Macy v. Wood

97 N.E. 553, 49 Ind. App. 469, 1912 Ind. App. LEXIS 193
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 20, 1912
DocketNo. 7,510
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 97 N.E. 553 (Macy v. Wood) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Macy v. Wood, 97 N.E. 553, 49 Ind. App. 469, 1912 Ind. App. LEXIS 193 (Ind. Ct. App. 1912).

Opinion

Adams, J.

This action was originally instituted by Orla A. Macy against appellee Rebecca Wood and her husband, to enjoin a threatened trespass. Upon motion of appellee Rebecca Wood, appellant was made a party defendant, whereupon said appellee filed a cross-complaint against appellant and said Orla A. Macy, alleging that she is the owner in fee simple of the following described lands in Randolph county; Indiana: “Eighteen acres off the south end of forty acres off of the north end of the east half of the southeast quarter of section one, township twenty-one north, range thirteen east,” and asking that her title thereto be quieted. This cross-complaint was filed May 8, 1907, and was put at issue by an answer in denial. On June 17, 1907, appellant filed his cross-complaint against said appellee and her husband, alleging that he is the owner of twenty-five and thirty-two hundredths acres of land, described as “beginning at the northwest corner of the east half of the southeast quarter of said section one, and running thence east 1,350.1 feet; thence south 821.5 feet; thence west 1,351 feet; thence north 811.2 feet to the place of beginning,” and asking that his title in and to said tract described be quieted as against said appellee and her husband. Appellant also [471]*471filed a second paragraph, of eross-complaint, which is the same as the first, except that the chain of title is set out in detail. A demurrer to the second paragraph was overruled, and the cross-complaint of appellant was put at issue by a general denial.

Upon request, the court found the following facts: In 1853 'William Leach was the owner in fee simple of the east half of the southeast quarter of section one, township twenty-one north, range thirteen east, in Randolph county, Indiana, containing seventy-four and sixty-one hundredth acres, more or less; that by deeds of general warranty Leach conveyed to Joseph Butterworth forty acres, more or less, off the north end of said east half and to George W. Phillips thirty-four and fifty hundredths acres off the south end of said east half; that upon the execution of said deeds Butter-worth entered into full possession of the following part of said east half, claiming to own it under and by virtue of said deed: “Commencing at the northwest corner of said east half, and running from thence south along the quarter section line 1,403.1 feet; thence eastwardly to a point on the east line of said section 1,415.5 feet south of the northeast corner of said east half; thence north along said section line to said northeast corner; thence west along the half section line, 1,350.2 feet to the place of beginning, containing forty-three and seventy-one hundredths acres;” that at the same time Phillips entered into full possession of the remaining part of said east half; that in the same year or the following year Butterworth and Phillips jointly constructed a fence on the south line of the land specifically described herein as occupied by Butterworth, believing said line to be the true line separating their respective lands, and that Butterworth and Phillips, and their successors in title for more than twenty years thereafter, acquiesced in said line as the true line, and that the fence still stands as originally located and constructed.

It is also found that in subsequent conveyances said tract [472]*472of land was described as “forty acres off of the north end of the east half of the southeast quarter,” etc.; that in 1888 the Randolph Circuit Court ordered and confirmed a partition of said real estate among the heirs of Mary Butterworth, who died the owner thereof, wherein there was set off to Charles Butterworth “eighteen acres off of the south end of said forty acres off of the north end of the east half,” etc.; that in the spring of 1889, Charles Butterworth, on his own motion, without objection from, in the absence of, and without any agreement with, the adjoining owners, and for the purpose of laying off and locating his said eighteen acres, commencing at the east and west ends of the old Phillips fence, and by means of a pole and tape, measured from thence north a distance of thirty-six rods as accurately as he could make such measurements, and that said Butterworth at said time, on his own motion, without any objection from or agreement with the adjoining owners, built a fence on the line so ascertained by him, which in fact included eighteen and thirty-nine hundredths acres of land, leaving twenty-five and thirty-two hundredths acres north of said fence.

It is further found that the land so set off to Charles Butterworth was subsequently conveyed and described as " eighteen acres off of the south end of a forty-acre tract off of the north end of the east half of the southeast quarter, etc., being the same land inherited by said Butterworth from his mother, and set off to him in partition;” that on September 14, 1889, said real estate was conveyed by Charles Butterworth and his wife by warranty deed to appellee Rebecca Wood, and was described as “eighteen acres of land off of the south end of a forty-acre tract of land off of the north end of the east half of the southeast quarter, etc., being the same land set off to said Butterworth in partition;” that at the time of the conveyance, Charles Butterworth informed said appellee that said tract had never been surveyed, and that the north line thereof had never been located by a sur[473]*473vey; that said appellee, upon the execution of said conveyance, entered into possession of the tract bounded on the north by the Butterworth fence, and on the south by the Phillips fence; that in February, 1896, Hannah E. Minton, who was the owner and in possession of the part of land north of the Butterworth fence, conveyed it to appellant by the following description: “Twenty-two acres off of the north end of the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter, ’ ’ and other lands in • section one; that appellant thereupon took possession of all that part of said forty-three and seventy-one hundredths acre tract lying north of the fence built by Charles Butterworth.

By the third conclusion of law the court stated that appellee was the owner of nineteen and sixty-seven hundredths acres of land off of the south end of the forty-three and seventy-one hundredths-acre tract of land off of the north end of the east half, etc., and that her title thereto should be quieted and forever set at rest.

By the fourth conclusion the court stated that appellant was the owner of twenty-four and four hundredths acres of land off the north end of said forty-three and seventy-one hundredths-acre tract.

1. By her first cross-error, appellee Rebecca Wood says that appellant’s cross-complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action,'in that appellant is described as the “owner” of the land in question, and it is not specifically averred that the title and interest therein claimed by said appellee is adverse to that of appellant. The sufficiency of the cross-complaint being first questioned on appeal, a more liberal rule applies than when tested by demurrer. But, in any event, the cross-complaint states a cause of action. Seymour Water Co. v. City of Seymour (1904), 163 Ind. 120, and cases cited.

[474]*4742. [473]*473Under the first assignment, the further point is made that the cross-complaint is insufficient for the want of eer[474]*474tainty in description. The complaint in this regard is clearly good under the rule declared in Reid v. Mitchell

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Bluebook (online)
97 N.E. 553, 49 Ind. App. 469, 1912 Ind. App. LEXIS 193, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/macy-v-wood-indctapp-1912.