Grant v. Pendley

88 S.W.2d 132
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 30, 1935
DocketNo. 10122.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 88 S.W.2d 132 (Grant v. Pendley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Grant v. Pendley, 88 S.W.2d 132 (Tex. Ct. App. 1935).

Opinion

LANE, Justice.

At the time of the trial of this cause J. M. Pendley, H. M. Pendley, Florence Wright, joined pro forma by her husband, John F. Wright,_ Ellen Pendley, Albert Pendley, and Edgar Pendley were the plaintiffs and .the defendants were Clara Grant, a feme sole, Florence Wall, a feme sole, Marvin Dodson and wife, Mamie Dodson, Newell Dodson, Harry Taylor, Stella Yerby, and her husband, William Yerby.

The plaintiffs’ suit was one tq recover the title and possession of 160 acres of land in Anderson county, Tex., which is fully described'in the plaintiffs’ petition.

Plaintiffs alleged that one Morris A. Pendley, deceased, is the common source of title; that Morris A. Pendley died in *133 testate and left surviving him as his sole heir Martin Pendley, and that Martin Pendley died intestate and upon his death and upon the death of some other persons, who, under the provisions of the laws of descent and distribution, inherited from him, the said Martin Pendley, the plaintiffs and defendants inherited and became the owners of the land sued for, each owning an undivided part or interest therein.

That on or about the 29th day of January, 1917, the defendants, Clara Grant, joined by her husband, Morgan Grant, Stella Yerby, joined by her husband, William Yerby, Harry Taylor, Florence Wall, joined by her husband, J. J. Wall, Marvin Dodson, and wife, Mamie Dodson, for a valuable consideration to them paid by H. M. Pendley, J. M. Pendley, and W. F. Pendley, by a general warranty deed duly executed by them, and each of them, conveyed said lands, as well as all of their right, title, and interest therein, to W. F. Pendley, J. M. Pendley, and H. M. Pend-ley.

That after the execution and delivery of said deed, and in the month of July, 1926, W. F. Pendley died intestate and left surviving him as his sole and only heirs his children, the plaintiffs herein, Florence Wright, Ellen Pendley, Albert Pendley, and Edgar Pendley, and thereby said last-named plaintiffs inherited and became the owners in fee simple of all of the right, title and interest of the said W. F. Pend-ley in and to said lands.

And. plaintiffs aver that notwithstanding the execution and delivery by the defendants hereinabove named of said deed of conveyance, that they are now asserting and claiming some right, title, or interest in said lands, and which is wrongful and casts a cloud upon plaintiffs’ title thereto.

Plaintiffs also pleaded title to the land under the three, five, and ten years’ statutes of limitation.

Defendants Newell Dodson and his wife, Dora Dodson, Florence Wall and her husband, J. J. Wall, filed disclaimers to any right, title, or interest in the land sued for by the plaintiffs and pray that they go hence with their costs.

Defendants Clara Grant, Stella Yerby and husband, William Yerby, and Harry Taylor filed a disclaimer to the 160 acres of land sued for by the plaintiffs, save and except such interest therein as they inherited as alleged by the plaintiffs, and as to such interests they plead not guilty of the wrongs alleged by the plaintiffs.

Becoming cross-plaintiffs, said defendants admit that the common source of title to the land as alleged by the plaintiffs is correct, and that the parties plaintiffs and defendants each inherited undivided interests in said land as alleged by plaintiffs, and that the deed to their undivided interest in the 160 acres of land was executed as alleged by plaintiffs, and that the plaintiffs own all of said land and are entitled to the recovery of same as prayed for unless such ownership and right to the ownership by these defendants, held prior to the execution of said deed, is defeated by the following alleged facts:

That defendants were ignorant of the value of said land, and the kind, quality, and value of the timber thereon, and that they knew nothing of the fact that the land was in what was, on the 29th day of January, 1917, the date of the execution of the deed by them, known as oil territory; that they knew of no one from whom they could look to for such information at said time other than the Pendleys, the grantees in said deed; that prior to the execution of said deed by the defendants, the grantees, W. F. Pendley, J. M. Pendley, and H. M. Pendley, falsely represented to defendants that the land was poor sandy land of little value, and that it was covered by young or scrubby pine; that the old timber which was foN merly thereon had been cut off, and that at such time, January 29, 1917, the land was worth only three or four dollars per acre; that such representations were false and known by the Pendleys to be false at the time they were made, but that defendants not knowing the same to be false, but believing them to be true, were thereby induced to execute said deed ; that the grantees fraudulently withheld from defendants that oil prospects and indications for the land were considered good, which fact they knew; that said grantees at the time they were trying to buy said land from defendants knew that land in the vicinity of the land involved in this suit was being leased for the drilling of oil, but they withheld such information from defendants; that at the time of the execution of the deed some lands near the land involved in this suit were being sold for timber purposes for $40 per acre, which fact was known to the grantees, but which they withheld from defendants.

*134 Defendants further alleged as follows: “That, relying solely upon the representation of said J. M. and H. M. Pendley and having no knowledge of the value of said land, except what said J. M. and H. M. Pendley had stated as aforesaid, and having full, confidence in and trusting their said Uncles to tell them the truth, and not knowing of any oil prospects or leases in the vicinity of said land, and not knowing of the timber and sale of timber land, as before set out, these defendants agreed to join in said deed as aforesaid, and did so execute same.”

They further alleged “that if the statements and representations made by the Pendleys to these plaintiffs were not known to said Pendleys to be false, or if they did not know the real condition as to the timber, value of same and of oil prospects, then the defendants allege that the sale of the land and execution of said deed was brought about by mutual mistake as to material existing facts.”

Defendants further alleged as follows: “That about the time of filing this suit, the plaintiffs sold to W. L. Cook the timber on said land, of any kind, which measures or will measure, when cut by Cook, eight inches and more in diameter at the stump, for $4,000.00 cash paid to them, and all of such timber at least from twelve inches up has been cut by the purchaser and disposed of and placed beyond the reach of these defendants. The timber so cut by said Cook and appropriated was of the value of at least $4,000.00.”

Defendants’ prayer is for the cancellation of the deed of date January 29, 1917, for judgment against plaintiffs for their pro rata part of $4,000 received by plaintiffs as bonus for oil leases executed by plaintiffs and for their pro rata of the rentals which have been paid to plaintiffs under said leases, which they alleged to be $1,500, and for judgment of partition of the land; for the appointment of commissioners of partition, and for possession of that part of the land that is partitioned to them respectively.

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

Related

Vickery v. Commission for Lawyer Discipline
5 S.W.3d 241 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Tijerina v. Botello
207 S.W.2d 136 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1947)
Jinks v. Jinks
205 S.W.2d 816 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1947)
San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank v. Malcher
164 S.W.2d 197 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1942)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 S.W.2d 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grant-v-pendley-texapp-1935.