Snyder v. Greendale Land Co.

91 N.E. 819, 48 Ind. App. 178, 1910 Ind. App. LEXIS 24
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 20, 1910
DocketNo. 7,006
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 91 N.E. 819 (Snyder v. Greendale Land Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Snyder v. Greendale Land Co., 91 N.E. 819, 48 Ind. App. 178, 1910 Ind. App. LEXIS 24 (Ind. Ct. App. 1910).

Opinion

Comstock, J.

Appellee instituted this suit against appellants to quiet title to certain real estate in Dearborn county, Indiana. Issues were formed by a complaint in two [180]*180paragraphs — to each of which a demurrer for want of facts was overruled — and an answer in general denial. The cause was tried by the court, and upon request a special finding of facts was made, and conclusions of law were stated thereon.

In brief, the facts as shown by the special findings, so far as material here, are that appellee is an Indiana corporation; that Joseph Hayes, a resident of Dearborn county, Indiana, died testate on February 3, 1875, the owner and in possession of certain real estate in said county; that said Hayes executed his last will and testament on January 16, 1875; that said will (a copy of which is set out) was duly probated and recorded; that Nancy Hayes was testator’s surviving widow; that she died intestate on May 17, 1875; that she possessed and had the use of said real estate from the death of Joseph Hayes until her death; that on January 11,1875, said Joseph and Nancy Hayes caused to be drafted, signed and duly acknowledged a deed of conveyance of the real estate described in the complaint to their daughter, Priscilla Garrison, and to her children and their descendants; that said Hayes placed said deed in the hands of John Schwartz for safe-keeping, with directions to said Schwartz to deliver said deed to said Priscilla Garrison; that said deed was so kept until after the death of Joseph Hayes, when it was delivered to, and accepted by, said Priscilla Garrison, and placed of record in the proper records of Dearborn county, Indiana, on February 20, 1875; that said deed was the deed mentioned in item three of the will of said Joseph Hayes, as set out in the special finding, and that said Schwartz was the John Schwartz mentioned in the will; that said Priscilla Garrison entered into the possession of said real estate, and continued to occupy it until November 15, 1901, when she and her husband, Lewis Garrison, Sr., one of the defendants, and all the surviving children of said Priscilla Garrison, except her son Calvin Suit, who had conveyed his interest to one of the grantors named therein, executed a warranty deed to William H. 0 ’Brien for the real [181]*181estate described in. the complaint; that after a succession of transfers said property was conveyed by warranty deed to appellee, Greendale Land Company, and that it has ever since been in possession thereof; that at the death of said Joseph Hayes, said Priscilla had no children, excepting certain of the defendants in this suit and a son, Charles Suit, since deceased; that said Charles Suit died intestate, unmarried, on September 25, 1876; that at the date of the death of said Priscilla Garrison’s father, she had m> children married; that at the date of her death she left certain grandchildren and certain great-grandchildren surviving her.

Upon the facts found the court states its conclusions of law as follows: ‘ That plaintiff is the owner, in fee, of the real estate described in the complaint, and that as against defendants and each of them it is entitled to have its title thereto quieted.”

Appellants separately and severally excepted to said conclusions of law, and filed their separate and several motions for a new trial, which were overruled, and a decree was entered in accordance with the conclusions of law stated.

The questions raised render it pertinent to set out a part of the language of the will and the deed in controversy. Said will reads, in part, as follows:

“Item 3. Whereas I (Joseph Hayes) and my wife, Nancy Hayes, conveyed to each of our children and the descendants of such as are dead certain portions of my real estate, * * * for the purpose of making division among my heirs of the principal part of my real estate, * * * which were and are intended for immediate delivery to them and for recording thereof and are now in the hands of John Schwartz for delivery to the parties and for safe-keeping until delivered, I therefore now here will, that whatever lands I have so conveyed and delivered the deed therefor to said John Swartz for safekeeping and delivery to the grantees as aforesaid, shall be their respective portions * ® * of my real estate, * * * and I hereby make these deeds by reference to them a part of this my will, and have also added to the clause partial memoranda.”

[182]*182Here is added memoranda of the lands conveyed to certain parties named therein. Each memorandum recites:

“Memoranda of the lands conveyed by my deed to -for life, with remainder to (her) children. * * * ‘ * Item 4. I give * * * to my beloved wife, Nancy Hayes, if she survives, for and during the term of her natural life, all of my real estate not deeded to our children and their descendants, as íd item three set forth. * * * Item 6. I give and bequeath all such residue as may be left by my wife [after all expenses and debts are paid] to all my children and the descendants of such as may be dead (they to receive the parts respectively which their parents would have received if alive), to be distributed equally between them.”

The language of said deed is, in part, as follows:

“This indenture made January 11, 1875, witnesseth that, in consideration, * * * we, Joseph Hayes and his wife, Nancy Hayes, of Dearborn county, Indiana, do hereby * * * convey unto said Priscilla Garrison for and during the time of her natural life, and upon her demise to the children of said Priscilla Garrison and their descendants who may be alive at the time of the death of said Priscilla Garrison, their heirs and assigns forever the following described real estate,” etc.

Appellants insist that the language of the deed, before set out, gives to appellants, who are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of said Priscilla Garrison, and who were alive at the time of her death, an equal share with the children as grantees and members of the same class; that the language is plain and unambiguous, leaving no room for construction; that the words “heirs” and “descendants” are not equivalent terms. On the other hand it is contended by appellee that the word “and” in the words “and their descendants,” means “or;” that the word “descendants” as used here means the issue of a deceased child or children of Priscilla Garrison, and is a word of limitation and not of purchase; that the deed and the will must be construed together.

[183]*1831. [182]*182Where a freehold is limited to one for life, and by the [183]*183same instrument the inheritance is limited, either mediately or immediately, to heirs of the body, the first taker takes the whole estate either in fee simple or fee tail; and “heirs,” or “heirs of the body,” are words of limitation and not of purchase. This is a well-settled proposition of law in this State. McIlhinny v. McIlhinny (1894), 137 Ind. 411, 24 L. R. A. 489, 45 Am. St. 186, and cases cited.

In the case of Smith v. Smith (1885), 24 S. C. 304, the court, in construing a like provision, said: “As we understand it, the principle is that where the remainder is given to the very persons who would without such remainder take by descent from the life tenant, they shall be held to take by descent, and not by purchase.”

2.

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

Related

Riepe v. Riepe
91 P.3d 312 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2004)
Blochowitz v. Blochowitz
266 N.W. 644 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1936)
In re the Estate of Morningstar
143 Misc. 620 (New York Surrogate's Court, 1932)
Porter v. Wainright
139 A. 394 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1927)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
91 N.E. 819, 48 Ind. App. 178, 1910 Ind. App. LEXIS 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/snyder-v-greendale-land-co-indctapp-1910.