Temple Lumber Co. v. Pulliam

272 S.W. 587, 1925 Tex. App. LEXIS 417
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 30, 1925
DocketNo. 1132.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 272 S.W. 587 (Temple Lumber Co. v. Pulliam) 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
Temple Lumber Co. v. Pulliam, 272 S.W. 587, 1925 Tex. App. LEXIS 417 (Tex. Ct. App. 1925).

Opinion

O’QUINN, J.

This is a suit in trespass to try title to the Henry Canfield league of land situated in Sabine county, less certain named tracts, brought by appellees against appellants. In addition to the statutory action of trespass to t?y title appellees, plaintiffs below, pleaded the 3, 5, and 10 years’ statutes of limitation.

Appellants, defendants below, answered by general demurrer, general -denial, plea of not guilty, and the statutes of 3, 5, and 10 years’ limitation.

At the conclusion of the evidence appellants requested a peremptory instruction in their favor, which was denied by the court, and the case submitted to the jury upon the following special issues:

“Question No. 1: Did N. B. Mason, sheriff and tax collector of Sabine county, Tex., in the year 1881 execute a tax deed to W. T. Pulliam for the Henry Canfield league in Sabine county, Tex., except the Gilbert Morris 350-acre tract?”
To which the jury answered, “Yes.”
“Question No. 2: Did J. J. Love enter upoii the Henry .Canfield league by and with the consent and permission of W. T. Pulliam, to hold the same for him? ”
To which the jury answered, “Yes.”
“Question No. 3: Did William Mitchell clear and hold possession of the encroachment across his (Mitchell’s) west boundary line, as a tenant by permission of W. T. Pulliam, on the Henry Canfield league ? ”
To which the jury answered, “Yes.”
“Question No. 4: If you have answered Question No. 3 ‘Yes,’ then you- will answer the following: — In what year did William Mitchell so clear and take possession of the encroachment? ” s . •
To which the jury answered, “1889.”
“Question No. 5: Did the lease from E. B. Sherrod and wife to Temple Lumber Co. cover only the Mitchell encroachment, or did it cover all the land described in the deed from the Simpson Bank to T. L. L. Temple? ”
To which the jury answered, “Mitchell encroachment.”
■ “Question No. 6: Did E. B. Sherrod cultivate, use, or enjoy any of the land in controversy outside of the Mitchell encroachment? ”
'To which the jury answered, “No.”
• “If you answer Question No. 6, ‘No,’ you need not answer the following question, but if you answer it ‘Yes’ then you will answer:
“Question No. 7: Has E. B. Sherrod cultivated, used, or enjoyed any of the land in controversy outside of the Mitchell encroachment since December 31st, 1915 ?” '
(Not answered as per instructions of the court.)
“Question No. 8: Did W. T. Pulliam in person or by tenants have 10 years’ peaceable and adverse possession of the tract of land in controversy or any part thereof, between January 1, 1884, and August 25,1922, the date when this suit was filed? ”
To which the jury answered, “Yes.”
“Question No. 9: Did W. T. Pulliam, in person or by tenants, have 10 years’ peaceable and adverse possession of the tract of land in controversy, or any part thereof, between January 1, 1884, and January 1, 1907? ”
To which the jury answered, “Yes.”
“Question No. 10: Which is the truth south line of the Henry Canfield league, the ‘northern line’ or' the ‘southern line’, both of which lines were testified to and identified by Reggie Goodrich and Burton Halbert? ”
To which the jury answered, “Southern line.”

At the request of appellants, the following special issues were submitted:

Special Charge No. 6: “Did the tax deed executed by N. B. Mason to W. T. Pulliam purport to convey all of the land on the Henry Canfield league except the Gilbert Morris 350- *589 acre tract or did said deed purport to convey only 3,118 acres? ”
To which the jury answered, “All the league, except 350 acres.’’
Special' Charge No. 8: “Did J. J. Love occupy the T. R. Smith 150 acres from the time he moved on the place until he sold to T. R. Smith in 1900, claiming it as his own, or as a tenant of W. T. Pulliam? ”
To which the jury answered, “For Pulliam.”
Special Charge No. 12: “If you have answered that William Mitchell was a tenant of W. T. Pulliam, then answer how long he remained Pulliam’s tenant, stating your answer in years.”
To which the jury answered, “11 years.”

Upon the findings of the jury judgment was rendered in favor of appellees for all of the land, except certain mentioned tracts; the judgment being for about. 1,300 acres. Motion for a new trial was made.and overruled, and appellants prosecute this appeal.

Appellants’ first assignment of error attacks the finding of the jury in answer to special issue No.' 1 that N. B. Mason, sheriff and tax collector of Sabine county, in 1881 executed a tax deed to W. T. Pulliam for all of the Henry Canfield league of land, except the Gilbert Morris 350-acre tract, and insist that said finding is so contrary to the evidence that it is manifestly wrong.

We think the assignment should be overruled. The record discloses that W. T. Pul-liam, .some time in 1865, settled on the league df land in. question, but that he did not make any claim to the land until in 1881, when he received a tax deed from N. B. Mason, the sheriff and tax collector of Sabine county, which deed the jury found conveyed the league, less 350 acres in the name of Gilbert Morris. W. T. Pulliam died in 1919. The tax deed was not placed of record, was shown to be lost, and secondary evidence adduced as to what it conveyed. It was shown that the deed had been delivered to Judge James T. Polly some time about 1906, and that shortly after its being delivered to him he died, and that diligent search had been made in his office and among his papers for the deed, and that it could not be found, nor •could it be found anywhere.

W. T. Pulliam,' a son of W. T. Pulliam, who received the tax deed from the sheriff and tax collector, testified:

“I have read that deed several times! It described the Henry Canfield league down here, ■except the-350 acres that was sold to Morris. It described all of the Henry Canfield league except the Morris tract — Gilbert Morris, I think, was the name. That deed was made to my father by N. B. Mason, the sheriff of Sabine county, and was made in 1881 — June 7th. I say that in that tax deed the whole of the Henry Canfield league was conveyed to my father, except the Gilbert Morris 350 acres. My father claimed .that whole league under that tax title except the 350 acres. He lived on the league and started to claim it right immediately after he bought it. I mean by that, immediately after he got the tax title. He was living •on it at that time.”

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Bluebook (online)
272 S.W. 587, 1925 Tex. App. LEXIS 417, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/temple-lumber-co-v-pulliam-texapp-1925.