Himmelberger-Harrison Lumber Co. v. Keener

117 S.W. 42, 217 Mo. 522, 1909 Mo. LEXIS 290
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedMarch 9, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 117 S.W. 42 (Himmelberger-Harrison Lumber Co. v. Keener) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Himmelberger-Harrison Lumber Co. v. Keener, 117 S.W. 42, 217 Mo. 522, 1909 Mo. LEXIS 290 (Mo. 1909).

Opinion

GANTT, P. J.

This is a suit to quiet title to four hundred and eighty acres of land situated in Stoddard county, Missouri.

In its petition tbe plaintiff asserts ownership in this land and open, notorious, hostile, continuous and adverse possession of it under a bona-fide claim of title for more than ten years prior to tbe bringing of this suit and states that during all that time it and its grantors exercised all tbe acts of ownership and dominion over said land of which it was susceptible.

Tbe defendants are tbe children and heirs at law of J ames Keener, deceased, and in their answer denied plaintiff’s title and possession in and to tbe lands described, and aver ownership’ of tbe said lands in James Keener up to tbe time of bis death in June, 1892, and 'their right to tbe said lands by reason of descent as children and heirs at law of said James Keener.

On tbe trial it was agreed that James Keener was tbe common source of title. Tbe plaintiff then offered a [525]*525sheriff’s deed from N. M. Cobh, sheriff of Stoddard county, to William P. Renner, dated September 15, 1885, and recorded September 22, 1885, conveying the lands in controversy to satisfy a judgment for taxes ■against said land for the year 1882. The defendants objected to thelntroduction of this deed, for the reason that they insisted that the judgment under which it was rendered was void, the defendant being a non-resident and there was no affidavit that the defendant was a non-resident of the State of Missouri or had absconded or had absented himself from his usual place of abode in this State; that there was no affidavit justifying the order of publication and the affidavit did not allege that ordinary process of law could not be served upon birri in this State, and the notice to the defendant was not published for four weeks but only for four times, or twenty-one days instead of twenty-eight days; and for the further reason that there was no order of .record in the case or otherwise authorizing the publication and the clerk had no authority to make the order of publication. The court admitted the deed in evidence subject to the objections. Among these objections, the chief reason assigned, and the one finally sustained by- the trial court, was that the clerk of the circuit court of Stoddard county had no authority to issue an order of publication at the time' this order of publication was issued, to-wit, on June 12, 1884. The defendant contended that the circuit court of Stoddard county was in session on that date and the clerk was only authorized to issue orders of publication in the vacation of the court. In support of these objections, the defendants offered the following testimony: First, the order of publication made by the clerk oh the 12th day of June, 1884, which was in the ordinary and usual form of such orders made by clerks in the vacation of the court. Second, the affidavit of C. L. Keaton, the attorney for the collector in the tax suit, which was in the following words:

[526]*526‘ ‘ The State of Missouri at the relation and to the use of William C. ITarty, Collector of the Revenue of Stoddard county, State of Missouri, vs. James Keener, Defendant.
“Before Moses Harvey, a Justice of' the Peace for Stoddard county, Missouri.
“C. L. Keaton, attorney for and in behalf of the above-named plaintiff, makes oath and says, that the above-named defendant in the above-entitled cause is a non-resident and does not reside in'the State of Missouri. C. L. Keaton.
‘ ‘ Subscribed and sworn to before me this 4th day of June, 1884.
“My term of office expires January 12th, 1887.
“Emil M. Weber, Notary Public.”
This affidavit was endorsed as follows:
“State of Missouri vs. James Keener, Piled June 12th, 1884.
“C. H. Barham, Clerk.
“Piled June 4th, 1884.
“Moses Harvey, Justice of the Peace.”

Third, the proof of the publication was attested by the affidavit of the publisher of the newspaper and showed that it was published as follows: The first insertion, June 14, 1884; the second, June 21, 1884; the third, June 28, 1884, and the fourth, July 5, 1884. Defendant then introduced Thomas H. Ezell who testified he was clerk of the circuit court and the custodian of the records of the said court, and that the records of the said court which he produced in evidence showed that the said court by its order adjourned the March term, 1884, on March 20th to June 16, 1884, on which day it met again. The sheriff’s deed was in the ordinary form of a sheriff’s deed and recited that on the 17th day of December, 1884, judgment was rendered •in the circuit court of Stoddard county in favor of the [527]*527State of Missouri at the relation and to the use of William O. Harty, collector of the revenue of Stoddard county, for the State of Missouri, and against James Keener, for the sum of $12.55 for certain delinquent state, county and special taxes and interest assessed and found by the said court to be due and unpaid, upon the south-east quarter and west half of section 33, township 25, range 11, and that said taxes and interest found due upon said real estate for the year 1882 amounted to $12.55, and certain costs which had been taxed at $23.75, which were declared a lien in favor of the State of Missouri upon the said above-described tracts. And then recited the issue of a special execution, the receipt of the same by the sheriff and his levy upon said real estate and his sale of the same at public vendue, and that William P. Renner was the highest and best bidder for the same at and for the price and sum of $32 in consideration of which he sold, transferred and conveyed the same to the said Renner. This deed was duly acknowledged in open court and recorded.

The plaintiff then offered in evidence other conveyances regular in form down to the plaintiff, and then offered in evidence also testimony tending to prove title in plaintiff by adverse possession for more than ten years prior to the bringing of this suit.

As indicating the court’s view of the law upon the facts, the court gave the following two instructions:

“1. The court declares the law to be that plaintiff has not adduced any evidence in this cause to justify a finding for plaintiff to title to the lands in controversy by adverse possession and the finding will be for the defendants.
“2. That if the court finds and believes from the evidence in the cause that on the 20th day of March, 1884, the circuit of Stoddard county, Missouri, was adjourned to sit again on the 16th day of June, 1884, and [528]*528said adjournment was not a final adjournment of the March term, 1884, of said court until the next regular term in course, but was merely an adjournment of said March term, 1884, until a fixed date on which said March term continued to be held until the 17th day of June, 1884, on which date said term was adjourned until court in course, and that on the 12th day of June, 1884, and pending the temporary adjournment of said March term, 1884, the clerk of said court issued an order of publication against one James Keener in a cause entitled, £ The State of Missouri, to the use of W. O. Ilarty vs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
117 S.W. 42, 217 Mo. 522, 1909 Mo. LEXIS 290, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/himmelberger-harrison-lumber-co-v-keener-mo-1909.