Murphy v. Walkup

258 P.2d 922, 1953 Okla. LEXIS 465
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 14, 1953
DocketNo. 35073
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 258 P.2d 922 (Murphy v. Walkup) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphy v. Walkup, 258 P.2d 922, 1953 Okla. LEXIS 465 (Okla. 1953).

Opinion

BLACKBIRD, Justice.

This action was brought by plaintiff in error, hereinafter referred to as plaintiff, to cancel certain deeds to his inherited interest in his mother’s Indian allotments in Coal County, Oklahoma, executed while he was allegedly a minor. He is said to be the youngest of the four sons of Ed G. W. Murphy, a seven-eighths Choctaw, and Annie Murphy, nee Lawrence, a three-fourths blood Chickasaw who died intestate in 1930. Her homestead allotment as a member of said tribe included the S½ of SWJ4 of Section 27, and her surplus allotment included Lots 1 and 2, in Section 5, and lands in the NWj4 of Section 34, all in Township 3 North, Range 11 East.

In June, 1943, H. C. Walkup, a renter of the land in Section 34, acquired an undivided one-third interest in that land, together with the tract in Section 27, after it had descended to said deceased allottee’s husband, and thereafter began attempting to acquire the other inherited interests. Of these deeds Walkup obtained from Annie Murphy’s heirs, the last — the one from the plaintiff and his brother, James,— was executed August 17, 1945. This transaction was accomplished by plaintiff’s father contacting Walkup in Coalgate and returning to his home in Wilburton, Oklahoma (where plaintiff was attending Jones Academy), and getting plaintiff’s execution and returning with the deed to Coal County' where the father then received the consideration from Walkup and thereafter transmitted said money to those two sons. Thus, it appears that Walkup, the grantee, had no direct personal contact with plaintiff at that time. .

Early the next year, Walkup instituted Cause No. 8789, in the District Court of Coal County to quiet his title to the interests purchased as above indicated. In his petition, he alleged, among other things, that more than 3 years had elapsed since Annie Murphy’s death without there having been a determination of her heirship and he named as defendants, the plaintiff herein, his father, Ed G. W. Murhpy, and his brothers, Emanuel and James, “if they be living and if they or any of them be dead,” the unknown heirs, executors, administrators, etc., “of such of them as may be dead” together with the unknown heirs, executors, administrators, etc., of the deceased mother-allottee “Annie Murphy nee Lawrence, Chickasaw minor by blood, Roll No. 277”, and a deceased son, Floyd Murphy. _

After the filing of this petition, Wal-kup’s original attorney, Euel Moore of Coalgate, caused notice of the pendency of said action to be issued and served upon the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes, and then retired from the case apparently on account of the illness which preceded his death. No further proceedings were taken in the case until more than [925]*925two years later, after Walkup employed Roy Paul, a' Durant attorney, to succeed Moore. ■ Thereafter the plaintiff, by express representations, induced his attorney Paul to obtain service on the defendants by publication; and, on July 15, 1948, judgment was entered determining Annie Murphy’s heirs and quieting title to the land in Walkup.

During the pendency of. the suit above described, Patsy Greenan, Jr., who had previously obtained a deed to .their interests in the Section 5 land from plaintiff’s mother, father and two living brothers, Emanuel and James, obtained a deed from plaintiff covering his interest, in the same land., This deed was dated August 22, 1946.

Thereafter, in 1949, on June 1st and June 21st, respectively, J. B. Shaw acquired from Walkup and his wife a portion of the mineral rights in the Sections 27 and 34 land, and The Ohio Oil Company acquired by mesne conveyances and/or assignments, unnecessary to describe, an oil and gas lease on the land in Section 34, from Walkup and one E. F. Courtney, among others.

Apparently some question then arose concerning Walkup’s title and he obtained from plaintiff, again through his father and for an additional consideration, what is referred to in the record as a “ratification” and “curity” quitclaim deed, dated June 24, 1949.

Thereafter, on November 25, 1949, plaintiff instituted the present action. All of the above-named grantees and assignees, and others unnecessary here to mention, were eventually named defendants in the action and will hereinafter be referred to as such, except when mentioned by their proper names. In his petition, plaintiff alleged that the deeds he had previously given were void on the principal grounds that the land was restricted against alienation and he was a minor at the time he executed them. With reference to the latter subject, he alleged that he was born on June 26, 1926, and he expressly disaf-firmed these deeds. In this connection, he averred that if he was required to tender or return the consideration given him for the deeds, he was entitled to an accounting of the rents and royalties from said land and to have said consideration set off or credited against the amount shown to be due him by such accounting.

Thereafter, on May 19, 1950, plaintiff filed an amended petition alleging, among other things, that he was born June 26, in 1928, instead of 1926, as alleged in his original petition. Also in this pleading he, for the first time, attacked the judgment rendered against him in July, 1948, in Cause No. 8789, hereinbefore described, as void for want of jurisdiction as he had no notice of the action and said judgment was rendered on purported service by publication induced by and based upon a false and fraudulent affidavit to obtain it and a false Affidavit to Excuse Mailing of said publication notice. He further alleged that this attack on said judgment was being made within two years of his discovery of this fraud and further alleged that he had a good and valid defense to the petition Wal-kup filed in that case.

At the trial, without a jury, plaintiff attempted to show by testimony and documentary evidence '(other than a birth certificate), including school enumeration records, what his true and correct birth date was, but this evidence was conflicting.

Evidence was also introduced to show that the purported publication service on Robert Murphy in cause No. 8789 was based upon the wilful fraud of the plaintiff because plaintiff knew Robert Murphy and knew where he resided with his father Ed G. W. Murphy, and knew, or could with diligence have learned the address of the two named defendants, and where they could have been personally served.

During the course of the trial, the judge indicated by remarks from the bench his opinion that the purported service on Robert Murphy was wholly fraudulent on the part of the plaintiff; but that the decisive question in the case, on the basis of the conflicting evidence in regard to the matter, was: When was plaintiff born ? After a lapse of several days and the taking of depositions and introduction of more evidence, judgment was entered for defendants, generally.

[926]*926In this appeal from said judgment it is first argued on plaintiff’s behalf that under any view of the evidence, he was a minor when he executed and delivered his respective deeds to Walkup and Greenan. This is correct. Evidence calculated to prove the date of plaintiff’s birth was introduced both by plaintiff and defendants. Plaintiff’s father testified that the births of his children had never been “recorded with the State (Health) Department : * * * ” and he first said that plaintiff was born on June 26, 1928, but later admitted that the birth occurred at his father’s home while he (the witness) was in western Oklahoma working.

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Bluebook (online)
258 P.2d 922, 1953 Okla. LEXIS 465, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murphy-v-walkup-okla-1953.