Perry v. Siler

97 S.W.2d 291, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 880
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 1, 1936
DocketNo. 4989.
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 97 S.W.2d 291 (Perry v. Siler) 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
Perry v. Siler, 97 S.W.2d 291, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 880 (Tex. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

HALL, Justice.

Plaintiffs in error, Tennie J. Perry, widow of W. J. Perry, deceased, and her children, brought this suit in trespass to try title to 8.3 acres of land located in Rusk county, Tex., against W. H. Siler and wife, Mary Siler, individually and as community administrator of the estate of W. H. Siler, an insane person, Eddie Mason, a daughter of Mary Siler by a former marriage, the Pure Oil Company, the Stanolind Oil & Gas Company, and N. Gray. W. B. Perry, deceased, was a child of W. R. (Ranse) Perry. Lou Perry Palmer, Martha Lee Perry Duncan, Mary R. Perry Ross, Eliza Ella Perry Hunter, and George Perry were the other children of W. R. Perry. On or about December 14, 1863, W. R. Perry filed a set of field notes in the General Land Office to purchase 70 acres of land in Rusk county, which included the land in controversy. The survey of,this land was made for him by the county surveyor of Rusk county on December 22, 1862, and a record thereof was made in the surveyor’s records of Rusk county on December 28, 1862. On August 11, 1863, W. R. Perry paid to the county surveyor of Rusk county the sum of $35, being 50 cents per acre, the purchase price of said land under the statutes existing at that time. On January 15, 1864, the county surveyor of Rusk county wrote the following letter to the land commissioner at Austin:

“S. Crosby, Commissioner,
“Dear Sir: William Perry is a soldier in the Army and has been from the time this survey was made and has not the opportunity of sending the money sooner. I have sent the money by private conveyance which will be handed you a short time after the receipt of this.
“With much respect yours, etc.,
“J. C. King.”

No other steps were taken by W. R. Perry to secure a patent on this land and the matter lay dormant in the Land Office as “File No. 32, Rusk, Scrip, field notes, 70 acres, William R. Perry.”

During the summer of 1931 plaintiffs in error learned of the existence of the W. R. Perry scrip, and on October 1, 1931, made application to the land commissioner for a patent to the 70 acres of land covered by W. R. Perry’s original application, and tendered to the commissioner $70, believing that the W. R. Perry scrip represented 70 acres of land. Later, in January, 1932, it was found by actual survey that there were only 37 acres represented by said scrip. It also appears that during the month of January, 1932, other heirs of W. R. Perry, not of the family of W. B. Perry, had a survey made of this land by which it was determined that there were only 34.55 acres thereof, and these heirs made application to the land commissioner for a patent to said land based upon their heirship to W. R. Perry. On February 16, 1932, an application was filed by Mary Siler, individually and as administrator of the estate of W. H. Siler, an insane person, and Eddie Mason, for a patent to 8.3 acres of the land covered by the applications of both sets of the Perry heirs. This 8.3 acres is the land involved in this suit.

The record reflects, further, that one N. Gray on October 5, 1931, made application to the land commissioner to lease the whole of the land covered by the Perry scrip for oil and gas purposes, which application was rejected by the land commissioner on November 4, 1931.

On May 13, 1932, a hearing was conducted by J. H. Walker, land commissioner, on these applications involving this tract of land. It seems that all the parties were present and represented, but plaintiffs in error assert that on account of short notice no one representing them was present except Burton Perry, one of their number, and his attorney. The Silers were present with witnesses and an attorney. An Assistant Attorney General was also present assisting the land commissioner. At the conclusion of this hearing the land commissioner in *293 dicated that the north 8.3-acre tract of land would be patented to the Silers and the south 26.83 acres would be patented to the heirs of W. R. Perry.

On May 21, 1932, plaintiffs in error filed this suit in Rusk county in trespass to try title against defendants in error, and also seeking an injunction against J. H. Walker restraining him from issuing patents covering this iand. This injunction was granted by the district judge of Rusk county. During August, 1932, J. H. Walker filed a plea of privilege to be sued in Travis county. This plea was not controverted, and the cause of action, in so far as it affected Commissioner Walker, was transferred to Travis county. On November 23, 1932, a general demurrer was sustained to this suit by the district court of Travis county, and in January, 1932, same was by said district court dismissed. And the same day the Travis county district court sustained the general demurrer to plaintiffs in error’s suit the land commissioner issued a patent to W. H. Siler, Mary Siler, and Eddie Mason, covering the north 8.3 acres of the W. R. Perry scrip, and on the 26th day of November, 1932, issued to W. R. Perry, his heirs and assigns, a patent covering the south 26.83 acres of the W. R. Perry scrip. The tract of land covered by both the W. R. Perry patent and the Siler patent is a strip about 110 varas wide, from east to west, and 1,900 varas long, from north to south. It is rectangular in shape and is bounded on the east by the Hemby survey and on the west by the Rowan and Tipps surveys. The record discloses that the Silers owned a tract of land in the Hemby survey adjoining the 8.3 acres on the east, which was under an oil and gas lease to the Pure Oil Company. The Perrys also owned a tract of land in the Hemby survey adjoining the 26.83 acres on the east. On January 9, 1933, the Silers leased the 8.3 acres in controversy to the Pure Oil Company and the Stanolind Oil & Gas Company. The Pure Oil Company had theretofore leased the other lands owned -by the Silers and had assigned an interest in same to the Stano-lind Oil & Gas Company. In addition to their trespass to try title, plaintiffs in error allege in detail the steps taken by their ancestor, W. R. Perry, in respect to perfecting title to the land in controversy; that they had been in possession of all the land covered by both patents for more than 25 years; that the patent issued to the Silers was void and constituted a cloud on their title. Their prayer was:

“Wherefore, Premises considered, plaintiffs pray that the defendants be cited to appear and answer herein, and that the award and patent in and to the 8½ acres of land in question in favor of the Silers, Masons and the Pure Oil Company be, can-celled and held for naught, and that as against all defendants the cloud on these plaintiffs’ title in and to said 8¼ acres of land be removed; that the right, title and interest of these plaintiffs in and to the land in question be declared prior and superior to the rights of any of the defendants, and that the full title in and to said land in question be invested in these plaintiffs and divested out of the defendants, and that the plaintiffs recover title and ownership of the land, together with all improvements thereon; that the defendants Pure Oil Company and Stanolind Oil & Gas Company account to the plaintiffs for the oil which has been produced from the land in question. Plaintiffs further pray for general relief and for their costs herein.”

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Bluebook (online)
97 S.W.2d 291, 1936 Tex. App. LEXIS 880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perry-v-siler-texapp-1936.