Greif Bros. Cooperage Corp. v. United States Gypsum Co.

341 F.2d 167
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 9, 1965
DocketNos. 17569, 17570
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 341 F.2d 167 (Greif Bros. Cooperage Corp. v. United States Gypsum Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Greif Bros. Cooperage Corp. v. United States Gypsum Co., 341 F.2d 167 (8th Cir. 1965).

Opinion

MEHAFFY, Circuit Judge.

United States Gypsum Company brought this action against the Greif Bros. Cooperage Corporation in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas to quiet title to separate tracts of land in Desha County, Arkansas and for damage by trespass for the removal of timber from one of the tracts.

The two, noncontiguous tracts of land in dispute are located near the bank of the Mississippi River in areas designated by the last Government Survey of 1846 as Sections Twenty-Two (22) and Twenty-Three (23), Township Eleven South (T 11 S), Range One West (R 1 W), respectively.

The District Court found for Greif Bros, as to the tract in Section 22 and for Gypsum as to the tract in Section 23. Each party has appealed from that part of the decree adverse to it.

Jurisdiction is established by diversity of citizenship and the amount involved.

Because the legal issues differ with respect to each tract, we will separately discuss the parties’ adverse claims of ownership.

SECTION 23 TRACT

The Government Survey of 1846 shows that most of the north half of Section 23 and the fractional northeast corner of the southwest quarter of Section 23 were originally underwater and formed a part of a bed of a meandered lake, known as Long Lake. All of the disputed tract in Section 23 became land in place by the processes of accretion and reliction when the lake’s waters completely receded many years prior to 1939. The particular area in controversy may be termed as the proportional division of the accretions riparian to the southwest quarter, extending northeasterly into the north half of Section 23. ,

In 1951, Gypsum by a single conveyance from one Lulu B. Zellner obtained numerous tracts of land in several different sections. This grant included a warranty deed to the “Frl. NW% of Section 23” and a quitclaim deed to the “NE}4 of Section 23.” ,

Lulu B. Zellner, Gypsum’s grantor, derived her chain of title to these lands by a will from her husband, A. C. Zellner, who died on July 29, 1944, and by conveyances thereafter from the remaining heirs of the original owner, B. C. Zellner, who had died intestate on June 1, 1922. Mrs. Zellner acquired the last of these conveyances vesting in her fee simple title to the lands of the B. C. Zellner Estate on August 29, 1945.

Greif Bros, by warranty deed dated August 16, 1940 acquired title to the “Fractional Southwest Quarter (SW%) of Section Twenty-Three (23), * * * together will all accretions, relictions, and additions, thereto belonging” from its grantor, Arkamiss Timber Co.1

[170]*170In the trial of the instant case to the coürt below, the District Judge admitted into evidence certain records, a map, and correspondence from the files of deceased Desha County Surveyor, Ike Bankston. These exhibits indicated that Mrs. Zellner in December of 1947 had employed Bankston to perform a joint survey with a surveyor of Greif Bros, to establish the boundaries of her lands, some years subsequent to a 1940 conveyance by herself and her husband on behalf of the heirs of B. O. Zellner to Greif Bros.

1 Following an appraisal of the findings of this survey, Mrs. Zellner informed Bankston by letter that although she knew the 1940 deed did not convey to Greif Bros, any part of Section 23, “I know they own the SW% of Section 23.” However, she was unwilling to accept those boundaries in Bankston’s map which illustrated the accretions to the SW^ of Section 23 extending into the N% as belonging to Greif Bros. Bankston’s written reply insisted that Greif Bros, obtained ownership of a proportionate share of the accretions from Long Lake riparian to its SW^, of Section 23 under Arkansas law.

Greif Bros.’ argument is that having acquired ownership of the disputed accretions as the riparian landowner, it maintained entitlement thereto by the timely payment of taxes on the riparian land assessed as the “Frl. SW%- & Acer., Sec. 23” since 1942. It contends these payments prevented any divestment of title by Gypsum for payment of taxes on the same land by itself and its predecessors in title for fifteen years pursuant to a different assessment and description under Ark.Stats.Ann. §§ 37-102, 37-103. Greif Bros, also maintained that the Bankston exhibits would estop Mrs. Zellner, and likewise her successor in title, Gypsum, from claiming any of the accretions shown to be riparian to lands concededly not owned.

While, on the other hand, Gypsum urged in support of its claim of title that it had paid taxes on this unsurveyed tract of land formed by accretion and reliction according to the only valid tax description, “NWÍ4 Section 23 and NE% Section 23,” which is based on an extension of the existing lines of the Government Survey of 1846.

The District Court found as fact that:

(1) All of the area in Section 23 was shown as the bed of a meandered lake and platted as such on the General Land Office Plat of Survey on December 23, 1846;

(2) By recession of the water in the lake, the area in controversy arose from the bed of the lake and by such processes of accretion and reliction and the gradual recession of the water became land in place many years -prior to 1939;

(3) All of said controversial area was from the time it arose from the lake bed and continued to be wild, unimproved, unenclosed and unoccupied timber land;

(4) At least since 1936 the area in controversy had been separately assessed for taxation by county officials under descriptions Frl. Northwest Quarter (NW^) Section Twenty-Three (23) and Northeast Quarter (NEt4) Section Twenty-Three (23);

(5) The area in controversy would be properly described if the lines of the public survey be extended as lying within the Northwest Quarter of Section 23 and the Northeast Quarter of Section 23; and

(6) Gypsum and its predecessor in title paid taxes on this description in unbroken sequence for the years 1945 to 1959, inclusive.

[171]*171The District Court concluded that Gypsum was invested with title by operation of the aforecited Arkansas statutes which make payment of taxes under color of title equivalent to adverse possession.2

Our duty as a federal appellate tribunal when asked to review a matter of local state law in a diversity case is limited to determining whether or not the District Court in its findings made permissible interpretations of the applicable state law. James Talcott, Inc. v. Associates Discount Corp., 302 F.2d 443, 449 (8th Cir. 1962); Anderson-Tully Co. v. Chicago Mill & Lumber Co., 175 F.2d 735, 736 (8th Cir. 1949); Anderson-Tully Co. v. Murphree, 153 F.2d 874, 877 (8th Cir. 1946).

We have previously recognized that under Arkansas law for a claimant to prevail in an action to quiet title, he must prove and rely wholly upon the superior strength of his chain of title and cannot depend his recovery upon a showing of a defect or weakness in the title of an adversary. Bryant v. Chicago Mill & Lumber Co., 216 F.2d 727 (8th Cir. 1954) ; Anderson-Tully Co. v. Murphree, supra.

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341 F.2d 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greif-bros-cooperage-corp-v-united-states-gypsum-co-ca8-1965.