Gardner v. Howell

60 Ga. 11
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedJanuary 21, 1878
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 60 Ga. 11 (Gardner v. Howell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gardner v. Howell, 60 Ga. 11 (Ga. 1878).

Opinion

Lester, Judge.

This was au application for the appointment of a receiver, and the questions presented for adjudication grow out of the following state of facts:

On the 4th day of July, 1866, Nathaniel E. Gardner executed a trust deed by which he conveyed to one Charles W. Dill certain real estate, located in the city of Atlanta, for the benefit of his two daughters, Lizzie Ida Gardner and Mary Ellen Gardner. At the time of making the deed, Nathaniel E. Gardner was a widower, and these two daughters were his only children. One of them was about ten years of age, and the other was about five years of age.

The deed recites, that for and in consideration of the natural love and affection which he has and bears to his said daughters, and for the purpose of providin ga support and maintenance and education for them, and also in consideration of ten dollars to him in hand paid, he, the said Nathaniel E. Gardner, gives, grants, and conveys the property described in the deed, to the said Charles W. Dill as trustee, and to such other trustee or trustees as may hereafter be appointed in his place, and that he or they are to have and hold the said property “in trust for the sole and separate use, benefit and behoof of the said Lizzie Ida Gardner and Mary Ellen Gardner, for and during their natural lives, and at their death, or the death of either of them, to be equally divided, share and share alike, among their children. But in case, either of said daughters should depart this life having no child or children, or the issue of a child or children in life at her death, then, and in that event, the said property shall go to and vest in the other daughter, or, in case of her death, to her child or children, or issue of child or children if there should be any living, but if my other daughter should be dead, without child or children, or the issue of child or children living, then to go to and vest in any other child or children that I may have living, share and [13]*13share alike. I hereby further direct, that my two daughters shall own said property in common during their minority, or until one of them shall marry. ” The deed then provides for dividing the property between the two daughters when they arrive at twenty-one years of age, or when either of them should marry, by three men to be selected by the trustees, but it also distinctly stipulates as follows: “ I hereby further direct and require that no part or portion of the corpus of said estate shall ever be sold until the life estate is ended, for any puiqmse whatever, unless it shall become less profitable than ordinary investments, or my daughters should desire to change their residence to some other city, or for some other like good and substantial reason; but if such reason should ever exist, the fund shall be re-invested ; and before said sale shall be made, I hereby direct that full and satisfactory reason shall be given, and clear and sufficient proof be made to the chancellor granting said order, that such necessity exists, and that the proceeds of the said sale when made, shall be reinvested in like property, or property as substantial in permanent value, and as productive in its yield of profits.”

About five months after the making of the deed to Dill, for the benefit of his two daughters, Nathaniel E. Gardner, being then about fifty-one years of age, intermarried with one Miss Mary E. Carroll, who was then about twenty-one years of age, and on the 26th day of August, 1867, he filed a bill in equity, in Fulton superior court, against Charles W. Dill, the trustee of his daughters, alleging that he was drunk at the time he executed and delivered the deed to Dill, that the deed was purely voluntary, that he received no valuable consideration therefor, and that at the time it was made he was actually intoxicated to such an extent as to be deprived of reason, and that whilst-in this condition he conveyed away property worth eighty-eight thousand dollars, which he had acquired by honest industry.

He further alleged in his bill, that when said deed was executed he owed six thousand dollars, four thousand of [14]*14which was due lor the purchase-money of some of the property conveyed by the deed, and that two thousand dollars of said purchase-money was still unjjaid at the time of filing his bill.

He also stated in his bill, that he had been endeavoring to reduce his consumption of liquor and become more sober, and that he had so far succeeded in this endeavor as to come to a deliberate pause in his wild career; that having cooled off, he felt once more capable of looking into his affairs calmly and judiciously, and of ordering his conduct aright; that lie found himself passing to old age, with a young wife at his side, and his property and means of support gone; whereupon he prayed that the deed of trust which he made to Hill be delivered up and canceled.

Charles W. Dill was the only defendant to this bill, and he alone was served with a copy of it. It does not appear that Dill, or any one else, ever answered the bill, but it does appear that on the 19th of May, 1869, a verdict and decree were rendered in the case, and that the following is a copy of the decree:

“Whereupon it is adjudged and decreed, on the terms specified below, that the deed mentioned in the bill be taken and considered as operative and valid from its date, and that the trust be executed. It is further decreed as follows : That out of the trust property be paid, first, the cost of this proceeding; secondly, the sum of one thousand dollars as a fee to complainant’s solicitors; and thirdly, the like sum of one thousand dollars as a fee to defendant’s solicitors. Also, that for and during the life of the complainant, the trustee do and shall pay to him annually, on the thirty-first of December, out of the income and profits of the trust estate, the sum of one thousand dollars for his personal support and expenses ; and in ease said income and profits should prove insufficient, then the deficiency shall be supplied from the corpus in such manner as the chancellor may direct.”

On the 26th of December, 1871, Mary Ellen Gardner [15]*15died without leaving a child or children, or issue of a child or children.

On the 4th of November, 1874, Lizzie Ida Gardner intermarried with Clark Howell, Jr., and on the 17th of December, 1874, upon the petition of Charles W. Dill, Clark Howell, Jr., and his wife, Lizzie Ida Howell, the judge of the superior court of the Atlanta circuit passed an order at chambers, of which the following is a copy:

"Whereupon it is ordered and decreed, that upon said C. W. Dill having a settlement with said Howell, as mentioned in said petition, he be removed as said trustee, and then that Clark Howell, Jr., shall be, and he is hereby, appointed trustee in lieu of said Dill, with all the rights, duties, liabilities and powers of said Dill, under said trust deed, and with power in said Howell, as trustee, to complete the power of sale given to said Dill by the order in said petition named; provided,

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

Related

Kruzel v. Leeds Building Products, Inc.
470 S.E.2d 882 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
60 Ga. 11, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gardner-v-howell-ga-1878.