Frederick v. Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gule Railroad

82 Mo. 402
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedApril 15, 1884
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 82 Mo. 402 (Frederick v. Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gule Railroad) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frederick v. Missouri River, Ft. Scott & Gule Railroad, 82 Mo. 402 (Mo. 1884).

Opinion

Ray, J.

We gather from the record in this cause,, that on July 24,1851, A. B. Canville, by deed of that date, conveyed to Henry Frederick, the father of respondent,, forty by forty poles (10 acres) in the southern part of the east one-half of the northwest quarter of section 6, township 49, range 33, Jackson county, Missouri. The respondent, John B. Frederick, on March 10th, 1856, purchased from Joseph Henry five acres of land, twenty rods north and south and forty rods east and west, in the southeast, part of the east half of the northwest quarter of section 6,. township 49, range 33, in Kansas City, and lying south and adjacent to ten acres then owned and occupied by his father, with whom the respondent at that time lived. The deed from Joseph Henry for the five acres, so purchased by. John B. Frederick, was taken in the name “ John II. Frederick.” The description in said deed was as follows : The south part of the east one-half of. northwest quarter section 6, township 49, range 83, containing five acres more or less, bounded as follows: Beginning at the southeast corner of said east one half, thence north twenty poles, more or less to Henry Frederick’s southeast corner, thence west-with Frederick’s line forty poles, thence south twenty poles, thence east forty poles to the place of beginning.

It seems that in 1857 the Fredericks sold to Ulysses-Turner and others, fourteen acres of the fifteen, leaving-one acre unsold, one-half of which was part of the ten acres originally owned and occupied by the father, and the-other half of the five acres so purchased by the son from Joseph Henry. Said deed begins thus: Know all men by these presents, that we, Henry Frederick and Mary A. Frederick, his wife, and John IT. Frederick, son of the-said Henry, and Mary Frederick, of the county of Jackson, State of Missouri,” etc. In 1862 a judgment was. recovered in the Kansas City court of common pleas by Theodore Etue, against John B. Frederick, the respondent, and Henry Frederick, his father, for $210 and costs,. [407]*407upon a promissory note theretofore made by them, and upon the same an execution was issued January 30, 1863, and levied upon the one acre left of the fifteen after said sale and conveyance of the fourteen acres to Turner and others. Said levy was made on the acre as the property of Henry Frederick.” In the granting part of the deed the marshal described the property as, “ all the right, title and estate of the said Henry Frederick in and to the real estate above mentioned.” This acre, so levied upon, was afterwards, on May 25, 1865, sold under the execution by the marshal of said court to Mary A. Frederick, the mother of respondent, for the sum of $365, and deed made to her accordingly. In July, 1865, the father died, leaving a last will and testament, signed with the name John Henry Frederick, whereby he gave to the son $10, and devised all the rest of his property to his wife, Mary A. Frederick.

It seems that shortly after the execution sale to his. mother, John B. Frederick moved away from the property in question to Wyandotte county, Kansas, leaving her in sole possession, and from that time till about the time of the commencement of this suit, in March, 1875, never-made any claim to any part of it. In March, 1866, he purchased from his mother, for the sum of $50, and took a conveyance thereof to himself, the south fifty feet of the acre, being a part of the five acres purchased by him of Joseph Henry, the deed to which was made to John II. Frederick. This fifty feet, he afterwards, in 1868, sold and deeded to Timothy Freeman. In February, 1868, Mary A. Frederick sold and deeded to Oliver Case the north fifty feet of the acre, and on October 24., 1868, for the consideration of $4,000, sold and deeded to James F. Joy the balance of the same, being all of the acre except the fifty feet on the south, conveyed to John B. Frederick and the fifty feet on the north conveyed to Oliver Case. This purchase was made by Joy for the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad Company, the defendant, and the $4,000 paid to Mrs. Frederick was furnished by the railroad company. [408]*408Immediately after the purchase by Joy, the railroad company entered into possession of the property, laid railroad tracks upon it, and has ever since occupied and claimed title thei'to. In 1872, Mary A. Erederiek died intestate, leaving John B. Frederick, the plaintiff, her sole heir, who administered upon her estate. In March, 1875, John B. Frederick commenced this action of ejectment against the Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad Company to recover possession of the south half of the acre aforesaid, except the said south fifty feet purchased by him from his mother in 1866 and sold to Freeman.

The petition was in the usual form. The amended answer of the defendant contains first a general denial, and second a plea of estoppel in pais, On this behalf, the amended answer contains the follow mg allegations, to-wit: That so much of said acre as lies north of a line drawn parallel to the south line of said northwest quarter, and twenty poles north thereof was on the 24th day of July, 1851, conveyed by one A. B. Granville to the father of plaintiff, by the name of Henry Frederick; and that so much of said one acre as lies south of said parallel line was on the 10th day of March, 1856, purchased by plaintiff from Joseph Henry, and a deed of conveyance thereto taken in the name of John TI. Frederick.” It then charges that said Henry Frederick, the father, was then, and up to his death,, known and called, by himself and others, by name of John II. Frederick, as well as Henry Frederick, and that said Joy and defendant, at the purchase supposed and believed that the person named, and to whom said deed was made, was the said father of the plaintiff. Said amended answer then set up the recovery of said judgment, by Theodore Etue,in December, 1862, against Henry Frederick, the father, and John B. Frederick, the plaintiff", the issue of execution thereon, and levy of same upon said acre, as the property of Henry Frederick; a sale and conveyance in pursuance thereof, on May 25th, 1865, by the marshal to said Mary Frederick, and a sale and conveyance of said one [409]*409acre of land, (except the fifty feet sold to plaintiff, and the fifty feet sold Oliver Case, as aforesaid) by Mary A. Frederick, on October 24th, 1868, to James F. Joy, for the use and benefit of the railroad company, defendant. It then charges, in substance, that Mary A. Frederick, the plaintiff, and said Henry Frederick up to his death, at all times, from and after said marshal’s sale, and up to the sale and conveyance of the land in question to defendant, gave out that said Mary A. Frederick was the absolute owner of the land in question, and with the knowledge and consent of plaintiff', had and held the possession thereof, as the absolute and undisputed owner; and with’ like knowledge and consent of plaintiff) sold and conveyed the same to Joy "for defendant. That plaintiff was present at said sale, so made by his mother to defendant, and made no claim nor asserted any right, title or interest in or to the land in question. That plaintiff well knew the matters and things aforesaid, and that the title to the whole of said acre, before said marshal’s deed, appeared in the' name of his father, and that defendant supposed and believed that his mother was the sole and absolute owner thereof; yet the plaintiff stood by and saw the defendant take possession and make valuable and lasting improvements on said land without objection.

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Bluebook (online)
82 Mo. 402, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frederick-v-missouri-river-ft-scott-gule-railroad-mo-1884.