Bynum v. Hobbs

121 S.W. 900, 56 Tex. Civ. App. 557, 1909 Tex. App. LEXIS 555
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 26, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 121 S.W. 900 (Bynum v. Hobbs) 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
Bynum v. Hobbs, 121 S.W. 900, 56 Tex. Civ. App. 557, 1909 Tex. App. LEXIS 555 (Tex. Ct. App. 1909).

Opinion

*559 CONNER, Chief Justice.

Appellees, Henry Hobbs and I. E. Gar-tin, instituted this suit in the District' Court of Floyd County against appellant to recover upon three promissory notes for the sum of seven hundred and sixty-two dollars and "fifty cents each, with interest and attorney’s fees as provided in the notes. It was alleged that the notes had been given by appellant Bynum as part of the consideration for certain school lands described in the petition, upon which the vendor’s lien had been expressly retained to secure the payment of the notes. It was further alleged that before maturity Hobbs, the original payee, had for a valuable consideration duly assigned to appellee Gartin one of said notes.

Appellant Bynum, among other things, pleaded that Hobbs had no title, legal or equitable, to any of the lands when he sold them; that' therefor appellant had paid the sum of one thousand dollars in cash and given the notes sued upon; that because of the want of title there was an entire failure of consideration and absence of lien; and he pleaded a misjoinder of causes of action and parties, and also prayed for a cancelation of the notes and recovery of the one thousand dollars paid by him, charging that Gartin was a purchaser with notice, etc. The trial resulted in a judgment for appellees.

The following is appellant’s first assignment, proposition and statement thereunder: “The trial court erred in not sustaining and in overruling appellant’s plea in abatement based on alleged misjoinder of parties plaintiff herein.” Proposition under said assignment: “There being no valid lien in existence securing the payment of the several notes sued on, there was no such joint or community interest between the parties plaintiff or their causes of action as entitled them, as a matter of law, to jointly bring this suit.” Statement under said proposition: “The pleadings and evidence in this case show that' plaintiff Hobbs sold defendant Bynum certain lands which at that time were public free school lands belonging to the State, Hobbs having no legal or equitable title thereto. That as part of the purchase price therefor Bynum executed and delivered to Hobbs the three notes sued on. That thereafter, and before maturity of any of said notes, Hobbs sold one of them to I. E. Gartin. A lien was retained both in the face of the deed from Hobbs to Bynum and in the face of all of said notes on all the land so sold, securing the payment thereof, the notes on their face each showing for what they were given. Hobbs and Gartin as plaintiffs brought this suit on their notes respectively, and prayed for foreclosure of lien. (For pleadings of parties, see Tr., pp. 1 to 14. For evidence on these issues under said pleadings, see Tr., pp. 15 to 43, and S. F., pp. 1 to 14; and especially S. F., pp. 1 to 5.) We feel it impossible to make reference to the portions of the statement of facts fully showing the condition of the evidence under this issue, and therefore refer the court to the entire statement of facts.”

The lien, as alleged and as evidenced by the promissory notes executed by appellant, was an entirety, and evidently both Hobbs and Gar-tin were proper parties in its foreclosure, unless appellant sustains the proposition that there was no lien. The statement made in support of the proposition can not certainly be considered as a compliance with the rulés. It is therein said that Hobbs had no legal or equitable title to the *560 lands upon which the lien existed, but no evidence is quoted in support of the statement, nor is it definitely pointed out where any such evidence may be found in the record. If counsel for appellant, whose interest and duty it was, found it “impossible to make reference to the portions of tho statement of facts fully showing the condition of the evidence under this issue,” we hardly see how it can be expected of us that we do so. To say the least of it, we think the rules and many decisions require us to decline the invitation to search “the entire statement of facts.” But aside from the foregoing observations, which have been tendered with a view of again admonishing counsel of the necessity of affording the appellate courts the aid contemplated by the rules, it is quite plain that' the issue upon which the supposed misjoinder is based is necessarily involved in and must have been determined upon the merits, and we will therefore, without further notice of the first assignment, proceed to determine the remaining assignments, which go to the merits.

The second assignment of error goes to the action of the court in overruling appellant’s general demurrer and exception to appellees’ first supplemental petition, as follows: “And for further answer herein come the plaintiffs and specially plead in answer to the defendant’s plea of failure of consideration as set forth in said original answer, and say that while the land upon which the vendor’s lien notes herein sued on are a lien, and which land was sold to the defendant by the said Henry Hobbs, was in truth and in fact forfeited by the Commissioner of the General Land Office after the sale of said land to defendant by the said Hobbs, said sale was practically reinstated, and said land awarded to the defendant b}7 the Commissioner of the General Land Office under the following conditions, to wit: That the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in consideration of the equities which the said defendant had in and to said land, which was purchased from said Hobbs, as purchaser from Hobbs, and in consideration thereof withdrew said land from public sale, reduced the price of said land from five dollars per acre and sold same to the defendant for the price of two dollars per acre. That said sale as made by the Commissioner of the General Land Office to the said defendant reinstated the defendant in each and every right, equity, title and interest-which he was to obtain by reason of his contract and deed of sale from the said Hobbs. Whereupon, premises considered, plaintiffs say that the defendant is estopped from pleading a failure of consideration t'o said notes, and plaintiffs pray for judgment as prayed for in their original petition.”

We think the facts alleged in this special plea were probably admissible under the general issue .tendered to appellant’s plea of failure of consideration, but if not, and if, as alleged -in the special plea, the forfeiture was made by the Commissioner of the General Land Office after the sale of the land by Hobbs, then the lands were the subject of contract. (Dowding v. Ditmore, 26 Texas Civ. App., 606.) And if, as further stated in the special plea, the forfeiture was substantially set aside and.the former award substantially reinstated and appellant awarded the lands by reason of his purchase from appellee Hobbs, it would constitute a good defense to the plea of failure of consideration.

*561 Under the fourth assignment it is insisted that the court should have excluded two of the notes sued upon because of the fact that they bore the endorsement of Hobbs, the contention being that such endorsement divested the title out of him; but we think this contention can not be sustained. Appellee Hobbs was in possession of the notes alleging himself to be the owner, and the endorsement was wholly under his own control. It could have been erased without affecting the validity of the notes. In the form shown, the notes could have been sued upon by any possessor, the mere possession being presumptive evidence of ownership.

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Bluebook (online)
121 S.W. 900, 56 Tex. Civ. App. 557, 1909 Tex. App. LEXIS 555, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bynum-v-hobbs-texapp-1909.