Gilbert v. Gaines

1934 OK 411, 35 P.2d 911, 169 Okla. 5, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 211
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 11, 1934
Docket22325
StatusPublished

This text of 1934 OK 411 (Gilbert v. Gaines) 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
Gilbert v. Gaines, 1934 OK 411, 35 P.2d 911, 169 Okla. 5, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 211 (Okla. 1934).

Opinion

RILEY, C. J.

This action was originally commenced bjr defendant in error, William Gaines, to recover an undivided one-half interest in TOO acres of land situated in Grady county, Okla. The land involved was the surplus allotment of Wesley Gaines, a full-blood Choctaw Indian. W'esley Gaines, the allottee, died in February, 1904, while a minor, intestate, unmarried and without issue, leaving surviving him as his sole heirs, Thomas Gaines, his father, and William and Israel Gaines, full brothers.

It is agreed that the land descended under the provisions of the laws of Arkansas then in force in the Indian Territory, one-half to the father, Thomas Gaines, one-fourth to each of the brothers, William Gaines and Israel Gaines. On February 4, 1909, Thomás Gaines conveyed to one E. F. Short a life estate of the grantor. The deed was fully approved by the county court-having jurisdiction of the settlement of the estate of the deceased allottee.

On December 23, 19091, Thomas Gaines executed a general warranty deed purporting to convey all his right, title, interest, and estate in and to said land to said E. F. Short. This deed was not approved by the county court until October 21, 1927, after this action had been commenced. Thomas Gaines died July, 1923, intestate and unmarried, leaving as his only heir his son, William Gaines, plaintiff herein. The action originally was to recover only the one-half interest inherited by the father, Thomas Gaines.

On November 3, 1908, Thomas Gaines was, by the countj- court of Le Flore County, appointed guardian of the persons and estates of Israel and William Gaines, minors. Israel Gaines was then 16 years old and William Gaines was 13 years old.

On November 2, 1908, the guardian filed a petition in the county court of Le Flore county to sell the interest of said minors in the lands here involved, together with their interest. in the homestead allotment, which is not involved in this action.

Order of sale was thereafter issued and the land was advertised and sold to W. O. Beesley upon a purported bid of $2,000. The sale was confirmed and guardian’s deed was executed accordingly. On February 4, 1909, W. O. Beasley conveyed the land to said E. F. Short.

On February 17, 1909, E. F .Short and wife conveyed the land here involvedl to Charles Esterle. On December 10th, Charles Esterle and wife conveyed the land to Alice M. Gilbert, plaintiff in error herein, against whom this action was commenced on September 9, 1927.

Israel Gaines died intestate while a minor in 1911, unmarried and without issue, leaving as his only heirs his father, Thomas Gaines, and his brother, William Gaines.

Defendant answered and set up these conveyances and alleged the approval of the deed from Thomas Gaines to E. F. Short by the county court of Latimer .county, the court having jurisdiction of the settlement of the estate of Wesley Gaines, and prayed that her title be quieted.

*7 Thereupon plaintiff, by amended reply, attacked the validity of the guardianship sale as being fraudulent and void; attacked the approval of the Thomas Gaines’ deed as being void, and prayed for recovery of the whole of said land.

In the meantime T. H. Williams, attorney for plaintiff, asked and obtained leave to intervene, and in his petition of intervention set up a contract and agreement with plaintiff whereby plaintiff agreed to and did convey to said Williams an undivided one-half interest in all land involved, and one-half of all rents, revenues, and royalties arising therefrom (the interest conveyed being one-half of the recovery). This conveyance being as and in full compensation for Williams’ services as attorney in representing plaintiff in this action, he prayed that he be adjudged the owner of an undivided one-fourth interest in the premises.

On application of defendant, Short and his wife were made parties defendant. They, being served only by publication, made no appearance. Issues being joined, the cause was tried to the court without a jury, resulting in a holding that the warranty deed from Thomas Gaines to E. F. Short, dated December 28, 1909, and all other deeds in the chain of title of defendants, were wholly void and without legal force or effect:

“* * * For the reason that said grantor, Thomas Gaines, a full-blood restricted Indian, was prohibited by acts of Congress, from alienating his inherited interest in the allotment of Wesley Gaines, deceased, unless said deed was apxDroved by the county court having jurisdiction over the estate of Wesley Gaines, deceased. The court finds that the approval of said warranty deed by the county court of Latimer county, Okla., on the first day of October, 1927, is wholly void, and without force or effect, and that said deed and approval thereof constitutes a cloud upon the plaintiff’s title, and should be canceled from the records.
“That the deed conveying Thomas Gaines’ life estate to E. F. Short is the only valid and legal conveyance made by Thomas Gaines of his interest in the land, and that upon the death of Thomas Gaines in July, 1923, the life estate terminated, and one-half interest in the lands thereupon descended in fee simple to plaintiff, William Gaines.”

The court further found and held:

“The court further finds that the guar-, dian’s sale in the county court of Le Flore county, Okla., of the undivided interest of said minors, William Gaines and Israel Gaines, in and to the land hereinabove described, and the subsequent guardian’s deed, dated February 14, 1909, executed by Thomas Gaines, guardian to W. O. Beesley, as same is recorded in Book 58, at page 196 of the records of Grady county, Okla., is wholly void and without force or effect, and the court finds that said guardianship proceedings and said guardian’s deed were not legally had and conducted in the manner-provided by law. The court finds that W. O. Beasley, the attorney for the guardian and the grantee in said guardian’s deed, acted in bad faith, to his own financial benefit, and to the detriment of said minors, and that the fraud of the said W. 0. Beasley is sufficient in itself to avoid said sale.
“The court further finds that the defendant herein was not a bona fide purchaser for value, and that said defendant had sufficient record knowledge of the fraud practiced in said guardianship proceedings, to charge her with actual notice of the invalidity of said sale, and the court finds that said guardian’s deed, and all other deeds in said chain of title are void, a cloud upon plaintiff’s title, and should be canceled from the records.”

The court sustained the plea of intervention of T. O. Williams, Jr., and adjudged him to be the owner of an undivided one-half interest in the land, and plaintiff the owner of the other one-half.

From this judgment defendant appeals.

The first proposition presented is that the court erred in holding that the warranty deed from Thomas Gaines, dated December 28, 1909, and the approval thereof by the county court of Latimer county on October 1, 1927, was wholly void and without force and effect. As before stated, the only grounds relied upon by plaintiff to avoid said deed was that said Thomas Gaines was enrolled as a full-blood member of the Ohoctaw Tribe of Indians, and that such deed was not approved during the lifetime of said Thomas Gaines.

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

Related

Jones v. Merfeldt
30 P.2d 924 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Mitchell v. Rice
31 So. 498 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1902)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1934 OK 411, 35 P.2d 911, 169 Okla. 5, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 211, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilbert-v-gaines-okla-1934.