Sharpe v. Wright

1922 OK 289, 211 P. 70, 88 Okla. 16, 1922 Okla. LEXIS 310
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 26, 1922
Docket10827
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1922 OK 289 (Sharpe v. Wright) 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
Sharpe v. Wright, 1922 OK 289, 211 P. 70, 88 Okla. 16, 1922 Okla. LEXIS 310 (Okla. 1922).

Opinion

NICHOLSON, J.

This is a suit to quiet title to certain real estate situate in Mabel, MeCurtain county, brought by James A. Sharpe and B. L. Sharpe against F. H. Wright. Since the appeal was lodged in this, court F. H. Wright died, and the cause has been revived in the name of Ray Wright, executrix and legatee of F. H. Wright, deceased.

It appears that F. H. Wright was president and James A. Sharpe was cashier of the Ida-bel State Bank. Wright resided at El Reno; Sharpe resided at Idabel, and was in charge of the bank. iSharpe and one Claude Parham entered into a partnership and engaged in the business of buying and selling horses. Sharpe, as cashier of the hank, loaned Par-ham various sums of the bank’s money during the existence of such partnership, and also loaned funds o l the bank to various parties with which to purchase horses from the firm of Barham and Sharpe; the profits derived from the sale of horses being divided equally between Claude Parham and James A. Sharpe. iSharpe deposited his share of the profits in an account in said bank known as “J. A. Sharpe,. Special.” iSharpe purchased the property in controversy from one A. J. Ethredge for the sum of $850, and the property was conveyed to Sharpe by deed dated July 24, 1912. At about this time the account designated “J. A. Sharpe, 'Special,” was charged with two checks, one for $500 *17 and the other for $350. Sharpe testified that he paid Ethredge in two payments. The deed was not recorded promptly, but was held by Sharpe. Thereafter it was by Wright discovered' that Sharpe had been loaning money to various parties with which to purchase horses from Parham and 'Sharpe, and that some of the notes taken were of little or no value. Wright complained of Sharpe’s action in this regard, whereupon on December 17, 1912, Sharpe wired Wright to come to Idabel at once, and bring a man to take charge of the bank; tha't he would find a letter in the safe. In this letter from Sharpe to Wright, Sharpe stated that he inclosed therewith the unrecorded deed to the property, and had changed the name af the grantee therein from himself to Wright so that Wright might use the property to cover the losses occasioned by bad loans made by Sharpe. The deed was inclosed as stated, and shows that Sharpe’s name had been erased and Wright’s inserted. At this time Sharpe and his wife had never occupied the premises. 'Sharpe left Idabel, but later returned and resumed Ms duties in the bank. Thereafter P. H. Wright and wife conveyed said property to the Idabel State Bank. After 'Sharpe returned to Idabel, the premises were rented to him by the bank, and he and his wife took possession thereof and paid rent therefor for some time.

In September, 1914, E. H. Wright, as president, signed and acknowledged a blank deed and left i't in the bank and afterwards Sharpe, without the knowledge or consent of Wright, filled out the deed by inserting the name of the bank as grantor and his own name as grantee, and by writing the name of the bank over 'the signature of Wright as president, affixed the corporate seal of the bank, attested the same as secretary, had the acknowledgment changed from an individual to a corporate form and filed the same for record. On February 8, 1915, Sharpe and wife conveyed said property 'to one J. F. Kirby, and on said day, Kirby and wife reconveyed the property to B. L. 'Sharpe, the wife of James A. Sharpe; these conveyances being without consideration. Afterwards, the Idabel State Bank conveyed the property to F. H. Wrigh't for a consideration actually paid of $964.12, which amount was approximately the amount of the losses sustained by the bank because of bad loans made by Sharpe to purchase horses of Parham and Sharpe.

Sharpe testified that F. H. Wright paid the bank the aforesaid sum at the time the property w¿s conveyed to Sharpe by the bank, but does not explain why Wright was paying for property for him. The trial court found against the plaintiffs and entered judgment in favor of F. H. Wrigh't, quieting the title to said property in him, in accordance with the prayer of his answer and cross-petition, and it is this action of the trial court of which plaintiffs in error complain.

The ’trial court held that the plaintiffs were estopped to assert any. change made by them in the deed from Ethredge, and that the funds which were used to purchase the property from Ethredge were funds belonging to the Idabel State Bank, and were’ procured from said bank by James A. 'Sharpe while he was cashier thereof, said funds being obtained by loaning money of said bank to persons to purchase chattels in which Sharpe held an interest, and that he was entitled to no profits from the investment of trust funds. The plaintiffs insist that they were not estopped to assert the alteration of the deed from Ethredge to Sharpe, for the reason that the property was acquired as a homestead, and that it could only be alienated by both the husband and wife joining in the conveyance thereof.

The property was purchased by 'Sharpe in July, 1912; the change of the name of the grantee in the Ethredge deed was made in December, 1912. The Sharpes did not occupy the property at that time, and, in fact, never went into possession thereof as the owners, but did, in February or March, 1913, move into the property as tenants of the bank; they never claimed to be the owners of the property until' after Sharpe filled out the blank deed executed by Wright and placed the same of record.

While the homestead character may be impressed upon premises wtihout actual occupancy, if the claimant has a fixed intention to make a home thereon and evidences such intention by overt acts of preparing the same for a home, yet the actual occupancy of the land or an attempt in good faith to occupy the same must follow the overt acts of preparation without unreasonable delay. Davis v. First State Bank of Idabel, 65 Okla. 211, 166 Pac. 92; Harris v. Cherokee State Bank, 82 Okla. 151, 198 Pac. 878. The plaintiffs not having occupied the property prior to the change in the deed, and making no claim of ownership until after September 9, 1914, cannot now be heard to say that the property was their homestead in December, 1912, when Sharpe -attempted to convey the property to Wright by inserting Wright’s name as grantee in the Ethredge deed. The homestead character, if it could exist at all under the facts, had not attached at that time

*18 The plaintiffs in error, to make out their ease, were required to prove title in 'them-elves. They pleaded a deed from Ethredge to 'Sharpe, but when they offered rhe deed in evidence, the name of Wright appeared as the grantee therein. The plaintiffs then offered evidence to show that the deed had been by James A. Sharpe altered by erasing h.s name and inserting the name ot F. H. Wright as grantee. This alteration was made by Sharpe voluntarily and without fraud, misapprehension, or mistake. It has been repeatedly held that when the grantee has voluntarily and without any misapprehension, fraud, or mistake destroyed or consented to the destruction of 'the deed wil h a view of reinvesting rhe title in the grant- or, he is not permitted to show the contents of the deed so destroyed by parol evidence. Farrar v. Farrar (N. H.) 17 Am. Dec. 410; Mussey v. Holt (N. H.) 55 Am. Dec. 234; Speer v. Speer (Ind.) 62 Am. Dec. 418; Parker v. Kane, 4 Wis. 1, 65 Am. Dec. 283; Howard v. Huffman (Tenn.) 75 Am. Dec. 783.

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

Related

Lane v. Flowers
1935 OK 758 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Douglas v. State
1935 OK CR 51 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1935)
Commercial Drilling Co. v. Kennedy
1935 OK 232 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Enosburg Falls Savings Bank & Trust Co. v. McKinney
1935 OK 64 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
Herren v. Herren
1931 OK 468 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1931)
Jefferson v. Henderson
1929 OK 449 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1929)
Garret v. Getzendaner
242 P. 525 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1925)
Storm v. Garnett
1924 OK 620 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1924)
Osmon v. Payton
1923 OK 925 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1923)
Galion Iron Works & Mfg. Co. v. State Industrial Commission
1923 OK 144 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1923)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1922 OK 289, 211 P. 70, 88 Okla. 16, 1922 Okla. LEXIS 310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sharpe-v-wright-okla-1922.