McCaslin v. State ex rel. Auditor

99 Ind. 428, 1885 Ind. LEXIS 128
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 10, 1885
DocketNo. 10,761
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 99 Ind. 428 (McCaslin v. State ex rel. Auditor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCaslin v. State ex rel. Auditor, 99 Ind. 428, 1885 Ind. LEXIS 128 (Ind. 1885).

Opinion

Howk, J. —

We take from the brief of appellee’s counsel the following' statement of facts in relation to this case, which we -have found to be substantially correct:

The land in suit was purchased by the State for a House ■of Refuge for Juvenile Offenders, and the Legislature having resolved to change the location, a statute was enacted March 8th, 1867, authorizing the governor and commissioners of the House of Refuge to sell the same for cash, or on credit, and apply the proceeds thereof towards the purchase of other grounds, and the erection of suitable buildings for the institution, and upon full payment of the purchase-money in such ■case, the governor was authorized, in the name of the State, to execute a deed to the purchaser, attested by the secretary •of state. 1 R. S. 1876, p. 549, 550, section 26.

Subsequent proceedings are recited in the case of McCaslin v. State, ex rel., 44 Ind. 151, which was in evidence in the case below admitted by bill of exceptions.

On the 10th of June, 1867, Governor Baker made an agreement to sell to William McCaslin said land for $7,500, payable in three equal instalments, of $2,500 each, the first payable, with interest, the 15th day of October, 1867, the second payable May 27th, 1868, and the third payable the 27th of May, 1869, and on failing to pay any instalment the whole to become due. A writing was executed by Governor Baker to William McCaslin, wherein it was provided that said Mc-[430]*430Caslin, upon the full payment of said purchase-money, would be entitled to receive from the State a deed for said tract of land, conveying the same' to him. See the agreement and note in McCaslin v. State, ex rel., supra, pp. 159, 160.

William McCaslin and wife made a mortgage to the State on other lands to secure the purchase-money. McCaslin v. State, ex rel., supra, p. 161.

McCaslin entered into possession of the land purchased by him without any agreement therefor, and never at any time paid any portion of the principal or interest of the purchase-money.

On the 14th day of September, 1868, the State caused a deed for the land to be executed, acknowledged and prepared for delivery, and tendered the same to McCaslin upon condition that he should pay the purchase-money; but' McCaslin refused to pay the same, or any part thereof, and he never received any deed for the land.

On the 26th of December, 1870, the State caused a written notice to be served on William McCaslin, demanding of him the possession of the land, and forbidding him to exercise any further acts of ownership over said tract of land, and that he should not cut or remove any timber therefrom until he complied with his contract, and paid to the State of Indiana the full amount of principal and interest due for said land. McCaslin v. State, ex rel., supra, pp. 155, 156.

The State, on the relation of the auditor, instituted an action against appellants to recover the possession of said land, and to enjoin the destruction and removal of the timber thereon, and for judgment against him on said note, and the sale of his interest held by him under his bond.

Suit was also instituted on the mortgage given by McCaslin and wife to the State to secure the purchase-money, and judgment was rendered thereon, and the same was sold for $800, which was all that it would bring, being subject to a prior mortgage of $3,000 (McCaslin v. State, ex rel., supra, p. [431]*431168), and after paying costs left $683.02 only, that went to the State. McCaslin v. State, ex rel., supra, pp. 168, 171.

A decree was rendered in favor of the State in said first described action for possession of the land, and after giving appellants credit for $683.02, the proceeds of the sale of the mortgaged property, the court decreed that there is due to the State from the said MeCaslin the residue of the note, amounting to $8,801.98, and in order that the equity of redemption of MeCaslin and wife may be forever barred and foreclosed, the court ordered that the interest of MeCaslin and wife be sold; and further decreed “ that the purchaser or purchasers, who shall purchase the interest of said MeCaslin and wife in said land under this decree, shall have the right, within sixty days from such sale, to pay to the State of Indiana the balance, including interest, which may be due to the plaintiff on said promissory note, and thereby entitle him or them to have said tract of land conveyed to him or them in pursuance of the statute authorizing the sale and conveyance thereof, and upon failure of such purchaser or purchasers to pay, within the time aforesaid to the State of Indiana, the balance which may be due on said note, all the interest or equity of such purchaser or purchasers in said land shall, by such failure to pay, be forever barred and foreclosed.” McCaslin v. State, ex rel., supra, pp. 171, 172.

The State held the legal title to the land, and never parted' with it. MeCaslin had' no equitable title to the land as he had not performed the obligations of his bond; he had a right only under his bond to acquire the title upon payment of the purchase-money. The court ordered the interest of MeCaslin to be sold upon the terms prescribed in the order, which it could lawfully do. McCaslin v. State, ex rel., supra, pp. 176, 181.

And the purchaser thereof acquired the right to pay off the purchase-money to the State within sixty days, and upon such payment to own the land, and if not paid, all right or claim in or to the land by any other party than the State, [432]*432was barred under the judgment of the court. McCaslin v. State, ex rel., supra, pp. 176, 181.

Tbe said judgment for possession and the sale of the Mc-Caslin interest in the land was entered in the Marion Circuit Court, October 11th, 1871.

On the 2d day of December, 1872, process was issued on the judgment rendered against McCaslin and wife, and their interest under the bond given by Governor Baker was sold to Calvin R. Rooker, as the attorney of Margaret McCaslin, on the 8th of March, 1873, and he assigned the certificate of purchase to Margaret McCaslin, and a deed was made to her therefor, March 10th, 1874.

With this general statement of what may be regarded as the history of the cause, we proceed now to the consideration of the several errors complainedi of in this court. The appellee’s complaint contained four paragraphs, to each of which the separate demurrer of the appellant Margaret McCaslin, for the alleged insufficiency of the facts therein to constitute a cause of action, was overruled by the court. These rulings of the court are severally called in question by the first four errors separately assigned by the appellant Margaret Mc-Caslin. The record shows that upon the trial of the cause, the finding and judgment of the court in favor of the appellee are rested exclusively on the second, third and fourth paragraphs of the complaint. We need not, therefore, consider the question of the sufficiency of the first paragraph of complaint, because, for all practical purposes, that paragraph is out of the case.

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Bluebook (online)
99 Ind. 428, 1885 Ind. LEXIS 128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccaslin-v-state-ex-rel-auditor-ind-1885.