Gregory v. Wilson

52 Ind. 233
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1875
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 52 Ind. 233 (Gregory v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gregory v. Wilson, 52 Ind. 233 (Ind. 1875).

Opinion

Downey, J.

Two errors are assigned in this case:

1. Overruling the demurrer to the complaint and amended supplemental complaint; and,

2. Sustaining the demurrer to the second paragraph of the answer.

The pleadings are in some respects peculiar. Amanda B. Wilson, administratrix of the estate of William W. Wilson, deceased, filed a petition, as it is styled, representing that the deceased, in his lifetime, was the owner of certain real estate in the county of Morgan, which he had mortgaged to one William N. Cunningham; that at the death of said deceased, February 7th, 1873, the mortgage had been foreclosed, and the land sold to the mortgagee; that after the death of said deceased, and during the cropping season of 1873, before the time for the redemption of said land had expired, the said administratrix caused to be planted and cultivated upon said land a crop of corn, which said crop of corn fully matured before the period for redemption expired; that the estate of said deceased being wholly insolvent, the said crop was necessary to be used for the payment of the preferred claims against said estate; that, for the purpose of paying such debts, the petitioner, as such administratrix, sold and delivered said corn to one Allen Watkins, for thirty-five cents per bushel; that when said land was sold and bought by said Cunningham, there were due the taxes for several years on the land, subject to which said land was purchased by said Cunningham; that after the sale of the corn by said petitioner to said Watkins, the said Cunningham, by threats and otherwise, procured the treasurer of said county of Morgan, John N. Gregory, to seize said corn for taxes, and to advertise and sell the same for said taxes; that said sheriff [treasurer?] made said sale, subject to said previous sale, if the same should be found to be valid; that Watkins bought said corn under protest, and with the agreement and understanding that the price therefor should not be paid until the question of ownership should be determined by the court; and the plaintiff [235]*235alleges that the said sale is wrongful, and that the said Gregory and Cunningham thereby became intermeddlers and Wrong-doers.

Prayer, that the [defendants?] be enjoined and restrained from intermeddling with said estate and the property thereof and with the proceeds of said sale; that "Watkins, Gregory and Cunningham be summoned to answer herein; and that upon final hearing the plaintiif have judgment for the value of said corn and other relief.

A demurrer to this complaint or petition was filed and submitted to the court, but the record does not show that it was ever decided.

Subsequently, -what is denominated a supplemental complaint was filed, in which said Amanda B., as the widow of said deceased, and William V. Wilson, the only surviving child and heir of the said deceased, allege, by way of petition to be made defendants to the action and for answer to the complaint therein, that they have an interest in said cause, and as such heirs at law are entitled to the rents and profits of said land and the issues therefrom, which ought to be adjudged to the plaintiff in her action as administratrix, and claimed, as -well, by said defendants; they further say that the corn crop and the proceeds thereof, which grew upon the farm mentioned in the complaint, belonged to the said petitioners, as heirs at lav of said deceased; that their said ancestor died at Indianapolis, Indiana, and large expenses were incurred in the funeral of the said deceased, for the payment of which she, the administratrix, has no means; that they desire that the proceeds of said crop shall be used for said purpose, and hence were and are willing to surrender their right herein to said administratrix for that purpose; but if said administratrix cannot, as against said defendants, be allowed to take them, then they insist upon their legal rights as heirs aforesaid. Hence, they ask to be made parties, and pray judgment that the said Watkins be ordered and adjudged to pay over to them the proceeds of said rents, profits and' issues, in his hands, and that the said Kennedy [236]*236be adjudged to pay the money in his hands derived from the issues and rents of said land, and for other relief.

The defendants demurred to the “petition and complaint” of said Amanda B. and William V. Wilson, on the ground that the same did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action: the demurrer was overruled, and there was an exception.

The substance of the petition, or complaint, is, that the plaintiff, as executrix, had raised a crop of corn on the land, which had been owned and mortgaged by her deceased husband, the testator, but which had, prior to his decease, been sold on a foreclosure of the mortgage to Cunningham, the mortgagee, but had not yet been conveyed; that she had, after the maturity of the crop, sold it to Watkins at thirty-five cents per bushel. How many bushels there were of the corn does not appear, but no objection to the complaint is made on this account. The object of the action, so far as Watkins is concerned, was to recover from him the price of the corn. Gregory appears to have been made a party for the reason that he, as treasurer, was asserting a claim for taxes. Why Cunningham was made a party does not fully appear.

So far as we can see, the pleading of Amanda B. and William "V. Wilson, which is probably a cross complaint, if it can be classified, is sufficient as a cross complaint to authorize them to recover the amount due from the defendant Watkins for the corn purchased by him of the plaintiff, if it was owned by them, and the demurrer to it was correctly overruled. As we have seen, the demurrer to the original complaint was never decided by the circuit court, and there is, therefore, no question as to that.

The second paragraph of the answer contains, in substance, the following allegations: that one Egbert, the predecessor in office of Gregory, the treasurer, on the 15th day of October, 1872, had in his hands the tax duplicate of said county, with the proper precept directed to him by the proper officer to collect the same; that there was assessed' against said deceased, and charged to him on said duplicate, and due [237]

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Related

McClure v. Federal Land Bank of Louisville
14 N.E.2d 101 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1938)
Kidwell v. Kidwell
84 Ind. 224 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1882)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
52 Ind. 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gregory-v-wilson-ind-1875.