Garland v. Smith

64 S.W. 188, 164 Mo. 1, 1901 Mo. LEXIS 195
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJune 18, 1901
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 64 S.W. 188 (Garland v. Smith) 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
Garland v. Smith, 64 S.W. 188, 164 Mo. 1, 1901 Mo. LEXIS 195 (Mo. 1901).

Opinion

GANTT, J.

— Action of ejectment in statutory form for a house and lot in the city of St. Louis, known as No. 1615 Olive street in said city. Ouster laid as of March 1, 1891. Monthly rents and profits alleged to be of the value of seventy-five dollars.

The answer was a general denial. Judgment in the circuit court for plaintiff for possession, and rents and profits assessed at fifty-five dollars a month, and damages for detention to time of judgment at five hundred and seventy-four dollars. Defendant appeals.

Prior to 1865 the title to the lot in suit was vested in James’ Smith, under whom both parties assert title.

On March 13, 1865, James Smith, for the recited con[10]*10¿deration of one dollar, conveyed said lot by a deed of bargain and sale to Edward A. Eilley upon certain trusts wbicb are declared in said deed as follows:

“To have and to hold the same with the privileges and appurtenances thereto belonging unto said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns forever, in trust, however, for the sole and separate use and benefit of said Persis Smith, wife of said James Smith, for and during the term of her natural life, and she, the said Persis, shall, during the said term, be permitted to have immediate occupation and use of the premises in person, or to receive the rents and profits thereof in her own hands, on giving her personal receipt therefor, which receipt shall be a full acquittance and discharge to- her said trustee; and the said Persis shall have power to sell, mortgage, incumber, lease or otherwise dispose of the same to such person or persons and for such uses and purposes as she may at any time by writing by her signed, direct and appoint; and the said trustee, his heirs or assigns, shall execute and deliver to such person or persons, any and all deeds, mortgages, deeds of trust, leases or other instruments in writing necessary and proper for carrying into effect the power aforesaid, for the uses and purposes aforesaid, whenever he shall be thereto by her directed in the manner aforesaid; and upon the death of said Persis without having disposed of the premises in the'manner aforesaid, then for the use and benefit of the heirs of the body of her the said Persis, living at her decease, per stirpes, and in case of default of such heirs of her body living at her decease, then for the use and benefit of the right heirs of Charles Garland, and the said trustee shall then convey the premises in fee simple to them to have and to hold the same to them, their heirs and assigns forever.”

Mrs. Persis Smith was born in 1807, and at the date of the execution and delivery of said deed was fifty-seven or fifty-eight years old. James Smith, the grantor in said trust deed, [11]*11died October 16, 1877. Charles Garland, named in said deed, was a brother of Mrs. Persis Smith, and died in 1880, leaving as his heirs at law four children, James S. Garland, the plaintiff in this action, John T. Garland, Nathan N. Garland, and Jennie G. Hosmer, the wife of James E. Hosmer.

Mrs. Persis Smith died February 14, 1891, eighty-three or eighty-four years old, without ever having had any children, and on March 30, 1891, Edward A. Eilley, the trustee in the trust deed of James Smith, never having been directed by Mrs. Persis Smith to execute any conveyance of said lot, conveyed the same to the heirs at law of Oharles Garland, deceased, and recited that he made said deed in pursuance of the power conferred on him in and by the deed of James Smith and Persis Smith of date March 13, 1865.

Prior to the institution of this action John T. and Nathan N. Garland and Jennie G. Hosmer and husband conveyed their several shares in said lot to plaintiff James S. Garland.

On July 28, 1883, Mrs. Persis Smith executed a warranty deed to George Smith to the lot in suit, but George Smith refused to accept said deed and it was never recorded. On June 26, 1888, Mrs. Persis Smith again conveyed said lot by warranty deed to said George Smith, which was accepted by him and was duly recorded in the recorder’s office of the city of St. Louis.

On the fifteenth day of October, 1890, Mrs. Persis Smith made her last will and testament which was duly probated after her death, in March, 1891, in which she declared that “she intended thereby to dispose of all her property of every nature-whatsoever, wherever situated, of which she might die seized, or as to which she might have any power of appointment,” and by the seventh clause of said will, she provided: “That all the rest, residue and remainder of the property, of whatsover nature, real, personal or mixed, wherever situated, of which I may die [12]*12seized, or as to which I may have any power of appointment, I give, devise and bequeath to my adopted son, called George Smith (whose family name is Connelly), who is now living with me at No. 1615 Olive street in this city, to have and to hold to him and his heirs forever.”

The evidence introduced by the defendant also shows that Mrs. Smith in 1881 conveyed her property to James S. Garland and George Smith upon certain trusts; that in 1886, Garland reconveyed to Mrs. Smith the property which was conveyed to him as trustee, and that on September 22, 1886, Mrs. Smith again conveyed all her property to George Smith as trustee upon certain trusts.

It appeared from the evidence that James Smith received the defendant, -then a destitute, homeless boy named George Connelly, into his family in 1838. The boy was then four or five years old. He was reared as their own child. When a young man he went to New Mexico and returned about 1860. He left St. Louis for New York in 1865, and from that time until the death of James Smith in 1877, held no communication with his foster parents. He did not return to St. Louis until December, 1880.

The defendant does not claim title through the warranty deed made to hipa in 1883, by Mrs. Persis Smith, as it appears from the evidence that he never accepted said deed. He claims, however, through the deed made by Mrs. Smith in 1888. The testimony very clearly shows that this last-mentioned deed, while nominally for the consideration of ten dollars, was in fact a gift of the said lot to defendant. Defendant also claims title under the last will of Mrs. Smith, insisting that her devise to him of said lot was a valid exercise of the power of appointment conferred on her by the deed of her husband, James Smith, of March 13, 1865.

Defendant further pleads res adjudicate in two other pro[13]*13ceedings in the circuit court of the city of St. Louis.

I. The value of the real estate involved, and the legal principles by which the title must be determined, concur in rendering this case one of more than ordinary importance.

The propositions necessarily involved and ably discussed by counsel and our learned brother on the circuit, are these: - What estate did Mrs. Persis Smith acquire by the trust deed of James Smith of March 13, 1865, and what were the purposes, and the nature, extent and scope of the power of appointment conferred upon her by said deed %

Lid the conveyance by deed of gift of June 26,1888, constitute a valid execution of her power of appointment ? Could that power of appointment be executed by last will %

As to the estates created by the deed of James Smith, we conceive there can be no doubt. By it a legal title in fee simple was conveyed to Edward A. Eilley, the trustee therein named. An equitable life estate to Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
64 S.W. 188, 164 Mo. 1, 1901 Mo. LEXIS 195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garland-v-smith-mo-1901.