Gallaghar v. Petree

1924 OK 949, 230 P. 477, 103 Okla. 295, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 320
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 21, 1924
Docket13537
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1924 OK 949 (Gallaghar v. Petree) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gallaghar v. Petree, 1924 OK 949, 230 P. 477, 103 Okla. 295, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 320 (Okla. 1924).

Opinion

Opinion by

RUTH, O.

The plaintiff herein filed this action, and subsequently filed her amended petition in which she sets forth she is a freedman citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and her allotment was the following real estate, to wit;

“N. % of S. W. Vi of S. E. Vjl of section 9; and N. E. % of N. W. Vi and N. E. Vi of N. AV. Vi of N. AV. Vi of section 16, township 24 north, range 17 east; and AV. Vs of N. E.% of S. AAr. Vi less 0.01 acres occupied .as right of way by the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad and the N. E. Vi of N. E. Vi of S. AV. Vi less 0.45 acres occupied as right of way by the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, and the S. AAr. Vi of S. E Vi of N. AAr. Vi of section 17, township 24 north, range 18 east, all in Rogers county, Okla.”

That Laura Roach '«las a freedman citizen of the Cherokee Nation and her allotment, consisted of the following property:

“N. AV. Vi of S, AV. 4 of N. E. Vi and N. W. Vt of S. E. Vi of N. AV. Vi and E % of S. E. Vi of N. AV. Vi of section 17, township 24 north, range 18 east, all in Rogers county, Okla.”

That the said Laura Roach died intestate on or about the 20th day of November, 1906, leaving her surviving as her only heir at law, the plaintiff, Ollie Gallaghar. Plaintiff alleges she is 19 years of age, has always lived in Muskogee county in the custody of Sam Roach, her father. That on May 16, 1905, the United States Court for the Northern District of Indian Territory, sitting at Nowata, appointed one David G. Elliott as guardian of the person and estate of the plaintiff, and upon Indian Territory being-erected into a state, the said guardian proceedings by operation of law, passed to and under the jurisdiction of the county court of Nowata county, state of Oklahoma. That in October, 1911, the guardian filed his application to have the guardianship proceedings transferred to Rogers county, Okla., alleging plaintiff was a resident of, and could be found in Rogers county, and the county court of Nowata county did, upon such petition, transfer the records, reports, documents. and papers relating to the guardianship proceedings to Rogers county, and the same were duly filed, and where they still remain. Plaintiff alleges the county court of Rogers county in November, 1911, upon petition of the guardian, made and entered an order authorizing and directing the sale of plaintiff’s estate for cash, subject to confirmation by the court, and that pursuant to such order the property was sold, and the sale confirmed by the court. Plaintiff alleges M. O. Brumbaugh, the purchaser, died intestate, and the defendant, Frank Petree, was ■appointed administrator, and plaintiffs petition alleges divers and sundry parties therein named have acquired or claim interests adverse to the plaintiff.

Defendants demurrer to the petition upon the ground that it shows upon its face it is a collateral attack upon a judgment of the county court of Rogers county, Okla., authorizing the sale of the land in controversy by the guardian of the plaintiff, and also upon the judgment of the said court confirming said sale, and therefore the district court has no jurisdiction of the matters and things alleged in the said petition.

Upon demurrers being overruled, defendants file their answers. Upon issue being joined the cause was tried to the court, plaintiff testified she was “of age” October 5, 1919, had always lived at Bragg, Muskogee county, and at AVebber Falls, never lived in Rogers county, but had been there with her father when she was a girl 12 years of age. That on March 22, 1920, and again on March 25, 1920, she executed quit-claim deeds to the lands involved in this action to P. O. Satterwhite, the deeds showing on their face that plaintiff had parted with all her interest in the land prior to the filing of this action, and at the time of the filing her petition she had divested herself of the legal title to the land. Plaintiff offered to prove that the quitclaim deeds were made without consideration, and Satterwhite was to hold the legal title, and plaintiff retain the equitable title, and Satterwhite was to reconvey to her upon request, and such deeds were only taken by Satterwhite to prevent plaintiff from making improvident disposition of her lands. Plaintiff also offered in evidence a quitclaim deed for the lands involved. where Satterwhite reconveyed the lands to plaintiff a short time prior to the trial. The offered evidence was by the court excluded and plaintiff saved exceptions.

Plaintiff further offered to prove her residence had at all times since birth been in Muskogee county, which offer was by the court refused and exceptions saved.

Plaintiff thereupon rested and defendants filed their demurrer and motion for judgment quieting title in. the defendants, for that:

“The evidence is not sufficient to support the allegations of the plaintiff’s petition, that in the first instance and at the time the trial was begun, defendants were entitled *297 to judgment on the pleadings; that the answers of defendants set up the petition for sale, orders, confirmation, guardians deed to Brumbaugh and the several deeds from Brumbaugh, to the several defendants, and that the same were not denied by pleadings or evidence.”

The demurrer being sustained by the court, motion was made by defendants for judgment on the cross-petitions, and judgment was rendered and entered quieting title in the defendants. Motion for a new trial was filed and overruled, and this cause is regularly brought here for review.

Plaintiff presents numerous assignments of error, which are unnecessary to set forth in extenso, as, shorn of legal verbiage, they are: First, that the judgment and decree is not sustained by sufiicient evidence; second, contrary to law; third, errors of law occurring at thei trial, and these errors consisting of admission of the deeds from plaintiff to Satterwhite, whereby plaintiff divested herself of the legal title to the lands prior to the filing of this action; error in excluding the quitclaim deed from Satterwhite to plaintiff after the filing of the action and a few days prior to the trial, that there was no consideration for the quitclaim deeds passing through Satterwhite and plaintiff each to the other, and excluding evidence of plaintiff’s continued residence in Muskogee county.

Chapter 25, secs. 1, 3, S. L. 1910 (Comp. Stat. 1921, secs. 1001-1093), provide as follows :

Section 1.

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

Related

Bradburn v. McIntosh
159 F.2d 925 (Tenth Circuit, 1947)
Filtsch v. Sipe
1946 OK 281 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1946)
Petroleum Auditors Ass'n v. Landis
1938 OK 200 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1938)
Schuman's, Inc. v. Missy Dress Co.
1935 OK 471 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Dunn v. Price
1933 OK 171 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1933)
Adams v. Hoskins
1927 OK 101 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1927)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1924 OK 949, 230 P. 477, 103 Okla. 295, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gallaghar-v-petree-okla-1924.