Texas Co. v. Meador

243 S.W. 991, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 1209
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 24, 1922
DocketNo. 6440. [fn*]
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 243 S.W. 991 (Texas Co. v. Meador) 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
Texas Co. v. Meador, 243 S.W. 991, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 1209 (Tex. Ct. App. 1922).

Opinions

BRADY, J.

Appellees sued appellant, the Texas Company, and others, for partition of a tract of land in Eastland county. It was alleged that each of the parties other than the Texas Company owned an undivided one-eleventh interest in the land, and that the Texas Company owned an oil and gas lease on only one-eleventh of the land, acquired through one of the defendants, Mrs. M. C. Banowsky, who was formerly Mrs. M. C. Arnold. In February, 1902, G. B. Branton and wife, who owned the land in fee simple, conveyed it by deed to Mrs. M. C. Arnold, and the deed was duly recorded. Later Mrs. Arnold became Mrs. Banowsky, and on October 23, 1918, .Branton and wife executed what purported to be a correction deed to Mrs. Banowsky, and this last deed was also duly recorded.

On October 26, 1918, Mrs. Banowsky executed an oil and gas lease to Levi McCollum, covering the land in controversy which was shortly thereafter recorded. The Texas Company, on the same date this lease was recorded, purchased the same from McCol-lum for value, and has paid the rentals provided by the lease to Mrs. Banowsky. It is admitted that the Texas Company had no knowledge or notice other than the recitals in the deed from Branton and wife to Mrs. M. C. Arnold, and specifically that it had no notice or knowledge of the facts testified to by one J. H. Grogan. This testimony, admitted over the objections of the Texas Company, but agreed to as true and correct, is in substance that Mrs. Arnold’s father, Isaac Gann, gave Grogan the money to purchase the land from Branton, and told him (Gro-gan) to purchase it, and have the deed made to Mrs. Arnold and her children. Grogan took the money and followed his instructions, employed a notary, who prepared the deed, and gave him instructions to so prepare the deed ag to convey the land to Mrs. Arnold and her children; Mrs. Arnold then being' a widow. The notary wrote the deed as is hereinafter set out, but told Grogan that it was a conveyance of the property to Mrs. Arnold and her children, and that the use of the term “heirs” in the deed was the equivalent of the word “children.” It is undisputed that at this time and at the execution of the deed Mrs. Arnold and the plaintiffs, as well as other children of herself, were then living. The deed from Bran-ton and wife to Mrs. Arnold, omitting formal parts', is as follows:

“That we, G. B. Branton and his wife, L. B. Branton, of the county of Eastland, in the state aforesaid, for and in consideration of the sum of eight hundred five ($805) dollars to me paid by M. C. Arnold and her heirs, have granted, sold, and conveyed, and by these presents do grant, sell, and convey unto the said M. C. Arnold and her heirs, of the county of Eastland and state. of Texas, all that certain parcel or tract of land situated in Eastland county, Texas, known as tract 14, a part of the John F. Sapp survey and more fully described as follows: * * * To have and to hold the above-described premises, together with all and singular the rights and appurtenances thereunto in any wise belonging, unto the said M. C. Arnold and her heirs, heirs and assigns, forever; and we do hereby bind our heirs, executors, and administrators to warrant and forever defend, all and singular the said premises unto the said M. C. Arnold and her heirs, heirs and assigns, against every person whomsoever lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof.”

The repetition of the word “heirs,” in the habendum and warranty clauses, was manifestly due to the use of a prjnted form. The court rendered judgment that the plaintiffs and the defendants, other than the Texas Company, were each the owners of an undivided one-eleventh interest in the land, except the Brunson defendants, who together owned such an interest, and that the Texas Company owned an oil and gas lease on the Interest of Mrs. Banowsky, formerly Mrs. Arnold, which was also held to be an undivided- one-eleventh interest in the land, decreed partition, and annulled the lease of the Texas Company, except as to the interest of Mrs. Banowsky.

The controlling question is whether the rule in Shelley’s Case applies to this case. It is now settled law in Texas that the rule referred to will he enforced in a proper case, and has become a rule of property in this state. However, in Hunting v. Jones, 215 S. W. 959, Judge McClendon, of the Commission of Appeals, made this statement:

“The rule, however, is now recognized as a rule of property in this state, and the plain duty rests with the courts to give it effect, where clearly applicable. The rule does not, however, prevent an inquiry into the question whether, from a fair construction of the instrument, the otherwise technical words were in fact employed in a nontechnical sense.” (Italics ours.)

With commendable fairness, counsel for appellant have cited a number of Texas cases; some involving instances in which the rule in Shelley’s Case has been applied, and *993 others to the contrary. Those cited as applying the rule are Singletary v. Hill, 43 Tex. 588; Lacey v. Floyd, 99 Tex. 112, 87 S. W. 665; Brown v. Bryant, 17 Tex. Civ. App. 454, 44 S. W. 399; Scott v. Brin, 48 Tex. Civ. App. 500, 107 S. W. 565; Peters v. Rice (Tex. Civ. App.) 157 S. W. 1181; Seay v. Cockrell, 102 Tex. 280, 115 S. W. 1160; Reeves v. Simpson (Tex. Civ. App.) 182 S. W. 68; Calder v. Davidson (Tex. Civ. App.) 59 S. W. 300; Johnson v. Morton, 28 Tex. Civ. App. 296, 67 S. W. 790; Pearce v. Carrington (Tex. Civ. App.) 124 S. W. 469; Pearce v. Pearce, 104 Tex. 73, 134 S. W. 210; Hughes v. Titterington (Tex. Civ. App.) 168 S. W. 45; Hopkins v. Hopkins, 103 Tex. 15, 122 S. W. 15; Scott v. Noel (Ky.) 45 S. W. 517. Cases cited in which the rule will not apply are Hancock v. Butler, 21 Tex. 804; Simonton v. White, 93 Tex. 50, 53 S. W. 339, 77 Am. St. Rep. 824; Hunting v. Jones (Tex. Com. App.) 215 S. W. 959; Cottrell v. Moreman (Tex. Civ. App.) 136 S. W. 124; Vaughn v. Pearce (Tex. Civ. App.) 153 S. W. 171; McMahan v. McMahan (Tex. Civ. App.) 198 S. W. 354; Hopkins v. Hopkins, 103 Tex. 15, 122 S. W. 15.

None of the cases we have examined involved facts identical with the present ease. It must be conceded that the leading case of Simonton v. White, 93 Tex. 50, 53 S. W. 339, 77 Am. St. Rep. 824, in which the Supreme Court refused to apply the rule, involved stronger facts and reasons for denying the application of the rule than those in the present case. For instance, in that case the deed named the children of the grantee, was a deed of gift, and made express provision for Mrs. Simonton and her family, and provided for an equal distribution at her death between her bodily heirs. However, Mr. Justice Brown, speaking for the Supreme Court, gave weight to the recital in the consideration clause of the deed as evidencing the intention of the grantor to convey to the children as well as to the daughter, and observed that to construe the phrase “bodily heirs’’ in its technical sense would be to exclude the children from the benefits of the conveyance, although they are embraced in the consideration expressed. It was said that, if the rule in Shelley’s Case should be applied to the instrument, it would destroy all the benefits intended to be conferred upon the children, and it was concluded that Mrs. Simonton took only an estate for life, with remainder in fee to her children.

While the facts are concededly different from those here involved, we are of the opinion that the reasoning of the Supreme Court in the Simonton Case, as well as in other cases, is applicable here.

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

Related

Luckel v. Barnsdall Oil Co.
74 S.W.2d 127 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1934)
Texas Co. v. Meador
250 S.W. 148 (Texas Commission of Appeals, 1923)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
243 S.W. 991, 1922 Tex. App. LEXIS 1209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/texas-co-v-meador-texapp-1922.