Luginbyhl v. Thompson

11 S.W.2d 380, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 1060
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 18, 1928
DocketNo. 2986.
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 11 S.W.2d 380 (Luginbyhl v. Thompson) 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
Luginbyhl v. Thompson, 11 S.W.2d 380, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 1060 (Tex. Ct. App. 1928).

Opinion

JACKSON, J.

This suit was instituted in the district court of Hutchinson county, Tex., by R. Edgar Thompson, the appellee, to recover from O. W. Luginbyhl and his wife, Cleo Luginbyhl, and P. M. Luginbyhl, the appellants, the oil, gas, and mineral rights in and under the north one-half of survey No. 27, block BI-23, Texas Central Railroad Company land in Hutchinson county, Tex.

The appellee sues in trespass to try title, and also'alleges:

That on October 24, 1919, he was the owner of all of survey No. 27, block M-23, Hutchinson county, Tex., and that on said date he and O. W. Luginbyhl entered into a written contract, by the terms of which appellee agreed to convey said survey No. 27 to O. W. Luginbyhl, upon the terms and for the consideration therein expressed. That, among other things, said contract expressly provided that the title to all the oil, gas, and minerals on the north one-half of survey No. 27 were reserved, and that such reservation should be specified in the deed conveying said section 27 to O. W. Luginbyhl. . A copy of said contract is attached to appellee’s petition and made a part thereof.

That on or about July 23, 1920, in consummation of the aforesaid contract, the appel-lee made, executed, and delivered to O. W. Luginbyhl a warranty deed, which purported to convey said entire survey No. 27, and contained no provision reserving the oil, gas, and minerals on the north one-half thereof to ap-pellee, as provided in the contract. That it was the intention of the parties to convey the land in compliance with the terms and provisions of the contract, and the omission in the deed to reserve from said conveyance the oil, gas, and mineral rights in the north half of said survey was unintentional and due to the .mutual mistake on the part of appellee and O. W. Luginbyhl, and of the scrivener who drew the instrument. That such deed was executed and delivered under such mutual mistake, without notice or knowledge on the part of either party thereto. That, if ap-pellee is mistaken in the allegation that the omission from the deed was due to a mutual mistake, then he alleges that he himself was mistaken as to the contents of said instrument, and, if O. W- Luginbyhl had knowledge of such mistake at the time of the delivery of the deed, he did not mention such fact, but fraudulently concealed it from appellee. Tl\at appellee did not discover said mistake until in the month of May, 1926. That his failure to discover said mistake prior to that time was not due to negligence or a failure to exercise ordinary care in such matter. That, between the date of the contract made with O. W. Luginbyhl and the date of the deed to O. W. Luginbyhl, appellee leased the oil, gas, and mineral rights on the north half of said section 27 to Harry D. Day, for a period of ten years. That such lease was made with the knowledge and consent of O. W. Luginbyhl. That, at the time the deed was executed, the land was still under said lease, and the lessee thereunder continued to pay the rentals to appellee with the knowledge and consent of, and without objection by, O. W. Luginbyhl. That, some time during the month of May, 1926, the lease to Harry D. Day, or a large portion thereof, was forfeited for nonpayment of rentals, and appellee entered into a contract with the Gulf Production Company, to lease such forfeited portion to it. That he furnished an abstract to said purchaser, and, upon an examination thereof, he was advised by the purchaser that in the deed to O. W. Luginbyhl he had conveyed the oil, gas, and mineral rights on the north half of said section 27, and that this wai? the first notice or knowledge he had of the mistake. That he immediately called the attention of O. W. Luginbyhl to said mistake, who promised then and at various times thereafter to correct such mistake, but finally failed and refused to do so. That, immediately after appellee called the attention of O. W. Luginbyhl to the mistake in the deed of conveyance, he, joined by his wife, executed and delivered to F. Bl. Luginbyhl a purported oil and gas lease to the north half of said section No. 27, less 20 acres thereof. That F. Bl. Luginbyhl, at the time, had notice of ap-pellee’s claim to the mineral rights on and under said land, and said lease from O. W. Luginbyhl and wife to F. Bl. Luginbyhl was executed, delivered, and received with full knowledge and notice of1 appellee’s claim, and for the purpose of defrauding appellee of his rights.

That, if appellee be mistaken in alleging that F. M. Luginbyhl had notice of the claim of appellee, and took under such circumstances as to defeat appellee’s title to the minerals, then, and in such event, he asked for damages against O. W. Luginbyhl in the sum of $32,000.

Appellee sought to reform the deed to O. W. Luginbyhl, cancel the purported lease from O. W. Luginbyhl and wife to F. M. Lu-, ginbyhl, and, in the alternative, to recover damages against O. W; Luginbvhl in the sum of $32,000.

The appellants answered by general demurrer, special exceptions, general denial, pleaded that the written contract between *382 appellee and O. W. Luginbyhl had been abandoned before the execution of the deed; that appellee, by the exercise of ordinary care, could and would have discovered the mistake at the time of the execution of the deed, and the statutes of three, four, five, and ten years’ limitation, and cross-action against appellee to recover title and possession of the oil, gas, and mineral rights under the north half of said section 27, and to confirm and quiet title in O. W. Luginbyhl.

In response to special issues submitted by the court, the jury found, in effect, that it was the intention and agreement of appellee and O. W. Luginbyhl, at the time the deed was executed, that such deed should reserve the oil, gas, and mineral rights in the north half of said section 27 to appellee; that said parties unintentionally, and by mutual mistake, failed to insert in the deed the clause reserving to appellee the oil, gas, and mineral rights on said land; that appellee did not discover that the deed did not contain the reservation of the mineral rights more than four years before June 4, 1927; 'that, from all the facts and circumstances, the ap-pellee, by the. exercise of ordinary diligence, should not have discovered, .more than four years prior to June 4,1927, that said deed did not contain such reservation of the mineral rights; that the contract dated October 24, 1919, was not abandoned by appellee and O. W. Luginbyhl before the execution of the deed on July 23, 1920; that E. M. Luginbyhl did not pay valuable consideration for the oil and gas lease from O'. W. Luginbyhl, and that, at the time of the execution of the lease from O. W. Luginbyhl and wife to him, E. M. Luginbyhl had notice that appellee was claiming the mineral interest in said land; that the reasonable market value of the land leased by O. W. Luginbyhl to E. M. Lugin-byhl was $25 per acre.

Upon these findings the court decreed that the deed from appellee to O. W. Luginbyhl be reformed, as prayed for, reserving to ap-pellee the oil, gas, and mineral rights to the north half of said section 27, and that the lease from O. W. Luginbyhl to E. M. Lugin-byhl be canceled, and that appellants take nothing by reason of their cross-action, from which judgment this appeal is prosecuted.

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11 S.W.2d 380, 1928 Tex. App. LEXIS 1060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/luginbyhl-v-thompson-texapp-1928.