Moore v. Beck

758 S.W.2d 55, 1988 Mo. LEXIS 74, 1988 WL 94085
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedSeptember 13, 1988
DocketNo. 69923
StatusPublished

This text of 758 S.W.2d 55 (Moore v. Beck) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. Beck, 758 S.W.2d 55, 1988 Mo. LEXIS 74, 1988 WL 94085 (Mo. 1988).

Opinions

DONNELLY, Judge.

This is an action to quiet title.

On October 14,1982, the Circuit Court of Mississippi County entered a judgment declaring the Moores owners in fee simple of the following described real estate located in Mississippi County, Missouri:

All that part of the South Half of Section 4, Township 26 North, Range 18 East in Mississippi County, Missouri, lying between the fuse plug lands and the old right of way line of Levee District No. 1 of Mississippi County, Missouri, as it existed in 1920, EXCEPTING THEREFROM the following described tract:
[56]*56Commencing at the intersection of the original levee right of way line and the East-West Quarter line of Section 4, Township 26 North, Range 13 [sic] East, Mississippi County, Missouri; thence East 300 feet, more or less, to the low water mark of the Mississippi River; thence in a Southwesterly direction following the low water mark of the Mississippi River a distance of 300 feet, more or less, to an intersection with the said right of way line of the said original levee; thence North 450 feet, more or less, to the point of beginning, and Also EXCEPTING THEREFROM the following described tract: Commencing at the intersection of the West right of way of original levee with the section line between Section 4 and Section 9, Township 26 North, Range 18 East, Mississippi County, Missouri; thence North 50 feed [sic], more or less, to the low water mark of the Mississippi River; thence in a generally Northeasterly direction along the said low water mark to an intersection with the West right of way line of the said original levee; thence along the said right of way line in a general Southwesterly direction a distance of 600 feet, more or less, to the point of beginning, all as shown on survey of Martin A. Lucas. (Emphasis added).

In Moore v. Beck, .664 S.W.2d 15, 20 (Mo.App.1984), the Southern District of the Court of Appeals affirmed and noted:

Defendants properly point out that the description of the land, as contained in the trial court’s judgment, is faulty. The description refers to “Range 13 East” when the proper language is “Range 18 East.” There may be, as defendants claim, other errors in the description. The record does not provide this court with the information necessary to correct them. Appropriate instructions with respect to same will be contained in this court’s mandate.

In its mandate, the court remanded with directions:

Paragraph 1 of the judgment of the trial court, entered October 14, 1982, shall be deleted and in its stead a new Paragraph 1 shall be inserted. Said new paragraph shall recite that the plaintiffs are the owners in fee simple and that the defendants have no interest in certain described real estate located in Mississippi County, Missouri. The description of that real estate shall be prepared by the trial court after consultation with the attorneys for the parties. Additional evidence may be taken for the sole purpose of insuring the accuracy of said description. Said description shall consist of the description of Tract A (as set forth in the opening paragraph of the opinion of the Missouri Court of Appeals) with two excepted tracts. The first excepted tract shall consist of the real estate lying generally east of that part of the original levee referred to as Part No. 1 by witness Martin Lucas at p. 33 of the transcript on appeal. The second excepted tract shall consist of the real estate lying generally east of that part of the original levee referred to as Part 2 by witness Martin Lucas at p. 34 of the transcript on appeal.
The foregoing descriptions of the first excepted tract and the second excepted tract respectively are not intended to constitute, and do not constitute, the legal descriptions of said excepted tracts. The foregoing descriptions furnish the basis on which accurate legal descriptions of the two excepted tracts may be formulated.

On December 7, 1984, the trial court conducted a hearing at which Martin Lucas, Charles Ice and Abner M. Beck testified. Lucas is the County Surveyor of Mississippi County. Ice is the County Surveyor of New Madrid County.

Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 1 was identified as the survey made by Lucas prior to the trial in 1982.

Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 2 was identified as the survey made by Ice after remand by the Court of Appeals.

Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 3 was identified as the survey made by Lucas after remand by the Court of Appeals.

Lucas and Ice agreed that a bearing call in Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 1 was erroneous and [57]*57that Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 3 corrected this error. Lucas and Ice disagreed as to the location of the west right of way line. Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 3 (the corrected Lucas survey) places the west right of way line at the west base of the levee. Plaintiffs’ Exhibit 2 (the Ice survey) places the west right of way line 100 feet west of the west base of the levee.

The trial court entered judgment and Beck appealed to the Southern District of the Court of Appeals. We transferred the cause from the Court of Appeals and reversed the trial court. See Moore v. Beck, 730 S.W.2d 538 (Mo. banc 1987).

On remand, and as pertinent here, the trial court declared:

[TJhat defendants [Becks] are the owners of that land lying east of the aforesaid west right-of-way line of Old Levee District No. 1 of Mississippi County, Missouri, as shown by said Figure 1 attached hereto and made a part hereof and as described by metes and bounds as follows:
NORTH TRACT
A tract of land in the fractional SW ¼ of Section 4 T26N R18E Mississippi County, Missouri more particularly described as follows: begin at the W corner of said Section 4, thence N89° 44'E 1726.35 feet along the east-west Section line of said Section 4 to the point of beginning to describe the tract, being its NW corner; thence continue N89°44'E 295.72 feet along said ¼ Section line to the right bank of Mississippi River; thence S27°32'W 399.28 feet along said right bank of Mississippi River; thence S19°21'W 277.20 feet along said right bank of Mississippi River; thence N1°48'W 614.53 feet to the point of beginning containing 1.90 acres.
SOUTH TRACT
A tract of land in the fractional SW of Section 4 T26N R18E Mississippi County, Missouri more particularly described as follows: begin at the SW corner of said Section 4, thence East 904.18 feet along the south line of Section 4 to the point of beginning to describe the tract; thence continue East 186.88 feet along the south line of Section 4 to the right bank of Mississippi River; thence the following seven courses along said right bank of Mississippi River: N28°39'E 177.41 feet, N30°45'E 99.68 feet, N18°05'E 260.78 feet, N17°01'E 385.36 feet, N14°32'E 103.63 feet, N14°43'E 114.39 feet, N17°09'E 67.45 feet; thence S25°18'W 712.26 feet; thence S30°23'W 567.17 feet to the point of beginning containing 2.76 acres.

This appeal followed from the entry of said judgment.

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

Related

Smith v. Preis
396 S.W.2d 636 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1965)
Moore v. Beck
664 S.W.2d 15 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1984)
Moore v. Beck
730 S.W.2d 538 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
758 S.W.2d 55, 1988 Mo. LEXIS 74, 1988 WL 94085, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-beck-mo-1988.