 1932, Harry A. Gage conveyed the land to J. C. Carlton, reserving a one-half interest in the minerals. J. C. Carlton had the title examined before he made the purchase, and the title was approved by his attorney. The proof of heirship on file with the Secretary of the Indian Agency at Muskogee showed Irene Graham as the sole heir of Simon Graham, deceased. J. C. Carlton took possession of the land, spent $1,500 or $1,600 on improvements, and had paid $253.11 in taxes up to the time of the trial.

[546]*546.On September 20, 1934, and October 23, 1935, Mattie Graham McFarland executed two deeds covering a one-half interest in the land to William C. Biard. Mattie Graham McFarland claimed to be a daughter of Simon Graham and entitled to a one-half interest in the land. Her two deeds to Graham were recorded, and on August 19, 1937, J. C. Carlton secured a deed from Mattie Graham McFarland and her husband. The two deeds of Irene Graham to Harry A. Gage purported to convey all of the land. The one-half interest in the minerals reserved by Gage in his conveyance to J. C. Carlton is not in dispute here, and all parties agree that J. C. Carlton acquired an undivided one-half interest in the surface rights by his deed from Harry A. Gage. Only an undivided one7half interest in the surface rights and one-half of the minerals are involved in this action.

On December 19, 1938, the Probate Attorney for the Five Civilized Tribes filed a petition for Mattie Graham, alleging that she was an heir of Simon Graham and the owner of a one-half interest in the land, and that any deeds executed by her were obtained by fraud and were void for failure of consideration.

Plaintiff, J. C. Carlton, denied that Mattie Graham was an heir of Simon Graham, and contended that Irene Graham was his sole heir. He further alleged that any claim by or through Mattie Graham was barred by the fifteen-year statutes of limitation, and that any deed by her was champer-tous and void because she had not been in possession of the land or received any rents therefrom prior to the execution of her deeds.

The defendants Biard contended that Mattie Graham was the heir to a one-half interest in the land, and that they acquired her interest by her deeds to their predecessor, William C. Biard.

The court filed findings of fact and conclusions of law in which it found that Irene and Mattie Graham were half-sisters and were the sole heirs of Simon Graham, deceased; that the land was restricted for Irene Graham until April 26, 1931, and was tax exempt under the Act of Congress of 1928; that there were no restrictions on the land when the conveyances were made to J. C. Carlton and William C. Biard; that J. C. Carlton took immediate possession and made valuable improvements upon the land, and that his deed from Irene Graham, together with his possession of and claim of the entire interest in the land, constituted an ouster of Mattie Graham; that the deeds of Mattie Graham to William C. Biard were without adequate consideration and void, and that William C. Biard and his successors in interest failed to carry out their agreement of purchase with her; that the deed of Mattie Graham to J. C. Carlton was not fraudulent, but was sufficient to convey whatever interest she had.

The court concluded that Mattie Graham made a valid conveyance to the plaintiff, and that the defendants and Mattie Graham had no interest in the land, but that plaintiff, J.'C. Carlton, was the owner of the fee-simple title.

We shall discuss first the question of limitations and champerty. Mattie Graham obtained permission to intervene in this case and filed her petition in intervention on December 19, 1938. The plaintiff acquired his title from Harry A. Gage on October 28, 1932. Mr. Gage had obtained his title from Irene Graham on October 26, 1932. It is clear that the fifteen-year statute of limitation had not ripened into title by prescription when Mattie Graham asserted her ownership of a one-half interest in the land. In Coats v. Riley, 154 Okla. 291, 7 P. 2d 644, it was said-in the fifteenth syllabus:

“The heirs of a deceased Indian take title to the property of the decedent as tenants in common, and the possession of one of them is the possession of all. The possession of one of the [547]*547heirs does not set in motion the statute of limitation as against one of the heirs not in possession.”

We think it clear that the parties owning the land were tenants in common, and that the possession of the plaintiff and his predecessor in title was the possession of all.

Sec. 548, Title 21, O. S. 1951, makes a deed champertous if executed by one who has not been in possession nor received rents for one year preceding the date of the deed. The statute further provides:

“Provided, however, that the provisions of this Section shall not be construed to be a restriction or limitation upon the sale of Indian lands by the allottees or the heirs of such al-lottees of their inherited interests in such lands. R. L. 1910, §2260; Laws 1915, ch. 191, §1; Laws 1919, ch. 170, p. 245, 1.”

Since Irene Graham and Mattie Graham were Choctaw Indians of the half-blood, they inherited the land jointly in equal shares from their father, Simon Graham, and became tenants in common. While the deeds from Mattie Graham were executed while J. C. Carlton was in full possession under deeds purporting to convey the title to all the land, she held as an Indian heir and as a tenant in common with Irene Graham and her successors.

In Coats v. Riley, supra, it is said in the seventeenth syllabus:

“Where a person has, without authority, undertaken to sell and convey the land of another person, the real owner of the land is not precluded by this wrongful act from asserting his title to the land.”

In the more recent case of Wolfe v. Graham, 185 Okla. 318, 90 P. 2d 1067, it is said in the third syllabus:

“The mere possession of a tenant in common, no matter how full and complete, does not operate as an ouster of his cotenant, or amount to adverse possession as against the claim of his cotenant. There must be something to show a denial or repudiation of his cotenant’s rights, or the possession will be deemed to be held in subordination to the rights of the cotenant.”

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Related

Smith v. Pettijohn
1961 OK 246 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1961)
Biard v. Carlton
1952 OK 292 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1952 OK 292, 251 P.2d 485, 207 Okla. 545, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 853, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/biard-v-carlton-okla-1952.