Stoutamire v. Parramore

29 Fla. Supp. 177
CourtCircuit Court of the 2nd Judicial Circuit of Florida, Leon County
DecidedAugust 2, 1965
DocketNo. 16580
StatusPublished

This text of 29 Fla. Supp. 177 (Stoutamire v. Parramore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court of the 2nd Judicial Circuit of Florida, Leon County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stoutamire v. Parramore, 29 Fla. Supp. 177 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1965).

Opinion

BEN C. WILLIS, Circuit Judge.

Supplementary final decree: This cause came on for further consideration by the court on the pleadings and evidence and argument of counsel having been heard, and the court being fully advised, it is further ordered, adjudged and decreed —

(1) The remaining issue to be resolved is the ownership of a strip lying between the line of an old fence (and as it would be extended) and the east line of the paper boundaries of lands to which the plaintiffs have color of title, in Section 15, Tp IS, R 4W. The plaintiffs have color of title, derived from several sources and at different times, to lands in this section which purport to set the eastern boundary at the west boundary of the E/2 of the SE^4 and the west boundary of the E/4 oí the W/2 of the NE*4- This would thus consist of a line running north for a half mile from the SW corner of the W/2 of the SE^4, and then it would effect a jog westward 330 feet and run thence due north to the waters of Lake Talquin.

(2) The plaintiffs claim this by virtue of adverse possession under color of title together with the operation of various statutes of limitations and repose, and superior title otherwise. The defendants claim to have record title arising out of a deed, dated February 11, 1860, recorded May 29, 1870 in Deed Book “P” page 298, from John Beard, Receiver, to Green B. Hopkins, which purports to convey “the remainder not heretofore sold” in said Section 15. The grantor in this deed was the receiver in court proceedings involving the Apalachicola Land Company, which had acquired the “Forbes Purchase” including this Section 15. This deed appears to have been the earliest record conveyance of lands in Section 15. This deed purports to convey also the “remainder not heretofore sold” of the lands in Sections 10, 11 and 14 of Tp IS, R 4W. It recites the area to consist of 1,205 acres. The defendants also claim adverse possession and superior title otherwise.

(3) The deed to Green B. Hopkins is thus obviously not adequate in and of itself to identify the lands actually conveyed. Its clear intent is to vest in the grantee such lands in the named sections which the grantor, or his predecessors in title, had not previously “sold”. What would be embraced within the term [180]*180“sold” is also not free from ambiguity, as this might be construed as sales evidenced by record conveyances or sales evidenced by executed and delivered deeds not necessarily recorded, or sales evidenced by contracts of sale and purchase, or even informal and unenforceable agreements of sale which the grantor would deem to constitute a commitment.

(4) The pole star of construction of an ambiguous deed is the intention of the parties and this may be ascertained by a consideration of all of the circumstances at the time and also subsequent events which may shed light on the intentions. It is at once obvious that the intent of the parties in a transaction more than 100 years ago is not susceptible to contemporary testimony. The court is thus largely forced to rely upon evidences of the actions of involved persons who probably were influenced by the expressed and understood intentions of the parties.

(5) The court may take judicial notice of well known and accepted historical facts, even though such are closely localized. It is well known to the bench and bar of this circuit, which has regularly been confronted with the legal implications of the “Forbes Purchase”, of the vesting of title to these lands in the Apalachicola Land Company, the receivership of this company, the appointment of John Beard as receiver, and the extent of his dispositions of the company lands. Most of the essential facts are documented by court records and recorded instruments. However, it is also well known that during this period it was a frequent occurrence that fully executed and delivered deeds would not be brought to the clerk for recording. The country was sparsely settled, exact boundaries of lands were not usually regarded as important, many of the settlers were uninformed of the desirability of recording and some did not deem it worth the expense. Generally a land owner knew his approximate boundaries, also well knew his neighbors and what their holdings were. With that background it is logical to turn to the evidences of what the predecessors in their chain of title seem to have regarded as theirs.

(6) The recorded conveyances down to the death of Green B. Hopkins are not helpful in identifying the extent of his holdings, except that he executed some conveyances to lands in the section which are not involved in the issues now under consideration. Also there are some deeds out of Beard to lands in the section not presently involved. One Simon Ulmer is shown to have [181]*181acquired several parcels of Section 15 land and out of his estate there was issued in 1878 a commissioner’s deed, in partition proceedings among the heirs, to one William Dennyx, which constitutes the first of a chain which casts on the plaintiffs color of title to a large part of the area in question. As early as 1880, the tract which Dennyx purported to have acquired was the subject of a deed to Daniel Stoutamire, an ancestor of plaintiff J. J. Stoutamire. Through the chain of this and subsequent muniments of title, the plaintiffs acquired whatever interest Dennyx had. These particular instruments purport to embrace an area which would place its eastern boundary on a line which would coincide with that claimed by the plaintiffs in this suit, but it only extends to the southeast corner of the NW*4 of the SE%. In brief the eastern boundary of the Dennyx tract (1878) is: the east boundary of the NW*4 of the SE*4 and east boundary of the W3/4 of W/a of NE1^.

(7) At sometime prior to March 7,1887 Green B. Hopkins died leaving some ten heirs, one of whom was William H. Hopkins. In proceedings in his estate there was a petition by William H. Hopkins, as administrator of his father’s estate, “to sell all the real estate belonging to the estate of said deceased”, situated in Leon County. It then described such lands and, with reference to Section 15, set forth only the El/2 of NE% and E/2 of SE*4. This petition was followed by an order directing the sale of the same described land, the conduct of a public sale pursuant to notice, report of the appointed commissioner that sale had been made to William H. Hopkins, and an order confirming the sale and directing issuance of deed to vest title in this purchaser upon compliance with the terms of sale. No deed of record has been exhibited, but for the purposes of this case it may be assumed that William H. Hopkins did thus acquire the title to the E/2 of Ey2 of Section 15. The evidence shows that he lived upon and occupied lands, of which this area in Section 15 (Ey2 of Ej/2) would be a part, until his death in 1938.

(8) A conveyance from J. D. Stoutamire to plaintiff J. J. Stoutamire executed and recorded in 1916 purported to convey lands which would indicate an eastern boundary coinciding with the east boundary of W/2 of SE^.. The tract thus described was a right angle triangle with the base consisting of the east boundary of W/2 of SE*4 and the hypotenuse as a diagonal line running from NWj4 of SW*4 of Section 15 to the southeast comer of SW*4 of SE*4.

[182]*182(9) The Bennyx tract (1878) and the J. B. Stoutamire tract (1916) thus serve to give paper color of title evidence to define the eastern boundary of the lands claimed by the plaintiffs.

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Bluebook (online)
29 Fla. Supp. 177, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stoutamire-v-parramore-flacirct2leo-1965.