French v. Sheplor

83 Ind. 266
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1882
DocketNo. 8840
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 83 Ind. 266 (French v. Sheplor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
French v. Sheplor, 83 Ind. 266 (Ind. 1882).

Opinion

Morris, C.

The appellants sued the appellees for the purpose of asserting as against them a lien on certain real estate situate in Morgan county. The amended complaint consists of three paragraphs.

The first paragraph states that, on the 26th day of August, [267]*2671874, Evaline Sheplor, then the wife of the defendant Henry ■Sheplor, and the mother of the plaintiffs, Hora I. French, whose maiden name was Hora I. Sheplor, Seymour A. Sheplor and Darius E. Sheplor,. died intestate, at said county of Morgan, leaving surviving her, as her heirs, the above named plaintiffs and children and her husband, the said Henry Sheplor ; that, at the time of her death, the said Evaline held a life insurance policy, payable at her death to her heirs; that, at the time of her death, all of her said children were minors;, that, on the 31st day of August, 1874, the said Henry Shep'lor was duly appointed the guardian of the persons and estates of the said Dora I., Seymour A. and Darius E. Sheplor, by the proper court; that he qualified as such guardian and accepted and entered upon his said trust; that, on the 4th day of November, 1874, their said guardian, as such, received on said policy the sum of $3,333J, as the amount due the plaintiffs as his wards on the same; that he afterwards, in 1875, received for them the sum of $47.

It is further stated that, on the 18th day of September, 1874, the said Henry Sheplor purchased from one Henry H. Haase the following real estate, situate in Morgan county, to wit: The northeast quarter of section 27, township 11 north, of range 2 west, except three and one-third acres; also, thirty acres off of the south end of the east one-half of the southeast quarter of section 22, township and range aforesaid, except some three acres which are particularly described, and at the time procured from the vendor a warranty deed for said land; that, by the terms of the purchase, said Sheplor agreed to pay Haase $6,000 of'purchase-money, during the month of March, 1875; that Sheplor did, in March, 1875, pay said sum of $6,000; that $4,000 of the sum so paid was the money of the plaintiffs, Dora I., Seymour A. and Darius E. Sheplor, which the said Henry Sheplor then had in his hands as their guardian, and which, in violation of his duty as their guardian, he invested in said land, without their knowledge or consent ; that said guardian has held and used said land and received [268]*268the rents and profits of the same, and refused and still refuses to account to the plaintiffs for said money so invested, or the rents of said land; that, ón the 22d day of January, 1876,. said Henry Sheplor and his then wife conveyed by warranty deed to the plaintiffs, Dora I., Seymour A. and Darius E.. Sheplor, the west one-half of the northeast quarter of said section 27, except acres out of the southwest corner,, which was intended by the guardian, Henry Sheplor, to be in part payment of their money invested by him in said land ; that the land so conveyed was worth only $2,000; that, on the 16th day of November, 1875, and before Sheplor and wife' conveyed to the plaintiffs, the defendant, the First National Bank of Martinsville, recovered a judgment against said Henry Sheplor and others, in the Morgan Circuit. Court, for $1,225' and costs, with ten per cent, interest, which judgment, interest and costs were, at the commencement of this suit, unpaid;. that, on the 29th day of March, 1879, after the commencement, of this suit, said bank caused an execution to be issued on said judgment, by virtue of which the sheriff of said county levied, upon all of the land above described; that he sold to William R. Harrison the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of said section, and to the defendant James M. Mitchell the balance of the land conveyed by said Haase and wife to the defendant Henry Sheplor; that the sums paid by said purchasers equalled the full amount of said judgment, interest and costs; that the purchasers each had due notice at the time of the pendency of this suit, that the money of the said Dora. I., Seymour A. and Darius E. Sheplor had been placed in said land by the said Henry Sheplor as their guardian, and that he held the land in trust for them.

It is alleged in the complaint that the other defendants have obtained judgments against the defendant Henry Sheplor, but. that they are all junior to the claim of the plaintiffs, and were obtained subsequently to the investment of their money in said real estate; that said judgments are unpaid, and liens junior to the plaintiffs.

[269]*269The second paragraph of the complaint is like the first, except that it sets up, in addition to the facts alleged in the first, that the defendant Sheplor purchased the land from Haase, with an agreement that he would redeem the same from a prior sale, under a foreclosure proceeding, at which the defendant Mitchell had become the purchaser, and held a certificate of purchase, the amount paid for said redemption to be ■credited on the purchase-money, and the balance only to be paid to said Haase, the grantor; that he, Sheplor, did so redeem the land from Mitchell, and in so doing paid, to redeem said land, all of the plaintiffs’ money in his hands as their .guardian, Mitchell having full knowledge of all the facts. The prayer of the second paragraph is, that the plaintiffs be subrogated to the benefits of the mortgage from which the money redeemed the land.

The third paragraph states, in addition to the facts alleged in the first paragraph, that upon the purchase of the lands by ■Sheplor from Haase, the latter took no security from Sheplor, but retained and held a vendor’s lien for the unpaid purchase-money ; that Sheplor subsequently paid off the purchase-money, using the trust money in his hands as guardian of the plain-tiffs, to pay the same. The prayer is that the plaintiffs may be subrogated to the rights of the vendor.

Both the second and third paragraphs set ■ up various subsequent titles, claimed by the several defendants, upon sales upon judgments and foreclosure decrees upon mortgages given by Sheplor after the alleged misapplication of the trust funds to the purchase or redemption of said lands, and charge notice of such misapplication on the part of each defendant by whom the purchases were made.

The defendants demurred separately to each paragraph of the complaint, on the ground that neither paragraph contained facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.

The defendant Harrison filed a separate demurrer to each paragraph of the complaint, as did the defendant Mitchell.

The court sustained the demurrers to the first paragraph of [270]*270the complaint, to which the plaintiffs excepted, and overruled them to the second and third paragraphs, and the defendants excepted.

The defendants Mitchell and Harrison answered the second and third paragraphs of the complaint in two paragraphs. They also filed a cross complaint in one paragraph. The defendants Mitchell, Harrison and Griffith .answered jointly by general denial.

The appellants demurred to the second paragraph of the answer of Mitchell and Harrison. They also demurred to the cross complaint of Mitchell and Harrison. The demurrers were overruled, and the appellants excepted.

The plaintiffs below replied to the answer of Mitchell and Harrison by a general denial, and answered the cross complaint in two paragraphs, the first being a general denial.

Mitchell and Harrison filed a demurrer to the paragraph of the answer to their cross complaint.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
83 Ind. 266, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/french-v-sheplor-ind-1882.