Cornelius v. Cook

213 S.W.2d 767, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 1460
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 24, 1948
DocketNo. 2677.
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 213 S.W.2d 767 (Cornelius v. Cook) 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
Cornelius v. Cook, 213 S.W.2d 767, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 1460 (Tex. Ct. App. 1948).

Opinion

LONG, Justice.

On the 9th day of November, 1938, appellants F. M. and G. W. Cornelius borrowed $100.00 from Mary Dell Cook and as security therefor, executed a deed of trust covering each of their Vieth interest in a one-half section of land in Dawson County. The land originally was the community property of the father and mother of the appellants. At the time of the execution of the deed of trust, the mother of the appellants was living. At such time their father was dead. The interest covered by such deed of trust was the interest inherited by appellants from their father. Upon the death of their mother, each of the appellants inherited from her a %ath interest in the land. At the time of. the institution of this suit, they each owned a %th interest therein. Nothing was paid upon the indebtedness and the appellee Mary Dell Cook foreclosed the same under the power given in the deed of trust and sold the property through a trustee and on September 7, 1943, received from the trustee a deed to all of the interest of the appellants in such one-half section of land. The indebtedness at that time amounted to approximately $275.00.

Appellants instituted this suit to cancel the trustee’s deed upon the ground that ap-pellee had been tendered the entire amount due upon such debt prior to foreclosure and, in the alternative, for reformation of the trustee’s deed so as to show that it included only the undivided interest in the land which they owned at the time of the execution of the deed of trust, and not the interest which they afterward acquired by inheritance from their mother. Appellants tendered into court the amount of the indebtedness then due. Appellee answered by general denial and cross action in trespass to try title and claimed the entire ⅜⅛ undivided interest which each of the appellants owned in the land and sought to clear her title thereto. The court submitted the case to the jury on one special issue, as follows:

“Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that Gail Cornelius, in the presence of his father, made tender of a check for the total amount of principal and interest then due on the note in question to Mrs. Cook on or about July 18, 1943? Answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.”

The jury answered such issue in the affirmative.

Appellants made a motion for judgment based upon the above issue. Appellee made a motion for a judgment non obstante veredicto and admitted she was not entitled to the ¾6⅛ undivided interest in the land each of the appellants acquired after the execution of the deed of trust, but was only entitled to the /ieth undivided interest which each of the appellants owned at the time the deed of trust was executed. The court overruled appellants’ motion for judgment and granted appellee’s motion and entered a judgment for appellants to the ¾6⅛ undivided interest that they each inherited from their mother and entered judgment for the appellee for the ¾6& undivided interest that each of the appellants had at the time the deed of trust was executed.

The controlling question presented is, did appellants, prior to the foreclosure proceedings, make legal tender to appellee of the total amount of principal and interest due on the note. If they did make legal tender, then the trial court should have granted appellants’ motion for judgment and should have entered a judgment in their favor. On the other hand, if legal tender was not made, then the trial court was correct in granting appellee’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and the judgment entered was proper. It, therefore, becomes necessary for us.to apply the law to the facts and determine whether the evidence introduced fails to *769 show, as a matter of law, that legal tender was made.

The parties to this suit all reside in Tex-arkana, Arkansas. Gail Cornelius, the son of appellant F. M. Cornelius, in July, 1943, was a soldier in the United States Army. He came home on a furlough and he and his father had a conversation with appellee, Mary Dell Cook, with reference to the note due her by his father and his uncle. We quote from the testimony of F. M. Cornelius as follows:

“Q. Mr. Cornelius, talk so the Jury can hear,- and tell only what you did. A. Me and my son went over there, and he said, ‘Now, Mary Dell, here is your money, a check for your money. All you have got to do is get the note and sign it.’ And she said, T haven’t got it, but as Uncle Bill is going to sell it, let him alone until he sells the place and we will settle up then.’ And then he said, ‘Here is your money; all you have got to do is get the note, and it will be square,’ and she refused. All I could do was offer.”
sfc ⅜ if: ifc * JJC
“Q. Was there anything said about where the note was at that time? A. She said she didn’t have it.
“Q. Did she say where it was? A No, sir.
“Q. Did she say it was in the bank? A. She didn’t tell me anything about where it was.
“Q. Just said it wasn’t there? A. Said she didn’t have it; that is the way she said it.
“Q. But you are positive your son did offer to pay it? A. Had the check wrote out, done figured the interest, and he had the check done made out.
“Q. Do you recall how much it was for? A. No, sir; I don’t.
“Q. Was that the total amount of the note, or just your half of it? A. The whole business.
“Q. You mean you were paying your brother’s half of it too? A. Yes, sir, because the title cleared when the place was sold, if it was sold, they wanted the title cleared.
“Q. You don’t remember how much the check was for? A. No, sir; he just told her, said, ‘Here is the check for your money. All you have got to do is to get the note and sign it,’ and says, ‘Here is your money.’
“Q. How did you figure up the interest? A. They had done been, that had done been figured.
“Q. Who did? A. He did.
“Q. Did he know the date of the note? A. Yes, sir.
“Q. How did he get the date of the note? A. Well, he got it from some of the rest of them there. He had knowed I had borrowed the money. He knew when I borrowed the money.
“Q. Well, what is the date of the note? A. Well, I don’t know.
“Q. You mean you don’t know now? A. No.
“Q. And you just looked at this note, didn’t you? A. I was away from home at work when this all come up, when they got the letter from my brother; I had just come in that night; we went over the next morning.
“Q. Do you have any idea at all how much the check was for? A. No, I don’t.
“Q. Was it for as much as $170.00? A. He just told her, says, ‘Here is your money, a check for your money. All you have got to do is get the note and sign it: that is all.’ That is all there was to it.
“Q. Did she make any statement about where the note was? A. No, sir; she didn’t.
“Q. But she did say she didn’t have it? A.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

TSB Exco, Inc. v. E.N. Smith, III Energy Corp.
818 S.W.2d 417 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Rozelle v. First National Bank in Dallas
535 S.W.2d 768 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1976)
Gheen v. Diamond Shamrock Corp.
529 S.W.2d 289 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1975)
French v. May
484 S.W.2d 420 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1972)
Moore v. Copeland
478 S.W.2d 573 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1972)
Dunn v. Ligon
430 S.W.2d 704 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1968)
Mann v. Risinger
423 S.W.2d 626 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1968)
Little v. Perry
410 S.W.2d 286 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1966)
H. B. Zachry Co. v. Ceco Steel Products Corp.
404 S.W.2d 113 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1966)
Baucum v. Great American Insurance Co. of New York
364 S.W.2d 713 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1963)
Johnson Manufacturing Co. v. Edwards
344 S.W.2d 506 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
213 S.W.2d 767, 1948 Tex. App. LEXIS 1460, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cornelius-v-cook-texapp-1948.