Strawn v. Brady

1921 OK 399, 202 P. 505, 84 Okla. 66, 1921 Okla. LEXIS 390
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 29, 1921
Docket10239
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 1921 OK 399 (Strawn v. Brady) 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
Strawn v. Brady, 1921 OK 399, 202 P. 505, 84 Okla. 66, 1921 Okla. LEXIS 390 (Okla. 1921).

Opinion

KENNAMER, J.

The plaintiff in error George W. Strawn instituted this action in the district court of Okmulgee county against A. 0. Brady -et al., alleging owner-) ship of an undivided one-half interest and the right of possession to 160 acres of land allotted to William Francis, a Creek Indian.

The allottee of the -lands in controversy, William Francis, died 'in the year 1905, and left surviving him Annie Francis, now Harris, his wife, and four children; two of the children having died subsequent to the death of their father. Mack Francis and Elizabeth Francis, children of the deceased allottee, William Francis, -and his widow, Annie Francis, now Harris, after the death of the two children of the said William Francis, the same having died without issue and unmarried, are the sole and only surviving heirs at law of the deceased allottee, Wlilliam Fnamcis. The said -Mack Francis and Elizabeth Francis inherited the lands of their deceased father, William Francis, subject to the dower interest of Annie Francis, now Harris, surviving wife of William Francis, deceased.

Numerous parties were made defendants by reason of various conveyances having been executed by Mack Francis purporting to convey bis undivided one-half interest in the lands, which he -had inherited from his deceased father, but it appears now from tbe reeprd in this cause that the issues to' be determined, on account of various settlements having been made between the defendants in the action, exist only between the plaintiff George W. Strawn, A. 0. Brady, and Anna Harris; that Strawn asserts title and ownership to an undivided one-half interest in the land in controversy under a guardian’s 'deed! executed January 25, 1910, by James H. Kennedy, as legal guardian of Mack Francis, alleged to be a minor, pursuant to an order of the county court *68 of Wagoner county, wherein Kennedy, as guardian of Mack Francis, conveyed the land in controversy to T. 0. Casaver and Casaver conveyed by deed the land to the plaintiff, George ' W. Strawn.

The defendant A. 0. Brady asserts ownership to an undivided one-lialf interest in the lands under various deeds executed by Mack Francis to himself and other defendants in the cause, and the defendant Brady acquired the interest of other defendants by settlement with them, but Brady relies principally upon a deed executed by Mack Francis on the 18th day of November, 1909, purporting to convey the lands to him.

The surviving wife, Annie Francis, now Harris, was made a party defendant, and filed answer and cross-petition asserting that she is the surviving wife of the deceased allottee, and is entitled to the dower in the lands under the laws of the state of Arkansas then in force in the Indian Territory.

It appears from the record that A. C. Brady, one of the defendants in said cause, introduced in evidence various deeds executed by Annie Francis, now Harris, but that the deeds introduced were, never approved by the Secretary of the Interior nor the county court having jurisdiction over the estate of William Francis, the deceased allottee; that Annie Francis, now Harris, is -a full-blood C-reek Indian. The canse was submitted to a jury under instructions by the court which submitted the issue as to the age of Mack Francis, whether a minor or adult at the time, he executed the deed to A. O. Brady on November 8, 1909, and the right of possession to the lands in controversy in general. A general verdict was returned in favor of the defendant Brady, and the court entered judgment approving and ratifying the verdict of the jury and decreeing the defendant A. 0. Brady to be the owner in fee simple of an undivided one-lialf interest in the lands in controversy.

Motions for new trials were filed by the plaintiffs, George W. .Strawn and J. C. Casaver, who had been made a party plaintiff to prosecute the -action for the use and benefit of George W. Strawn, and by the defendant Annie Harris, which motions for new trial were on the 25th day of March, 1918, overruled by the court and exceptions' allowed. Notice of appeal was given by Strawn, Casaver, and Annie Harris.

A case-made was filed in this court by the plaintiffs in error Strawn and Casaver on the 25th day of September, 1918. The defendant Annie Harris filed a cross-petition in error on the 27th day of September, 1918, attached to the case-made filed by plaintiffs in error. A motion has been filed to dismiss the petition in error and cross-appeal of the defendant Annie Harris upon the ground that her petition in error was not filed within six months from the date of the judgment and order overruling her motion for new trial.

The plaintiff in error Strawn has assigned numerous errors as grounds for a reversal of the cause. Counsel for the plaintiff in error Strawn insist that the defense made by the defendant A. ’C. Brady in the trial of this cause - was a collateral attack upon the judgment of the county, court of Wagoner county decreeing the sale of the lands in cbntroversy and the order confirming the sale by said court; that the probate proceedings were in all things regular and valid and vested Casaver, th.e purchaser at said guardianship sale, with title to the land, and are impervious to Brady’s attack made in the trial of the cause; that the decree of sale was an adjudication that the county court had jurisdiction of Mack Francis, as a minor, and of his estate, and that (he adjudication by said court that said Mack Francis was a minor and that the lauds decreed to lie sold belonged to his estate is binding upon the world.

The record discloses that the plaintiff Strawn, in the trial of this cause, introduced in .evidence a guardian’s deed and the probate proceedings under which the guardian, Kennedy, of the estate of Mack Francis had sold the lands to Casaver, and the deed by Casaver lo Strawn and rested his case. Defendant Brady introduced the testimony of various witnesses to .establish the exact, birth date ’of Mack Francis, and the enrollment record. The enrollment record disclosed that Mack Francis was enrolled as a member of the Creek Tribe of Indians of the one-half blood and was ten years of age on the date of enrollment, April 6, 1899. The enrollment record did not disclose the birth date- of Mack Francis. The plaintiff Strawn objected to all of the testimony, including the enrollment record, tending to establish the exact date on which Mack Francis became of age, contending that, it was a collateral attack upon the judgment of the county court of Wagoner county in establishing the birth date of Mack Francis. for the reason that the c.ounty court of Wagoner county decreed that it had jurisdiction of Mack Francis and his estate and that its judgment could not be impeached by showing that Mack Francis w*as of age *69 and not a minor on tlie date of the decree of sale and the execution ot the guardian's deed pursuant thereto.

There is no merit in this contention. If Mack Francis was fa fact 21 years of age on November 8, 1909, the date .he executed a deed to A. C. Brady, and being unrestricted Indian, lie conveyed all of his right, title, and interest in and to the lands in controversy to A. 0. Brady. If he.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1921 OK 399, 202 P. 505, 84 Okla. 66, 1921 Okla. LEXIS 390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/strawn-v-brady-okla-1921.