Cozby v. Armstrong

205 S.W.2d 403, 1947 Tex. App. LEXIS 793
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 12, 1947
DocketNo. 14854
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 205 S.W.2d 403 (Cozby v. Armstrong) 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
Cozby v. Armstrong, 205 S.W.2d 403, 1947 Tex. App. LEXIS 793 (Tex. Ct. App. 1947).

Opinion

HALL, Justice.

This suit is over the closing of an old road, instituted by T. M. Armstong, et ux., appel-lees, principally against appellant Grace Cozby, a widow, in the 17th District Court of Tarrant County, Texas.

In September 1933, E. C. D. Willburn and his wife owned in fee a 250.19 acre tract of land which is bound on the north by the Benbrook public road and is bisected by a railroad track running east and west across it; during said month and year they subdivided this land between their children and executed deeds to the following persons, the amount of acres set opposite their names:

Reuben B. Willburn 50 acres

Church O. Willburn 25 acres

Mrs. M. Annie Ritz 25 acres

and to the following an undivided interest in 150.19 acres: Mrs. Mary Armstrong, one of the appellees herein, Mrs. Polk White, Frank E. Willburn, Mrs. Jessie Murray, Ira B. Willburn, and Mrs. Ruth F. Kennedy.

Appellees acquired all of the title to the. said 150.19 acres and used the same as a homestead from 1940 through this trial. Ap-pellee Armstrong purchased the Ritz 25 acre tract, lying west of his 150.19 acres and sold same to Church O. Willburn on January 28, 1939, and reserved the following right-of-way easement:

* * * however, since the tract of 150.19 acres out of the same surveys lying to the East of the above property has no access to the North across the T. & P. right-of-way, an easement is hereby reserved, in favor of the present and future owners of said 150.19 acres of access, over and across the hereinabove described 25 acres westward to a crossing over said right-of-way located on the 50 acre tract owned by Reuben B. Willburn out of said surveys.”

On January 28, 1939, Church O. and Reuben B. Willburn, and their wives, as owners of all the remainder of the Willburn tract lying west of the Armstrong tract, executed an instrument in writing, granting appellees and assigns a right-of-way easement over their land, which is as follows:

* * * do hereby give, grant and convey unto said T. M. Armstrong and wife Martha May Armstrong (herein sometimes called Grantees), a perpetual easement of full, free and convenient access to and from the above described 150.19 acres, over and across the aforesaid Ritz 25 acres, Church O. Willburn 25 acres and Reuben B. Will-burn 50 acres to the present crossing over the T. & P. Railway Company now located on said Reuben B. Willburn 50 acres, and continuing northward therefrom to said Fort Worth and Benbrook Highway;”

In March, 1943, Reuben B. Willburn, the then owner of the most westerly 62½ acres of the original 250 acre Willburn tract, sold same to Lacy W. Goostree, who was acting as agent for appellant Cozby and her late husband. Said land was sold subject to the easement of January 28, 1939, supra, and on the same day the said Goostree executed a deed to the Cozbys and also entered into a written agreement by and between him, Reuben B. Willburn, et ux, and Church O. Willburn, et ux, which said written agreement set out, among other things, the following:

“And Whereas, Church O. Willburn and wife, Cana Willburn, are the owners of 37½ acres of land in said surveys lying immediately East of and adjoining the land to be so conveyed to said Goostree — and being the land they have this day sold and obligated themselves to convey unto the said Reuben B. Willburn; and Whereas, T. M. Armstrong and wife, Martha May Armstrong are the owners of approximately 150 acres in said surveys lying immediately East of and adjoining the said Church O. Willburn 37½ acre tract, and the said Armstrong and wife, and said Church O. Willburn and wife, have heretofore acquired a certain easement for a private roadway over and across the said Church O. Willburn 38½ acre tract and the said Reuben B. Willburn 62½ acre -tract to the T. & P. Railway crossing situated in [405]*405the last mentioned tract and continuing thence northerly to the Fort Worth and Ben-brook Highway; and

“Whereas, the mentioned roadway is well defined on the ground, over and across said tracts, the same having been in use for sometime ; and Whereas, the said Goostree, for and on behalf of himself, and his heirs and assigns, is desirous that the location and use of said mentioned roadway shall, at some future convenient date, be changed to and located in accordance herewith, and thereafter limited as hereinafter provided;

“Now Therefore, as an inducement unto said Goostree to so purchase said 62½ acre tract, it is covenanted and agreed) between the parties hereto, that at such time as the said Armstrong and wife, their heirs or assigns, shall abandon the use of said roadway, or at such time as they shall agree to the change herein provided, it is covenanted and agreed 'between all parties hereto that the said Church O. Willburn and wife, their heirs and assigns, as the owners Of said 37½ acre tract will, at his or their own proper cost and expense, construct and gravel a roadway from said ISO- acre tract over and across said 37½ acre tract to a point near the intersection of the South line of the T. & P. Railway Company right-of-way with the E. line of said 62½- acre tract; and that the said Goostree, or other owner of the said 62½ acre tract, shall, at his or their own proper cost and expense, construct and gravel a road thence Southwesterly with the South line of said Railway right-of-way to the present crossing over said railway tracks, and thereby provide free and easy access from said 150-acre tract and said 37½ acre tract, and that thereafter the presently existing easement for roadway over said 37½ acre tract and said 62½ acre tract, appurtenant to the said 150-acre tracts, shall be limited to the roadway to be so constructed.”

Appellee Armstrong was not consulted about this proposed change. The deed which Goostree executed to John R. Cozby, the deceased husband of appellant, was also made subject to the easement of January 28, 1939, supra.

This case has been before this court before on a temporary injunction and a detailed statement of the contention of the parties is outlined in the opinion in 191 S.W. 2d 786. However, the plaintiffs’ pleadings have been changed some in accordance with the holding in said opinion but the principal contentions of the parties have not, and said opinion is referred to for a more detailed analysis.

It is undisputed that the only railroad crossing is located on the Cozby tract which is on the West side of the original Willburn 250 acre and that the major portion of the land owned by appellee Armstrong and wife is located on the East side of said original Willburn tract so that the only access ap-pellees Armstrong have to the highway is obtained by the use of said railroad crossing on the Cozby land. It is admitted by Mrs. Cozby that the only road which the Arm-strongs could use and were using, at the time she and her husband purchased the land, ran by her front door and then turned north toward the railroad crossing and the Benbrook highway.

In accordance with the last part. of the agreement between Goostree, Reuben Will-burn and Church Willburn, Reuben B. Will-burn established and built a road along his west line to the railroad right-of-way and gravéled the same. Appellant Cozby established and graveled a road connecting with the graveled road, built by Mr. Willburn, along the railroad right-of-way across her land to the railroad crossing, thereby diverting the road from in front of her house down the fence row between her and Reuben Willburn and along the railroad right-of-way.

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Bluebook (online)
205 S.W.2d 403, 1947 Tex. App. LEXIS 793, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cozby-v-armstrong-texapp-1947.