State v. Alford

175 S.W.2d 678
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedNovember 18, 1943
DocketNo. 11566.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 175 S.W.2d 678 (State v. Alford) 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
State v. Alford, 175 S.W.2d 678 (Tex. Ct. App. 1943).

Opinion

MONTEITH, Chief Justice.

This suit was brought by the State of Texas in regular form of trespass to try title for the recovery from numerous defendants of 147 acres of land situated in Rusk County, Texas, alleged to be un-surveyed public land of the State of Texas.

S. E. Damon, who claimed an interest in said land under a mineral lease from the State, was originally named a party defendant. Later Trem Carr and A. B. Carr, individually and as trustee, intervened, claiming a leasehold interest therein as assignees of S. E. Damon. By cross-action, they asserted their claim to the land in controversy under his lease from the State.

Defendants, Stanolind Oil & Gas Company and others, appellees herein, answered by defensive pleas and by cross-action in form of trespass to try title in which they attacked the validity of a corrected patent of the H. B. Dance survey and specially pled the facts alleged to show that said corrected patent was void and that it constituted no part of their chain of title.

*679 The case was tried before the court with a jury. At the conclusion of the evidence both appellants and appellees filed their separate motions for an instructed verdict. The court granted appellees’ motion and rendered judgment in favor of ap-pellees, denying recovery of the land in controversy to the State of Texas and to Trem Carr and A. B. Carr, quieting appel-lees’ title to the land in controversy and decreeing that a corrected patent of the H. B. Dance survey which had been issued October 11, 1860, was null and void and removing it as a cloud upon the estate of appellees. The court allowed an attorney appointed to represent the unknown heirs of Jas. A. S. Parsons a fee of $1,000, said fee to be assessed as costs of the suit.

The State of Texas and Trem Carr and A. B. Carr have appealed.

This suit involves the location on the ground of the Francisco Cordova league survey and the H. B. Dance 640-acre survey as originally located on January 9, 1849, and patented on November 21, 1851.

The Cordova league survey was titled on August 26, 1835, to Francisco Cordova under field notes made by the surveyor, Thomas J. Golightly, which called for a survey 5,000 varas square.

On September 30, 1835, Francisco Cor-dova conveyed the entire Cordova league to one Frost Thorne. In 1844 Frost Thorne employed a surveyor, Frederick Ham, to make a resurvey of said league of land. In making such survey Ham located its south line as originally established by Golightly, but located its north line ,at a point called for as being 5,000 varas north of its south line but between three and four hundred varas short of the north line as established by Golightly.

On February 8, 1838, certificate No. 223 for a one-third league of land was issued by the Republic of Texas to H. B. Dance. On January 11, 1848, H. B. Dance assigned said certificate to James A. S. Parsons. On January 9, 1849, A. J. Smith, deputy district surveyor of Rusk County, surveyed 640 acres out of said certificate for Parsons, ,and on November 21, 1851, patent 235 was issued to him therefor. Said certificate No. 223 was later exhausted by the issuance of additional patents. The position on the ground of the said H. B. Dance 640 acre survey as originally patented is undisputed. It was patented under the following field notes:

■ “Beginning at a mound the north west corner of Francisco Cordova’s League;

“Thence north 1,900 vs. to post from which a pine 14 in. diam. bears S. 10 W. 4⅜0 vs.dis a pine 10 in diam bears N 10 E 5¾ vs.dis;

“Thence East 1,870 vs to branch course north 1,900 vs to post from which a pine 30 in diam bears N 72 W 1¾0 vs.dis. a pine 12 in diam bears N 81 E 8 vs.dis;

“Thence South 1,900 vs to post on the north boundary line of said Francisco Cor-dova’s League from which a pine 12 in diam bears S 75 E 3¾0 vs dis a pine 12 in diam bears N 23 E 7¾0 vs. dis;

“Thence west with said north boundary line 1,900 vs to the beginning.”

It is admitted by the parties to the suit that these field notes include the land in controversy.

It is undisputed that the accepted south line of the Cordova league is 6,930 varas south of the undisputed and accepted north line of the Dance survey, a difference of only 30 varas between the combined north and south lines of the two surveys as called for in their original field notes, and that a patented area extended from the admitted south line of the Cordova league to the admitted north line of the Dance 640-acre survey as originally patented.

On January 9, 1849, A. J. Smith, deputy district surveyor of Rusk Comity, also located the S. P. Hollingsworth survey. The field notes of the Hollingsworth survey calls for its beginning corner on the north boundary line of the Cordova league at the southeast corner of the H. B. Dance survey and to run thence 2,713 varas with the Cordova north boundary line to southwest corner of the John M. Barton survey. It is undisputed that the line called for as being the north boundary line of the Cordova league, the admitted south lines of the Dance and Hollingsworth surveys, is the line located by Ham in 1844 as the north line of the Cordova league and that there was a difference of between 400 and 500 varas between the Ham line and the north line of the Cordova league as located by Golightly.

The land in controversy is described by appellants as “Beginning at the southwest corner of the S. P. Hollingsworth Survey as patented and now recognized on the ground * * *. Thence West with the North line of the F. Cordova League as now recognized on the ground 1,976.7 varas *680 stake * * * at the Northwest corner of said Cordova League .as now recognized on the ground; Thence N. O deg. 18 min. E. 420.2 varas a stake at the Southwest corner of the H. B. Dance Survey 1,515 varas from its Northwest corner, according to its re-patent in 1860; Thence E. 1,975.5 varas a stake at the Southeast corner of the said Dance Survey in the West line of the S. P. Hollingsworth Survey; Thence South O deg. 8 min. West 420.2 varas to the place of beginning.”

It is apparent from this description that the land involved herein is either a part of the patented area of the Francisco Cor-dova league survey or the H. B. Dance 640-acre survey as originally located under said patent 235.

On December 18, 1852, James A. S. Parsons, by the identical field notes under which the original H. B. Dance 640-acre patent was issued, conveyed said 640 acres of land to William Harnage by general warranty deed. The land described in this deed includes the vacancy involved in this suit. Plarnage immediately went into possession of the land and built a house thereon, which is standing today. The house is located 395.15 varas north of the Ham line and is within the apparert conflict between the Cordova league as located by Go-lightly and the original H. B. Dance survey.

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Bluebook (online)
175 S.W.2d 678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-alford-texapp-1943.