O'Connor v. Mahoney

42 N.E. 378, 159 Ill. 69
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 1, 1895
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 42 N.E. 378 (O'Connor v. Mahoney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
O'Connor v. Mahoney, 42 N.E. 378, 159 Ill. 69 (Ill. 1895).

Opinions

Mr. Justice Bailey

delivered the opinion of the court:

This was a bill in chancery, brought by Edward, Margaret, Mary and Honoré Mahoney, children and heirs-at-law of Timothy Mahoney, deceased, against Bridget Mahoney, their mother, Michael O’Connor and other defendants, to set aside an administrator’s sale of certain lots of land in the city of Chicago claimed by them as heirs of their deceased father, and certain subsequent conveyances thereof. The defendants answered, and the cause being heard on pleadings and proofs before the late Judge Gardner, the equities of the case were found to be with the defendants, and a decree was entered dismissing the bill at the complainants’ costs. The record was afterwards removed to this court by writ of error, and in this court O’Connor, to the assignments of error, pleaded the Statute of Limitations. To that plea the plaintiffs in error filed a replication, to which O’Connor demurred, and the demurrer being overruled, final judgment was entered in this court reversing the decree as upon errors confessed, without any adjudication by this court of the errors assigned upon the record, and the case was remanded to the Superior Court for further proceedings. (Mahony v. Mahony, 139 IL1.14.) After the case was reinstated in the Superior Court it was heard a second time before Judge Ewing, the second hearing being upon the evidence appearing in the certificate of evidence filed at the first hearing and signed by Judge Gardner, that being all, or substantially all, the evidence introduced at the second hearing. Upon that hearing the court found the equities to be with the complainants, and rendered a decree in their favor, in accordance with the prayer of the bill. That decree is now brought to this court by appeal.

The use of the certificate of evidence signed by Judge Gardner, on the hearing before Judge Ewing, was strenuously objected to by defendant O’Connor, and the propriety of its use constitutes one of the questions presented upon this appeal.

It appears that Timothy Mahoney departed this life intestate November 1,1872, leaving him surviving Bridget Mahoney, his wife, and the four complainants, his children and only heirs-at-law, his children then being minors. At the time of his death he was the owner in fee of three lots of land in the city of Chicago, which are now subject to this litigation. On January 22, 1875, Bridget Mahoney was appointed administratrix of his estate by the county court of Cook county, and proceeded to administer the same. On April 28, 1875, she filed her petition for leave to sell the real estate of her intestate to pay debts, the principal, if not the only, claim against the estate then outstanding being the widow’s award for $1000 previously allowed her by the court. In pursuance of her petition an order was entered by the court authorizing and empowering her to advertise and make sale of the land in question for the payment of debts, and on August 3, 1875, she sold the property at administrator’s sale to Thomas Keane, her brother-in-law, he bidding $1500 and becoming the purchaser thereof, and a deed of the land was executed to him by her, as administratrix.

The evidence, we think, clearly establishes the fact that Keane became the purchaser of the land in the interest of Mrs. Mahoney, upon an understanding that he was to hold it for her benefit. To raise the purchase money, Keane executed a trust deed on the land to secure the payment of $1500 borrowed by him, Lester D. Swezey being the trustee, with Joseph R. Bonfield his successor in trust. From the money thus raised, the widow’s award, and perhaps some of the debts, were paid, and from the money which she received the widow paid Keane $400 which she was owing him. On January 12, 1877, Keane deeded the property to Mrs. Mahoney, the consideration expressed in the deed being $3000, but no consideration in fact being paid.

On March 1,1878, Bridget Mahoney executed a second trust deed to L. D. Swezey, to secure an additional sum of $2000. This was done for the purpose of raising money to pay off the first deed of trust and accrued interest, and some other matters. Swezey, however, failed to procure the money, and subsequently left the country without having had this second trust deed canceled, so that the records showed two trust deeds,—one for $1500 and the other for $2000,—as apparently valid liens upon the property. Some time during the year following, Mrs. Mahoney, being distressed by this situation of affairs and being anxious to protect herself against this last $2000 deed of trust, applied to the defendant Michael O’Connor to assist her out of her difficulty. O’Connor, as the evidence tends to show, took her to M. J. Dunne, Esq., an attorney at law, informing her that Dunne was an honest man and would help her. Dunne, having investigated the facts, came to the conclusion that the best way to get rid of the second deed of trust was to cause a foreclosure and sale to be made, by advertisement, under the first deed of trust, and by Dunne’s advice, and with the co-operation of the holders of the note, a foreclosure and sale were had November 4, 1879, Bonfield, the successor in trust, acting in the proceedings in place of Swezey, the trustee, who was absent, and at the foreclosure sale the property was struck off and sold to James Mackey for the amount of the indebtedness secured by the first deed of trust, it being then about $1653. Shortly after the sale the'Successor in trust executed a deed to Mackey, and at the same time Mr,s. Mahoney also executed a deed conveying her interest in the property to him. The evidence tends to show that at the time these transactions were had a contract was executed by Mackey to O’Connor for the" conveyance of the premises to the latter upon payment of the amount of Mackey’s bid, with interest, within a certain time fixed by the contract. That amount having been paid, Mackey, on May 1,1880, executed to O’Connor a deed to the premises for an expressed consideration of $3000, the actual consideration being only $1683.85. At the time Mackey purchased at the foreclosure sale there seems to have been an agreement on his part to hold the premises for one year, and permit Mrs. Mahoney to redeem by paying the amount which he, Mackey, had paid out. After the conveyance by Mackey to O’Connor the latter executed a lease of a part of the premises to Mrs. Mahoney. She and her children were then, as they were at the time of the death of Timothy Mahoney and as they have been ever since, residing upon the property. O’Con-nor, at the time of the conveyance to him, seems to have taken possession of the residue of the property not leased to Mrs. Mahoney, and since then has held possession thereof, claiming to own the entire property in fee.

On February 23, 1883, one of the complainants having reached his majority and three of them being still minors, the present bill was filed, alleging, among other things, that the sale by Bridget Mahoney to Thomas Keane, being made in the interest and for the benefit of the administratrix, was in effect a sale to herself, and was therefore voidable at the instance of the complainants; that O’Con-nor, at the time he took title to the property, had notice of the complainants’ rights, and he must therefore be charged as trustee for the complainants.

The principal question of fact litigated at the hearing was, whether O’Connor became the purchaser of the property for a valuable consideration, in good faith and without notice of the rights of the complainants. If he did, upon well recognized principles of equity his title must prevail over that of the complainants.

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Bluebook (online)
42 N.E. 378, 159 Ill. 69, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oconnor-v-mahoney-ill-1895.