Ryland v. Banks

51 S.W. 720, 151 Mo. 1, 1899 Mo. LEXIS 292
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJune 14, 1899
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 51 S.W. 720 (Ryland v. Banks) 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
Ryland v. Banks, 51 S.W. 720, 151 Mo. 1, 1899 Mo. LEXIS 292 (Mo. 1899).

Opinion

MARSHALL, J.

This is a partition proceeding and the questions involved in this court arise between the defendants, Coleman Buford and Florence Eckle, who claim a part of the land partitioned, as the heirs of Legrand G. Buford, Jr., and Ora C. Buford his wife, on the one side, and the defendants, Anna Jones, Irvin Zeysing, Jr., and others, heirs of Irvin Zeysing, Sr., who claim under their ancestor to own the same part of the land, as grantees, by mesne conveyances, of Le-grand Gr. Buford, Jr., and Ora C. Buford, his wife, on the other side.

In 1863, Legrand Buford, Sr., died seized of the land in controversy and also of other land. He left surviving him, his widow, Eusebia, two daughters and two sons, of whom Legrand Gr. Buford, Jr., was one. In 1886 the land was partitioned in hind, and the dower assigned to the widow of over seven hundred acres, embracing the 'land in controversy. She remained in possession thereof until her death in 1894. After her death this action was begun to partition the dower land.

In 1875 Legrand Gr. Buford, Jr., married Ora Chinn, and on January 25th, 1875, Legrand G. Buford, Jr., conveyed all his interest in the dower land to Alexander Graves, in trust for the sole and separate use of his wife Ora, the deed containing the following clause: “And the said party of the second part shall at any and all times hereafter at the request and direction of the said party of the third part expressed in writing, bargain, sell, mortgage, convey, lease, rent, convey by deed of trust for any purpose, or otherwise dispose of said premises or any part thereof, to do which full power is hereby given, and [5]*5shall pay over the rents, issues, profits arid proceeds thereof to the said party of the third part,” etc. On the 15th of November, 1875, Legrand G. Buford, Jr., and Ora O. Buford, his wife, executed a deed of trust to Irvin Zeysing, Jr., as trustee for Irvin Zeysing, Sr., on property described as: “All of his interest in the undivided estate of the late Legrand G. Buford, and all of his interest in the dower of his mother Eusebia N. Buford, deceased, as follows” (the land described in this deed is the same land described in the conveyance from Buford and wife to Graves in trust for Mrs. Buford, with the addition of seventeen acres in section 21, as to which, however, no point is made here). The deed then recites that it was made to secure the payment of a note for $1,138, of the same date, payable at twelve months, and signed by Legrand G. Buford, and further provides that in case of default in the payment of the note secured by the deed the trustee shall sell the land and make, execute and deliver to the purchaser “good and sufficient deed or deeds, which shall convey to said purchaser or puchasers the fee simple title in and to such real estate,” etc. Ora C. Buford died on the 11th of December, 1875, leaving Coleman Buford and Florence Eckle as her sole heirs. The debt secured by the deed of trust was not paid, and on July 9th, 1877, the trustee foreclosed the deed of trust and Irvin Zeysing, Sr., became the purchaser of the land for $55, and received a deed from the trustee. Zeysing died and his heirs represent him in this case.

The controversy here is between the heirs of Ora Buford and the heirs of Zeysing. The controversy, in a nutshell is that the Bufords claim that the legal title to the lands was in Graves as trustee for Ora O. Buford, and that, under the deed to her, she could not convey without the trustee joined in the deed, and that as the trustee did not join in the deed of trust her interest in the land was not divested by that conveyance, but that upon her death the use was executed and the title, divested of the use, immediately vested in her heirs; and further [6]*6' that the deed of trdst only purported to convey the interest of Legrand G. Buford, Jr., in the land, which was only an estate by curtesy, and did not pretend to convey Mrs. Buford’s title, and on the other hand the Zeysing heirs claim that the method of conveyance provided in the conveyance to Graves, as trustee, is not exclusive, and that the deed of trust to Zeysing conveyed the interest of Mrs. Buford, although the trustee did not join in it, and that it was intended to be the deed of Mrs. Buford and not of Legrand G. Buford alone.

At the request of the Bufords and of its own motion, the court declared the law as follows:

1st. If the court believes from the evidence, that the deed of date the 25th day of January, 1875, from Legrand G. Buford to Alexander Graves as trustee for the use and benefit of Ora O. Buford, wife of said Legrand G. Buford, was filed for record and recorded in the recorder’s office, for said Lafayette county, on the 30th day of January, 1875, by said Legrand G. Buford, or by his authority or direction, then hi3 dominion over the same was thereby parted with, and such filing and recording thereof constituted a sufficient delivery of such deed to the grantee and beneficiary therein, who are presumed by law to have assented to and accepted the same in the ■ absence of proof of a disclaimer thereof.

2d. The use, in said trust deed, of date January 25th, 1875, from Legrand G. Buford to Alexander Graves as trustee, conveying such lands to him, for the use of Ora O. Buford, wife of said Legrand G. Buford, as her sole and separate property, free from the control of her said husband and from liability for his debts, was not executed by tbe statute of uses, in her, during coverture and the lifetime of said Ora O. Buford, so as to enable her to sell, or convey by deed of trust, such undivided fourth interest in the lands thereby conveyed, during such coverture, except by and through her trustee, at her request and direction, expressed in [7]*7writing, as prescribed and provided for in such deed to said Graves as trustee.

3d. The court declares the proper construction of the deed of trust from Legrand G. Buford and wife to Irvin Zeysing, as trustee, of date November 15th, 1875, to secure the payment of the debt of said Legrand G. Buford to said Irvin Zeysing, Sr., to be, that such deed of trust only conveys to said Irvin Zeysing, Jr., all of the interest of said Legrand G. Buford in the undivided estate of the late Legrand G. Buford and all of his, said Legrand G. Buford’s interest in the dower of his mother, Eusebia N. Buford, in said lands therein described and referred to, and does not convey nor purport to convey the interest of said Ora O. Buford in such lands.

4th. The court on its motion declares the law as follows: The deed from Legrand G. Buford to Alexander Graves for the use of Ora O. Buford, was sufficient to divest the said Legrand G. Buford of any and all rights as tenant by the courtesy in the lands therein described; and on the death of said Ora O. Buford, the title to said lands vested absolutely in her heirs in fee simple.

The trial court entered a decree in favor of the Bufords, and after proper steps the Zeysing heirs brought the case to this court.

I.

The legal title being in Graves and the equitable title in Ora O. Buford, the first question is, did the act of Ora C. Buford in .executing the deed of trust carry the title to the land. The deed to the trustee commanded him, at the request and direction of Mrs. Buford, expressed in writing, to “bargain, sell, mortgage, convey, lease, rent, convey by deed of trust for any purpose or otherwise dispose of” the property, and the Bufords now claim that while it is true that a feme covert is absolutely a feme sole with respect to her separate [8]

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

Related

Monette Road Improvement District v. Dudley
222 S.W. 59 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1920)
Barber v. Nunn
205 S.W. 14 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1918)
Freeman v. Maxwell
170 S.W. 1150 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1914)
Ellis v. Springfield-Southwestern Railway Co.
109 S.W. 74 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1908)
Kendrick v. Modern Woodmen
109 S.W. 805 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1908)
Zeis v. St. Louis Brewing Ass'n
104 S.W. 99 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1907)
Jenkins v. Emmons
94 S.W. 812 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1906)
Kilcullen v. Metropolitan Life Insurance
82 S.W. 966 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1904)
Ball v. Woolfolk
75 S.W. 410 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1903)
Koerner v. Wilkinson
70 S.W. 509 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1902)
Scannell v. American Soda Fountain Co.
61 S.W. 889 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1901)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
51 S.W. 720, 151 Mo. 1, 1899 Mo. LEXIS 292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryland-v-banks-mo-1899.