Simpson v. Scroggins

81 S.W. 1129, 182 Mo. 560, 1904 Mo. LEXIS 189
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJune 14, 1904
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 81 S.W. 1129 (Simpson v. Scroggins) 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
Simpson v. Scroggins, 81 S.W. 1129, 182 Mo. 560, 1904 Mo. LEXIS 189 (Mo. 1904).

Opinion

FOX, J.

This appeal comes here from a judgment rendered in partition of certain lands claimed by parties plaintiff and defendant.

The petition in this cause is as follows, to-wit:

“Now comes the plaintiff, James G. Simpson, and for amended petition, states that Jesse Scroggins died in Polk county, Missouri, testate, on or about July —, 1872, seized and possessed in fee of the following described land, to-wit: The northeast quarter of section 15, and seventeen acres on the north side of Slagle creek in the northwest quarter of southeast quarter, and three acres and eighty perches in the southeast comer of the southeast quarter of northwest quarter in section 15, all in township 32, range 23, Polk county, Missouri.
“That said Jesse Scroggins, deceased, left surviving him as his only heirs, a widow, Sarah O. Scroggins, and ten children, viz., Granville, Houston L., B. Wils, Peter, Wesley, and Matilda Scroggins, and Clementine Hensley, Martha E. Hensley, Mary J. Gowtey, and Margaret C. Wiley, all of lawful age, but Matilda Scroggins, a defendant herein, is now of unsound mind and incapable of attending to ordinary business.
“That nine of said children and heirs have by general warranty deeds conveyed all their undivided interests in said 180 acres of land, and the plaintiff, James G. Simpson, is the present owner in fee, by purchase, of such nine-tenths interest therein, subject in part to the life estate of said widow, a defendant herein.
“That the defendant, Matilda Scroggins, one of said heirs, still owns a one-tenth interest in said 180 acres of [564]*564land in section 15, township 32, range 23, subject to the life interest of said widow, Sarah C. Scroggins.
“That said Jesse Scroggins at the time of his death also owned and occupied as his family homestead the southeast quarter of southwest quarter and the southwest quarter of southeast quarter of section 10, township 32, range 23, adjoining the north half of said northeast quarter of section 15, township 32, range 23, Polk county, Missouri.
“That for over twenty years after the death of said Jesse Scroggins, his said widow, Sarah C. Scroggins, continued to reside upon and make her home in the dwelling house on or about the center of said eighty acres of land in said section 10, until some three years ago, when she moved upon said northeast quarter of said land in section 15, where she now resides, claiming a life estate therein under the will of her said deceased husband.
“Plaintiff further states that the interest of said Sarah O. Scroggins has been sold under a legal and valid judgment against her, and the plaintiff, by purchase, is now the legal owner of such interest in the south 100 acres o.f said land in section 15, township 32, range 23. That said Jesse Scroggins by his last will and testament devised to Sarah C. Scroggins, his widow, all his personal and real estate “during her natural life or widowhood.” That said will was filed and proven in the probate court of Polk county, Missouri, and letters testamentary issued upon the same to one Morris Mitchell, the executor therein named. That said Sarah C. Scrog-gins accepted the provisions of said will, took possession of all the real estate of which said Jesse Scroggins died seized, consisting of the 260 acres hereinbefore described and other lands, and used and collected rents from the same for many years.
“That the personal estate of said Jesse Scroggins, amounting to something over $800 in value, was turned over to the defendant, Sarah C. Scroggins, by order of [565]*565the probate court of Polk county, Missouri, under such will, and accepted by her in lieu of personal dower and homestead in her said husband’s estate.
“That the defendant, Sarah C. Scroggins, is now entitled to a life estate in the north half of northeast quarter of said section 15, township 32, range 23. That the defendant, Matilda Scroggins, is entitled to one-tenth interest in said 180 acres of land in said section 15, subject only to the life estate of said Sarah C. Scroggins in the north eighty acres thereof. That the plaintiff is entitled to a nine-tenths interest in the said 180 acres in said section 15, subject to the life interest of said widow in the said north half of the northeast quarter of said section 15, township 32, range 23.
“Wherefore, plaintiff asks that a guardian ad litem be appointed for the defendant, Matilda Scroggins, and that partition in kind be made of said 180 acres of land in section 15, township 32, range 23, between the parties herein, according to their respective rights and interests, and for such other legal and equitable relief as to the court may seem meet and proper. ’ ’

- Defendants filed separate answers, which for the purpose of disposing of this case need not be reproduced. At the August term, 1901, this cause- coming on to be heard, the court made the following order:

“Now at this day this cause coming on to be heard, all parties appear in person and by counsel and at the close of the testimony, the court being of the opinion and finding that Sarah C. Scroggins, as the widow of Jesse Scroggins, deceased, is entitled to homestead in the lands of which said Jesse Scroggins died seized, which includes the land described in plaintiff’s petition, to-wit: the northeast quarter of section 15, and seventeen acres on the north side of Slagle creek in the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 15 and three and 80-100 acres in.the southeast corner of southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 15, all in township 32, range 23, and also includes the southwest [566]*566quarter of the southeast quarter, and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 10, township 32, range 23, in Polk county, Missouri, and not included in plaintiff’s petition.
“It is therefore ordered by the court that G-. M. Botts, J. J. Akard and W. P. Bums he and are hereby appointed commissioners to set out to said Sarah O. Scroggins, as widow of Jesse Scroggins, a homestead in said lands, to-wit: The northeast quarter of section 15, and seventeen acres on the north side of Slagle creek in the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 15, and three and 80-100 acres in the southeast corner of the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 15 and the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 10, all in township 32, range 23, in Polk county, Missouri, said homestead not to exceed 160 acres in amount, and $1,500 in value, and said commissioners are instructed that in setting out said homestead they shall not consider any transfers or conveyances of the land since the death of said Jesse Scroggins, hut they shall set out said homestead in the same way they would if no conveyance of any of the land had been made since the death of Jesse Scroggins.
“It is further ordered that said commissioners make report of their proceedings under this order to this court on or before September 30, 1901. The clerk of this court is directed to make certified copies of this order to he by the sheriff delivered to each of the above-named commissioners. ’ ’

On September 30, 1901, the court made the following order, confirming the commissioners’ report setting out homestead to Sarah O.

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Related

Dalton v. Simpson
193 S.W. 546 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1917)
Blanchard v. Dorman
139 S.W. 395 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1911)
Proctor v. Board of Trustees of Methodist Episcopal Church
123 S.W. 862 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1909)
Wilson v. Deweese
100 S.W. 491 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1907)

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Bluebook (online)
81 S.W. 1129, 182 Mo. 560, 1904 Mo. LEXIS 189, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simpson-v-scroggins-mo-1904.