Henderson v. Stone

95 S.W.2d 772, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 699
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 18, 1936
DocketNo. 4970.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 95 S.W.2d 772 (Henderson v. Stone) 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
Henderson v. Stone, 95 S.W.2d 772, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 699 (Tex. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

HALL, Justice.

C. L. Plenderson as next friend and guardian of Martha L. Payne, a non compos mentis, hereinafter referred to simply as appellant, instituted this suit in trespass to try title in the district court of Rusk county against appellees, alleging that Martha L. Payne was the owner of a one-third undivided interest in a certain 50-acre tract of land, a part of the Prue PI. R. survey in Rusk county, Tex. Appellant alleged that Martha L. Payne inherited her interest in the land in controversy from her great-grandfather, Jedidiah Blackwell, and that she was a tenant in common with appellee Samp Stone who owned a two-thirds undivided interest in said laud, and his immediate and remote grantees and lessees. Appellant sought, in addition to title and possession of an’undivided one-third interest in the land in controversy, an accounting from appellees for oil recovered and sold from said land. Appellees answered by general denial, plea of not guilty, and specially pleaded the three, four, five, ten and twenty-five years’ statutes 'of limitation, and some of the appellees, lessees, and grantees of appellee Stone, pleaded improvements in good faith.

The record reveals that Jedidiah Blackwell purchased the land in controversy in 1852, and held the same until his death in 1874. By the will of Jedidiah Blackwell a certain' 310-acre tract of land, of which the land in controversy is a part, was given to his wife, Nancy Blackwell, for her life, with remainder to his, Blackwell’s, heirs. Jasper L. Blackwell, a son of Jedidiah Blackwell, was named in the will as executor and he qualified and acted as such, and on May 5, 1874, turned over to Nancy Blackwell, his mother, the 310 acres of land given- to her by the will for life. On December 28, 1877, Nancy Blackwell conveyed this 310 acres to her son Jasper L. Blackwell, after which he claimed title to the land. Nancy Blackwell died in 1879. In 1889 Jasper L. Blackwell, upon application of heirs of Jedidiah Blackwell, filed his final account as executor in. the county court of Rusk county and asked to be discharged. Quoting from the opinion of the Supreme Court in the case of Blackwell v. Blackwell, 86 Tex. 207, 24 S.W. 389, involving this estate : “This account was contested by the heirs because he did not include in his report the land in question [the 310 acres]. Upon hearing, the county court disapproved the account, and ordered that the land be distributed among the heirs, and that the executor account for the rents.” The executor appealed to the district court where his account was approved, the district court holding that the county court did not have authority to try the title to the land between the executor and the heirs. An appeal was taken to the Court of Civil Appeals and the *774 judgment of the district court was there affirmed. 23 S.W. 31. The cause was then taken to the Supreme Court on writ of error and the judgments of the district court and of the Court of Civil Appeals were reversed and the cause remanded to the district court with instructions “to try the cause de novo, and to partition the lands among the heirs according to their several rights.”

Martha L. Payne was the daughter of a deceased son of Jane Edge, deceased, who was a daughter of Jedidiah Blackwell:

On March 28, 1917, the property in controversy was conveyed to appellee Samp Stone by J. D. Edge and others. It is stated in the record that J. D. Edge is the same person as A. J. Edge. It appears further from the record that in 1911 Martha L. Payne was adjudged insane in Scott county, Ark., and since said date, with the exception of a few days in 1925, has been confined in an insane asylum at Little Rock, Ark.

This case was tried to a jury, and on motion of appellees the jury was instructed to return a verdict for them. Judgment was rendered accordingly for appellees, and appellant has appealed to this court.

Numerous assignments of error and propositions based thereon are brought forward, but we shall discuss those propositions only having to do with the effect of the judgment of partition and the order confirming the report of the commissioners of the district court of Rusk county made and entered in obedience to the mandate of the Supreme Court in the case of Blackwell v. Blackwell, supra. The opinion of the Supreme Court in that case enjoined upon the district court of Rusk county the duty of: (1) Determining who were the heirs of-Jedidiah Blackwell entitled to inherit under his will and the proportionate part of his estate each heir was entitled to receive; and (2) the actual partition' of said estate. The part of the judgment of partition dated August 11, 1894, pertinent here is:

“Saturday 32nd day — July Term August 11th, A. D. 1894.
“Estate of Jediah Blackwell, Dec’d.
“No. 1179.
“This cause coming on to be heard on the report for final settlement filed herein August 30th, 1890, by Jasper L. Blackwell, executor and the exception thereto reporter appears in person and by counsel and the minor and non-resident heirs and legatees appeared by their guardian ad litem and attorney, J. H. Turner, appointed by the Court, heretofore to represent them, and
after hearing the evidence and argument of counsel, it is the opinion of the court that said report is incomplete and is recast as follows:
“It is adjudged by the court that Jasper L. Blackwell as executor has in his possession the following property belonging to the Estate of Jediah Blackwell, one tract of land, willed by said Jediah Blackwell to his wife, Nancy Blackwell for life, (and it is found that said Nancy departed this life in October, 1879) consisting of three hundred and ten acres described as follows: (Description of property omitted here.)
“The parties entitled to receive said Estate are:
“1st: The heirs of Rebecca Anderson, Nancy Berabie and B. A. Anderson & W. C. Anderson, who are entitled to 3/4 of 1/11 of said Estate; and S. M. West, J. E. West & B. C. West, who are entitled to 1/4 of 1/11 of said estate, all of whom reside in Gilmer County, Georgia.
“2nd: The heirs of Jessie Blackwell; Horton Blackwell & Sula Blackwell who are entitled to 2/3 of 1/11 of said estate & Georgia Meadows, Marry Meadows, & Alice Meadows, are entitled to 1/3 and 1/11 of the said estate, Hall County, Georgia.
“3rd: The heirs of Elizabeth Edge, not known, Walker County, Georgia.
“4th: The heirs of H. W. Blackwell; Robt. Blackwell, Hall County, Georgia; Jasper, Giles & Wiley Blackwell who are entitled to 4/5 of 1/11 of said Estate and 1/2 of 1/5 of 1/11 of said Estate & Mary Blackwell who is entitled to 1/2 of 1/5 of 1/11 of said estate.
“5th: The heirs of Elizabeth Thompson dec’d: Teresa Wood, Pauline Hamilton, Semantha Hall, Emma. Tucker & S. A. Thompson who are entitled to 1/11 of said Estate.
“6th: The heirs of Jno. Blackwell, Dec’d: James, Jessie & A. J. Blackwell, who are entitled to 1/11 of said Estate.
“7th: The heirs of Jane Edge, dec’d: A. J. Edge & Elizabeth Green who are entitled to 1/11 of said estate.
"8th: Sarah Garvin, Hopkins Co., Texas.

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Bluebook (online)
95 S.W.2d 772, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 699, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henderson-v-stone-texapp-1936.