Holleman v. Cushing

1921 OK 444, 202 P. 1029, 84 Okla. 156, 1921 Okla. LEXIS 418
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 20, 1921
Docket10395
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 1921 OK 444 (Holleman v. Cushing) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Holleman v. Cushing, 1921 OK 444, 202 P. 1029, 84 Okla. 156, 1921 Okla. LEXIS 418 (Okla. 1921).

Opinion

NICHOLSON. J.

This action was brought in the district court of Haskell county by Francis J. Cushing, as' plaintiff, against W. M. Shelton. Sarah Shelton, J. B. Holle-man, Sue Holleman, W. E- Tirey, and L. C. Tirey, as defendants, to recover the sum of ¡¡¡l .191.63, with interest thereon, upon a promissory note executed and delivered by the defendants W. M. Shelton and Sarah Shelton to Samuel H. Graves, and for the foreclosure of a mortgage given to secure the payment of said note and covering certain lands in Haskell county. .The petition is in the usual form in foreclosure suits, ánd alleged that the defendants W. M. Shelton and Sarah Shelton were, on October 7, 1909, the owners of the real estate described; alleged the execution of the note and mortgage by -them, and that said note had been indorsed and said mortgage assigned to the plaintiff by said Samuel H. Graves; that said note was past due, and remained unpaid; that the defendants J. B. Holleman, Sue Holleman, W. E. Tirey, and L. C. Tirey each claimed some right, title, or interest in and to said real estate adverse to the lien of the plaintiff, but such right, title, or interest of said defendants, if any, was junior and inferior to the lien of the plaintiff; and prayed for a personal judgment against W. M. Shelton and Sarah Shelton and for foreclosure of said mortgage against all of said defendants.

The defendant L. C. Tirey filed a disclaimer, and the defendants W. E. Ti'rey and J. B. Holleman filed separate answers denying the allegation of plaintiff’s petition; Tirey pleading a «mortgage from Holleman to him, and Holleman pleading the invalidity of plaintiff’s mortgage because the makers thereof were without title or interest in the lands described. The Sheltons did not answer, but made default.

The record discloses that the land involved was allotted to Elias Darneal, a Choctaw citizen of one-fourth Indian blood, and that patent was issued to him on October 27, 1903; that on July 28, 1908, Elias Darneal and wife' conveyed said land by warranty deed to the defendant L. O. Tirey; that on August 7, 1908, L. C. Tirey and wife conveyed said land by warranty deed to the defendant W. M. Shelton; that on October 7, 1909, Shelton and wife executed the mortgage sought to be foreclosed. The record further discloses that on January 26, 1912, Elias Darneal executed and delivered to J. W. Frederick and A. C. King a warranty deed conveying an undivided one-half of 330 acres of land, including the land involved, and on May 14, 1912, Elias Darneal and *157 wife executed to A. 0. King and J. W. Frederick another warranty deed conveying said 330 acres of land, and on the same day executed to the defendant Holleman a warranty deed conveying an undivided one-half of said land; that on February 25, 1913, Dar-neal and wife executed to tne defendant L. 0. Tirey a quitclaim deed conveying to him the land involved, together with other lands.

It further appears that on the 6th day of December, 1910, in an action then pending in the district court of Haskell county wherein Elias Darneal, an infant under the age of 21 years, who sued by his guardian, was plaintiff and L. O. Tirey and others were defendants, judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant L. 0. Tirey, declaring the deed executed to Tirey on July 28, 1908, void, but awarding him judgment against the plaintiff for $1,210, the value of improvements placed upon the land by the defendant Tirey. Samuel H. Graves and W. M. Shelton were named in the caption of the petition as defendants in this action, but service of summons was not had upon either of them and no appearance made by them and judgment was not rendered against them.

It further appears that on Juno 19, 1913, Elias Darneal and wife executed to Ralph T. Hemphill a warranty deed purporting to convey 330 acres of land, including the land in controversy, and that afterwards, by various conveyances to him, the defendant J. B. Holleman acquired the interest of J. W. Frederick, A. O. King, and Ralph T. Hemp-hill in said land.

It further appears that on the 26th day of February, 1914, L. O. Tirey obtained judgment in the district court of Haskell county against J. W. Frederick, A. 0. King, J. B. Holleman, and Ralph T. Hemphill canceling the deeds executed to them by Darneal, and quieting the title to said land in him, and that on June 19, 1914, said L. 0. Tirey conveyed said land by quitclaim deed to the defendant J. B. Holleman.

The plaintiff, Francis J. Cushing, having died, the cause was revived in the name of Ada T. Cushing, executrix of his estate, and the court rendered judgment in her favor, and against said defendants, foreclosing said mortgage, to reverse which this proceeding in error is brought.

The plaintiff in error urges three grounds for reversal: First, that the rules of pleading, evidence, and the burden of proof in this ease, as between plaintiff and defendant, are the same as in an ejectment action, and that as plaintiff alleged that W. M. Shelton and Sarah 'Shelton were the owners and in possession of the real estate involved, it was necessary to prove this allegation, and that she failed in this proof; second, that the deed from L. C. Tirey and wife to W. M. Shelton was- illegal, against public policy, and void, and that the covenants thereof cannot be validated by the doctrine of relation and estoppel by covenant of warranty so as to make applicable the rule with reference to after-acquired title; and, third, that the allottee’s deed to the defendant Holleman and his grantors, Frederick and King, was not ehampertous and void. The second deed of the allottee to Tirey conveyed nothing to Tirey, because title had already been conveyed by the allottee.

We will consider the first and second propositions together. It is the contention of plaintiff in error that the deed from Tirey to Shelton and the mortgage from Shelton to plaintiff are void and amount to nothing, because they are attempted conveyances of Indian lands while the restriction upon alienation thereof still remains.

If it were sought' to apply the doctrine of relation and estoppel as against -the allot-tee, Darneal, there would be merit in this contention, and the authorities cited would apply; but the allottee is not a party to this suit, and his interests are in no manner involved, nor his conveyance questioned. He has parted with the title to the lands and is not interested in the result of this suit. We are unable to see any reason why the deed from Tirey to Shelton and the mortgage from Shelton to Graves are illegal or against public policy, and we are not advised of any obstacle preventing the conveyance by them. Neither of them was laboring under any disability; they are both white men over the age of 21 years, and no reason is assigned why they were incapable of executing the deed and mortgage and being bound thereby.

The question to be determined is whether, under the facts disclosed, the title acquired by Tirey by the deed from Darneal and wife of date of February 25, 1913, inured' to 'the benefit of the plaintiff through Shelton, the grantee in the deed from Tirey of date August 7, 1908. This deed contains the following covenant;

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Bluebook (online)
1921 OK 444, 202 P. 1029, 84 Okla. 156, 1921 Okla. LEXIS 418, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holleman-v-cushing-okla-1921.