Jackson v. Cole

226 S.W. 513, 146 Ark. 565, 1920 Ark. LEXIS 561
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 20, 1920
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 226 S.W. 513 (Jackson v. Cole) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson v. Cole, 226 S.W. 513, 146 Ark. 565, 1920 Ark. LEXIS 561 (Ark. 1920).

Opinions

Smith, J.

Suits in ejectment were brought by appellants to recover an undivided half interest in a forty-acre tract of land and an eighty-acre tract of land. The cases were consolidated in the court below, and are here on one appeal. The plaintiffs in the suits are the heirs at law of J. R. Jackson, who died August 5, 1881; and the defendants are the daughters of Isaiah Jackson, who died in November, 1909. J. R. and Isaiah were brothers, as was also R. Jackson, who died in 1917.

About 1869 Isaiah Jackson moved on to certain lands, which the witnesses referred to as the railroad lands, from the fact that the title thereto was acquired from a railroad company. These railroad lands adjoin the land in suit, and possession of both tracts was taken by Isaiah Jackson at about the same time. The lands in controversy were not entered from the State until 1874, in which year J. R. and R. Jackson obtained a patent from the State. On January 2, 1897, R. Jackson executed a warranty deed to Isaiah Jackson for the land in controversy. The deed purported to convey the whole title. On July 31, 1906, Isaiah Jackson conveyed to his daughter, Alice, forty acres of the land by warranty deed, which declared it the intention of the grantor ‘ ‘ to grant to the said Alice Cole a life-estate, with remainder over to her heirs.” A similar deed was made on the same day to Nellie Rowe for the eighty-acre tract. The plaintiff, Jennie Penny, was born September 26, 1862, and was married to John Penny February 3, 1879, who died April 7, 1916. The plaintiffs, Carroll and Mildred Huff, were children of Lelia Huff, daughter of J. R. Jackson. They are twins and were born July 16, 1897. Their mother died January 14,1899. The suit was begun in June, 1919, and resulted in a verdict and judgment for the defendants

Two defenses were interposed. One was that Isaiah Jackson exchanged the lands in suit with his brother for other lands which lie owned. The second was that the title had been acquired by limitation. It is conceded that the question of the exchange of lands was properly submitted to the jury, and it need not, therefore, be further considered. The verdict of the jury on this question would have been decisive of tire case, had the case been submitted on that question alone; but over the objection of the plaintiffs the court gave an instruction numbered 4, which reads as follows: “If you find and believe from the evidence that Isaiah Jackson, the ancestor of the defendant, went into possession of the lands in question in the year 1869, or thereabout, continued to reside upon said lands until'the time of his death, made improvements thereon, by way of building houses, outhouses, clearing and fencing the lands, and any other improvements, and paid the taxes thereon, and in the year 1906 conveyed a portion of the lands to his daughter, Mrs. Cole, and the remainder to his daughter, Mrs. Rowe, who occupied the lands after- the death of their father as their homestead, and they, or their husbands for them, have paid the taxes on said lands continuously since receiving their deeds to the lands, and made substantial improvements upon the lands, and these facts were known to plaintiffs at all times, and they were aware of what was being done by Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Rowe, and asserted no claim to any interest in the lands, then you will find for the defendants.”

The correctness of this instruction presents the real question in the case, as it is contended by appellants, and virtually admitted by appellees, that it directed a verdict for the defendants, the facts there hypothetically stated being undisputed.

.The insistence is that Isaiah Jackson’s entry was permissive, and his subsequent holding was as tenant at will until 1897, when, by the conveyance to him from R. Jackson, he became a tenant in common with the heirs of J. R. Jackson, and that thereafter his holding never became-adverse to these heirs — as cotenants — and that if there was' any question on this score it was one o-f fact, which should have been submitted to the jury.

Leaving out of account the question of the exchange of the lands — for the purpose of this discussion-Ut may be admitted that R. Jackson had the paper title to only an undivided half interest in the lands he conveyed, but he undertook to convey the whole title, and the conveyance was by warranty deed. Three years later Isaiah Jackson conveyed to the defendants the whole title. That conveyance was by warranty deed, and the estate conveyed— a life-estate, with remainder over — clearly indicates that grantor and grantee intended to pass, and receive, the whole title.

The instruction complained of required that there had been actual and continuous possession for a period of fifty years (1869-1919); that a conveyance had been made to the defendants thirteen years before the institution of _the suit; that these grantees had occupied the lands continuously since as their homestead, and had improved the same, and paid the taxes thereon; and that all these facts were known to the plaintiffs, during all of which time they asserted no claim or interest in the land. The testimony shows that these things were true, and that the defendants were 43 and 41 years old, respectively, and both were born on this farm, and had lived there practically all their lives, and from their earliest recollection their father had always owned, and claimed to own, the land, and that they had owned, and claimed, their respective portions from the date of their father’s deed. Under these circumstances it was not error to give the instruction set out above, except as to the plaintiff, Carrol Huff, for the reason hereinafter stated.

The excellent briefs in the case collect many of our cases dealing with the conditions under which one tenant in common may hold adversely against his cotenant and acquire the title by adverse possession. We will not review those cases, as the law of the subject is well defined.

In the case of Parsons v. Sharpe, 102 Ark. 615, we said: ‘ ‘ The rule sustained by the overwhelming weight of authority with reference to conveyances by one or more cotenants to a stranger, and the character of possession taken thereunder, is correctly stated as follows: ‘The conveyance by one cotenant of the entire estate gives color of title; and if possession is taken, and the grantee claims title to the whole, it amounts to an ouster of the cotenants, and the possession of the grantee is adverse to them.’ 1 Am. & Eng. Enc. of Law (2 ed.), p. 806, and numerous authorities there cited.

“That rule was recognized by this court in Brown v. Bocquin, 57 Ark. 97.

‘ ‘ On the other hand, the principle is well settled that where a conveyance is executed to a stranger by one tenant in common, purporting to convey only his undivided interest, he becomes a tenant in common with the other tenant (17 Am. & Eng. Enc. of Law (2 ed.), p. 661); and, in order to constitute an ouster, ‘the tenant out of possession must have actual notice of the adverse holding or the hostile character of the possession must be so openly manifest that notice on his part will be presumed.’ 1 Am. & Eng. Enc. of Law (2 ed.), p. 805.”

The cases appearing in this quotation were cited and approved in the later case of Wilson v. Storthz, 117 Ark. 14. See, also, Brashear v. Taylor, 109 Ark. 281; McKneely v. Terry, 61 Ark. 527; Cocks v. Simmons, 55 Ark. 104; Brewer v. Keeler, 42 Ark. 289.

It is the law, as was stated in the case of Wilson v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Mitchell v. Hammons
792 S.W.2d 333 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1990)
Welder v. Wiggs
790 S.W.2d 913 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1990)
Watkins v. Johnson
372 S.W.2d 243 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1963)
Fee v. Leatherwood
340 S.W.2d 397 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1960)
Ulrich v. Coleman
235 S.W.2d 868 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1951)
Gibbs v. Pace
179 S.W.2d 690 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1944)
Bowers v. Rightsell
294 S.W. 21 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1927)
Su Lee v. Peck
240 P. 435 (Nevada Supreme Court, 1925)
Beattie v. McKinney
254 S.W. 338 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1923)
Patterson v. Miller
241 S.W. 875 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1922)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
226 S.W. 513, 146 Ark. 565, 1920 Ark. LEXIS 561, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-cole-ark-1920.