Brier Hill Collieries v. Gernt

131 Tenn. 542
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 15, 1914
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 131 Tenn. 542 (Brier Hill Collieries v. Gernt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brier Hill Collieries v. Gernt, 131 Tenn. 542 (Tenn. 1914).

Opinion

Mr. Chief Justice Neil

delivered the opinion of the Court.

This was an action of ejectment brought in the chancery court of Fentress county - to recover a tract of land known in the record as the “Chism tract,” lying in an interlap of grant No. 6418 with grant No. 6199. Both parties claim title from a common source, A. L. Crawford. He acquired a deed for a boundary of land lying within grant No. 6199', including the in-terlap just mentioned, from one R. H. Chism, on the 6th of October, 1882, and a deed for grant No. 6418 from one W. S. Snyder and others, on the 22d of December, 1883. On the 21st of August,' 1885', A. L. Crawford conveyed to his son John L. Crawford the tract he acquired from Chism, and subsequently died, prior to 1890, leaving a will in which he devised all of his property in Tennessee to his son-in-law L. S. Hoyt and his four sons, one of whom was John L. [545]*545Crawford. On the 16th of December, 1891, John L. Crawford and the other devisees joined in a deed to defendant Gernt which conveyed the whole of grant No. 6418, and it is nnder this deed that Gernt claims title to the land in controversy, the Chism - tract. On the 14th of April, 1892, John L. Crawford and his wife executed a deed to the Crawford Coal & Iron Company for the R. H. Chism tract and other lands, which deed, leaving out of consideration a clause which defendant’s counsel insists must operate as an exclusion clause therein, presently to be mentioned, covers the interlap of the two grants Nos. 6418 and 6199. The deed to defendant Gernt was first recorded. It thus appears that Gernt has the older deed, first recorded, and would have the superior title but for the contention of the complainant that adverse possession was held by the Crawford Coal & Iron Company on the in-terlap for more than seven years after the date of the deed to it, and that therefore the complainant is entitled to recover. To this the defendant replies that the deed from John L. Crawford and wife to the Crow-ford Coal & Iron Company is not a color of title to the land in dispute. That deed ommiting the descriptive portions, is as follows:

“We, John L. Crawford and Mattie C. Crawford, his wife, of Lawrence county, Pa., for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar to us in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, have this day bargained and sold and do hereby convey to the Crawford Coal & Iron Company, a corporation char[546]*546tered and organized under the laws of Tennessee, the following described tracts of land and other properties situate in the county of Fentress and State of Tennessee, to wit: (describing the lands) . . .
“To have and to hold the three tracts of land (stating acreage, etc.) ... to the said Crawford Coal & Iron Company, its successors and assigns. It being the true intent, purpose and understanding of the parties to this deed that the bargainors, the said John L. Crawford and Mattie C. Crawford, hereby convey ■and assure all their right, title, claim and interest in and to the properties hereinabove set out as fully as the same is in them vested and not otherwise.
“Witness whereof we have hereto set our hands and seals this the 14th day of April, 1892.
“ JOHU L. CRAWFORD.
Mattie C. Cbaweobd.”

The defendant contends that the last clause in this instrument, when taken in to consideration with the previous deed made by John L. Crawford and others to defendant, Gernt, operates to exclude the interlap of 'grant No. 6190' with grant No. 6418 (the Chism tract), and that therefore this deed is'not a color of title to the interlap.

This contention is sound. All parts of the deed must be construed together without regard to its mere formal divisons. Iron & Coal Co. v. Schwoon, 124 Tenn., 176-209, 135 S. W., 785- 793, and cases cited. Thus construed, the language which we have italicized explains, qualifies, and limits the previous conveying [547]*547words so as to confine and restrict them to snch “right, title, claim and interest,” only, in the lands described, as was at the time vested in the vendors. At that time —that is, at the making of that deed — Crawford and wife owned no interest in the Chism tract, having previously conveyed that land to defendant Grernt. So, while the Chism tract is described in the deed, it is necessarily excluded from its conveying words; therefore the deed does not purport to convey that land and cannot operate even as color of title thereto. In Bchwoon’s Case, supra, the court considered the effect of similar words as importing color- of title. The language of the deed there was, “all the right, title, and claim that I, as said executor, have in and to all that portion not theretofore sold,” etc. Commenting on this, the court said:

‘¿The point made on the expressions, 'all the right, title and claim,’ presents more difficulty. However, when this is taken in connection with the will of W. C. Hill, and the tax deeds made to Hill, the difficulty vanishes. Each of these deeds purports to convey an estate in fee. That these deeds must be taken in connection with the will and Moffett’s deed is manifest, since the executor expressly referred to the will, and, in purporting to convey the interest of his testator, necessarily referred to his title papers, both of which were duly registered in the county at the time his deed was made. Such reference was sufficient to describe the property and the interest conveyed.”

Again, the court said on the same subject:

[548]*548“It may be that a deéd made by A. B., purporting to convey all of bis right, title, and interest to a specified boundary of land, nothing else appearing, would not be an assurance of title; but, if accompanied by proof of deeds purporting to convey an estate in fee to Mm, the two taken together would constitute an assurance of title sufficient under our act of 1819, when supported by seven years’ adverse possession, to effect the transfer of title. It is true that such a deed would not in and of itself convey title if A. B. had no title; but, united with proof of a deed purporting to convey title, it would amount to color of title. In this same connection should be considered our Act of 1851-52, c. 33, section 1, the contents of which appear in Shannon’s Code, section 3672. This act provides that ‘every grant or devise of real estate, or any interest therein, shall pass all the estate or interest of the grantor or devisor, unless the intent to pass a less estate, or interest, shall appear by express terms, or be necessarily implied in the terms of the instrument.’ Under this statute, when one makes a deed to ‘all my right, title, estate, and interest’ in certain lands, or uses equivalent words, he necessarily refers to his title papers, and the deed conveys whatever interest those title papers show that he has; or in case his title papers do not really convey a title to him in fact and law, but only purport to convey such title, the effect would be the same; that is, the deed would carry whatever force or effect such assurance has under our stat[549]*549ute of limitations, that is, section 1 of our Acts of 1819, ch. 28.”

That is to say:

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Bluebook (online)
131 Tenn. 542, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brier-hill-collieries-v-gernt-tenn-1914.