Modisett v. National Bank of Kalamazoo

56 S.W. 1007, 23 Tex. Civ. App. 589, 1900 Tex. App. LEXIS 390
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 16, 1900
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 56 S.W. 1007 (Modisett v. National Bank of Kalamazoo) 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
Modisett v. National Bank of Kalamazoo, 56 S.W. 1007, 23 Tex. Civ. App. 589, 1900 Tex. App. LEXIS 390 (Tex. Ct. App. 1900).

Opinion

FISHER, Chief Justice.

This was an action by injunction to restrain the enforcement of an order of sale and writ of possession for 200 acres of land, filed in the District Court of Milam County by the appellants herein, on the 1st day of April, 1896. Omitting the formal parts, the petition is as follows:

*590 “That by virtue of an order of sale and writ of possession, issued out of the honorable District Court of the Forty-fourth Judicial District, in Dallas County, Texas, on the 1st day of February, 1896, in the cause of the Rational Bank of Kalamazoo v. Mrs. C. V. Modisett, Ro. 14439, the defendant Biekett, sheriff as aforesaid, has levied upon the following described tract of land, and has advertised the same for sale on the first Tuesday in April, 1896, the same being the 7th day of said month [here follows a description of the land by metes and bounds].
“3. That these plaintiffs each own by title in fee simple, as tenants in common, an equal undivided one-eighteenth of said land, and that all of the plaintiffs together own, as tenants in common, by title in fee simple, an equal undivided one-half of said tract of land, and that their mother, Mrs. C. V. Modisett, owns the other undivided half, and that plaintiffs' interest in said land is of the value of $1000.
“4. That neither of these plaintiffs was a party to or had any notice of said suit in the District Court of Dallas County, out of which said order of sale and writ of possession issued, and in which said suit said defendant bank recovered judgment against Mrs. C. V. Modisett for the sum of $339.48 and all costs of suit. A certified cop) of said judgment is hereto attached, marked Exhibit “A,' and referred to.
“5. That plaintiffs derive their title to said land by inheritance from their father Louis T. Modisett, who died intestate, in Milam County, Texas, in the year 1889, and that said land is situated in the county, and has been the actual bona fide homestead of these plaintiffs' father and mother for more than twenty years continuously, and since the death of their father, the plaintiffs, C. A. Modisett, James L. Modisett, and said three minor children, John, Milton, and Mattie Modisett, who are aged respectively 17, 16, and 14 years, together with their said mother, Mrs. C. V. Modisett, have lived upon said lands as a homestead, and neither of them has ever acquired any other homestead, and that they are each now living and residing upon the said lands as a homestead, and the same has never been divided or partitioned among the owners thereof, and the youngest of said minors, Mattie Modisett, is a female who was 14 years of age on the 22d day of March, 1896.
“6. That by and with the consent of all the other owners of the land, the plaintiffs C. A. and J. L. Modisett, together with said minors, have used and cultivated the said lands since the death of their said father, and are now in the actual possession of the same with their said mother and are using the same for agricultural purposes, and that they now have their crops partly planted, in a state of growth and cultivation, and if said defendant bank and sheriff, as aforesaid, shall be allowed and are not restrained from making said sale and deed and from executing said writ of possession, as they are now threatening to do, that these plaintiffs will suffer great loss and injury thereby.
“7. That none of plaintiffs' title to said land is shown by record, and that if said sheriff be allowed to sell said land as advertised, and as he is now threatening to do, that said sale and deed which he is ordered to *591 make by said order of sale as aforesaid will cast a cloud upon plaintiffs’ title to said land, and will require them to bring a suit to remove said cloud, and will greatly depreciate the market value of said land, and that the defendant bank is a foreign corporation, domiciled in a distant State, and so far as plaintiffs know, said defendant has no property, agent, or assets in the State of Texas, and plaintiffs would be unable to force said hank to respond in damages for the wrongs and injuries that will result to them if said sale and deed shall be made and the said writ of possession executed, and in consequence, plaintiffs will suffer irreparable loss and injury unless said defendants are restrained by your honor from committing said wrongs and injuries.
“8. That said minors hereinbefore named, through their mother and next friend, show to your honor that as the minor heirs of their said father, they are entitled to the possession of said lands as a homestead during their minority, to be held for them by their mother as natural guardian and next friend for them. And that there has never been any administration on the estate of their said father, nor has any guardian ever been appointed of their persons or their estates. And said minors also show to your honor that they or their said mother have never acquired any other homestead, and that if said defendant sheriff is permitted to oust them from their said homestead they will suffer irreparable loss and injury by reason of said act.
“9. That when the said suit was instituted, upon the judgment in which the said order of sale herein complained of ivas issued, the said defendant bank, the plaintiff in said suit, knew that these said plaintiffs owned and held an interest in said lands, as is shown by its said petition filed in said suit, a certified copy of which is hereto attached and marked Exhibit CB,’ and referred to, and with the purpose of injuring and harassing these plaintiffs, as these plaintiffs verily believe and charge, said defendant bank foreclosed its alleged mortgage lien on the whole of this said tract of land, and it is thereby willfully and knowingly attempting to cast a cloud upon these plaintiffs’ title to said land and grossly injuring and wronging them thereby, and said alleged mortgage lien was created and fixed long after the death of their said father, and these plaintiffs were not parties thereto.
“10. That these plaintiffs, Mrs. McDaniel, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Simmons, and Mrs. Barber, each desire to sell their interest in said land, and that if said sheriff be allowed to make said sale and said deed, as he is "now threatening to do, the same will cast a cloud upon their said title and will greatly depreciate the market value of their interest in said land, and that they will be unable to force said bank to respond in damages as hereinbefore shown.
“Wherefore, plaintiffs pray that your honor will at once issue your most gracious writ of injunction, ordering and commanding said defendants bank and sheriff, and all other persons, to desist and refrain from selling said lands as advertised on the 7th day of April, 1896, and making said deed, and from executing said writ of possession. And that *592

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Bluebook (online)
56 S.W. 1007, 23 Tex. Civ. App. 589, 1900 Tex. App. LEXIS 390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/modisett-v-national-bank-of-kalamazoo-texapp-1900.