Morse v. Duryea

192 S.W. 477, 174 Ky. 234, 1917 Ky. LEXIS 191
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedFebruary 23, 1917
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 192 S.W. 477 (Morse v. Duryea) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morse v. Duryea, 192 S.W. 477, 174 Ky. 234, 1917 Ky. LEXIS 191 (Ky. Ct. App. 1917).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

William Rogers Clay, Commissioner

Affirming in the case of the Big Sandy Company v. Ellen W. Duryea, &c.; affirming on the cross-appeal of Ellen W. Duryea and reversing on the original appeals in the case of E. Rollins Morse v. Ellen W. Duryea, &c., and in the case of Fon Rogers, Lon Rogers and T. H. Harman v. Ellen W. Duryea, &c.

The three appeals mentioned in the caption have been heard together and will be considered in one opinion.

William F. Weld died the owner of certain coal, mineral and other rights in thirty-two tracts of land situated in Pike county. These rights he devised to his widow, Ellen Weld. Thereafter his widow married H. B. Duryea. On February 17th, 1906, Mrs. Duryea and her husband conveyed the property to E." Rollins Morse under a trust agreement, whereby Mrs. Duryea was to get 25 per cent, of the gross proceeds of the sale price' of the property and Morse and C. B. Hillhouse were each to receive 37% Per cent, of the proceeds. Morse, however, was to pay all taxes and expenses incurred in connection with the sale of the property. Thereafter Morse listed the property for taxation for the years 1902, 1903, 1904 and 1905, under the 1906 statute. Later on, he sold the.property to Lon and Fon Rogers and arranged for suit to be brought to cancel a tax deed under which the Big Sandy Company claimed title. The [236]*236price which the Rogers Brothers paid for the property was $15.00 an acre. This was a reasonable price for the land at the time the sale was made.

After the sale to the Rogers Brothers, and five years after the conveyance to Morse, Mrs. Dnryea and her husband brought this suit to cancel the conveyance to Morse and the conveyances from Morse to the Rogers Brothers, on the ground that the conveyance to Morse was obtained by fraud and the Rogers Brothers were not purchasers for value in good faith. On final hearing the chancellor set aside both conveyances, and Morse and the Rogers Brothers appeal. From that part of the judgment awarding Morse and others a lien on the land for certain expenses and services Ellen W. Dnryea prosecutes a cross-appeal.

After stating that she met Morse on the train between Boston and New York and had a conference with him, Mrs. Duryea testified as follows:

£<Q. Will you just give as near as you can the purport and substance of that conversation and how it was brought about — I mean, I mean how the conference originated? A. I do not remember exactly what led up to it, but Mr. Morse told me about some lands in West Virginia or Kentucky of which he held the title to the land and I had the title of the mining right, and that my titles were no good, but that if the two were — that if I would give Mr. Morse my title or supposed title, he could make something out of it — that they were perfectly worthless as they were. Q. When you speak of Mr. Morse’s statement to the effect that they were perfectly worthless as they were, did that mean the title or claim which you owned? (Obj.) A. Yes. Q. Do you understand that at this conference between yourself and Mr. Morse, that he told you that he had a superior title to the property? (Obj.) A. His title was all right because he had the property. Q. Did he go into any details and explain the nature or character of his title, or was his statement general to the effect that his title was better and superior to yours? (Obj.) A. His title was all right and mine was worthless. Q. When Mr. Morse made this statement to you about the worthlessness of your title and the validity of his title, you may state whether or not you believed the statement. (Obj.) A. Yes, I believed it all — I believed it absolutely. Q. At the time that these statements respecting the invalidity of [237]*237your title and the validity of Mr. Morse’s title, what reliance did you place upon the statements? (Obj.) A. I took Mr..Morse’s word. Q. You may state whether or not you believed that word. A. I believed it perfectly. Q. "What was the result of this conference between yourself and Mr. Morse — I mean what action upon your part did that conference result in?- A. It resulted in my going back to Mr. Duryea and asking him to do what Mr. Morse asked me to do. Q. Did that conversation lead up to and result in the conveyance which you and Mr. Duryea made to Mr. Morse under date of February 17th, 1906? A. Yes, sir; it did.”

She further testified that Mr. Morse did not pay any consideration for the deed and that she would not have executed it if she had known that Mr. Morse’s title or claim to the property was wholly defective. On- cross-examination she stated that the conversation took place five or six years before she testified, but she was unable to fix the exact date. She further said that she always turned over her business affairs to her husband, Mr. Duryea. She did not recall Mr. Morse’s having spoken to her about' Virginia land grants, or mineral claims or tax titles. She understood that her titles were no good; thought may be Mr. Morse did tell her that the land had been sold for taxes. She then went home and told Mr. Duryea and put the matter in his hands. She remembered that sbe had it in mind not to spend any more money on the title, but did not recall' whether she told Mr. Morse that or not.

Mr. Duryea testified that Mrs. Duryea told him of the conference she had had with Morse and a day or two later he made an engagement to take up the matter with Morse at the latter’s office. Mr. Hillhouse was also present. He then testified as follows:

“Q. "What agreement did you arrive at? A. We talked the whole thing over. Mr. Hillhouse had a number of maps and they talked about the title of the property and about having some mineral rights. They represented that through old grants that they owned the land in fee simple, mining rights and everything else, of that property; that the title or the rights which were conveyed to Mrs. Duryea through the will of Mr. Weld — and conveyed to him, as I understand, by that Virginia Mining & Improvement Company, consisted simply of mining rights on that property which were derived subse[238]*238quent to the original rights which they held. These rights were inoperative by themselves — these rights held by Mrs Duryea — absolutely inoperative and worthless. (Obj.) Q. When you say that it was represented these rights were inoperative and no good, whose rights did you refer to? A. I referred to Mrs. Duryea’s rights. Q. The rights which she had under the will of Mr. Weld? A. Yes, sir; conveyed to him by the Virginia Mining & Improvement Company. Q. What representations, if any, were made at that conference by Mr. Morse respecting the validity of his title under the old grant? (Obj.) A. He said he had the absolute title. Q. Did you rely upon that statement of Mr. Morse as being true and correct? A. I did, absolutely. Q. You may state whether or not you relied upon that as a moving cause that prompted you and Mrs. Duryea to execute this deed on February the 17th, 1906? A. I did. (Obj.)”

He also testified that under the arrangement with Morse, Mrs. Duryea was to receive 25 per cent, of the proceeds of the property, while Morse was to pay all •the taxes and expenses in connection with the property. On being asked to state exactly what Mr. Morse said to him, he answered as follows: ■

UA. Mr. Morse told me that — I am certain he said he represented a company, or that they were forming a company, or that a company had been formed — no, as to that I am not certain. He introduced Mr. Hillhouse and Mr.

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Related

Bone v. Duryea
263 S.W. 362 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1924)
Miller v. Powers
212 S.W. 453 (Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 1919)

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Bluebook (online)
192 S.W. 477, 174 Ky. 234, 1917 Ky. LEXIS 191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morse-v-duryea-kyctapp-1917.