Wagoshe v. Morrell

1948 OK 56, 198 P.2d 638, 200 Okla. 532, 1948 Okla. LEXIS 382
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 2, 1948
DocketNo. 30913
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 1948 OK 56 (Wagoshe v. Morrell) 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
Wagoshe v. Morrell, 1948 OK 56, 198 P.2d 638, 200 Okla. 532, 1948 Okla. LEXIS 382 (Okla. 1948).

Opinion

GIBSON, J.

This is a proceeding to determine heirship as incident to final distribution of a decedent’s estate. 58 O. S. 1941 §631.

The matter originated in the county court of Osage county, where it was determined that John Wagoshe, plaintiff in error here, was the first cousin of Ho-tah-moie, Osage allottee No. 350, deceased, and was the next of kin and the sole and only heir of the deceased under the Oklahoma laws of succession.

An appeal was taken to the district court of Osage county and that court determined that John Wagoshe, a group known as the Morrells and Joe Shun-ka-mo-lah, were related to Ho-tah-moie, deceased, in the same degree, were the next of kin of the deceased and inherited equal parts of his estate.

This judgment also found that certain other claimants, designated as the heirs of Peter Kenworthy, and one Sallie Allen, claiming to be the legitimate daughter of the deceased, were not heirs of the deceased.

The case is here on appeal by John Wagoshe and other parties hereinafter mentioned on cross-appeal from the judgment of the district court of Osage county.

Appellant claims to be the first cousin of deceased and closest of kin and therefore entitled to inherit hw entire estate. It is claimed by appellees and cross-appellants, Robert Morrell, Nellie Morrell Roubideaux, Mary Morrell Russell, Mary Morrell Beartrack, Maggie Morrell Burkhart, John Morrell and Mary Agnes Lohowa, that they, together with Joe Shun-kah-mo-lah, are second cousins of deceased and closest of kin and therefore his only heirs; they also claim that if appellant, John Wagoshe, is related to deceased it is in a degree more remote than that of second cousin. Joe Shun-kah-mo-lah, who also cross-appealed, claims to be a nephew of deceased and closest of kin and therefore entitled to inherit his entire estate. The heirs of Peter Kenworthy have also cross-appealed and claim that Ken-worthy died subsequent to the death of Ho-tah-moie; that he is a second cousin of deceased and nearest of kin and is therefore the only heir. It is their contention that appellant is not related to deceased and that claimants in the Morrell group and Joe Shun-kah-mo-lah are related to deceased as third cousins instead of as claimed by them, and that Peter Kenworthy was therefore more closely related to deceased than either Joe Shun-kah-mo-lah or any other claimant in the Morrell group. Sallie Allen has also cross-appealed and claims to be a daughter of deceased and therefore his sole and only heir.

The trial court found:

“That at the time of Ho-tah-moie’s death he left surviving him as his sole and only heirs at law, John Wagoshe, Joe Shun-kah-mo-lah, Robert Morrell, Nellie Morrell Roubideaux, Mary Mor-rel Russell, Mary Agnes Lohowa, Mary Morrell Beartrack, Maggie Morrell Burk-hart and Johnnie Morrell, and that each and all of said above named heirs at law were related to the deceased Ho-tah-moie in the same degree of kindred, and that no other person or claimant is or was as closely related to the said Ho-tah-moie at the time of his death as the above named heirs at law; and that no other claimant has any right, title, or interest in or to the estate of said decedent, or any part thereof.”

Appellant in support of his contention that he is first cousin of Ho-tah-moie introduced evidence tending to establish the following facts: Ho-tah-moie died intestate, was never married; that he had a brother and two sisters all of whom pre-deceased him; that he left surviving him no father, no mother or sister or brother; that his mother and Ho-tah-moie’s mother were sisters; that his mother’s name [534]*534was Ma-tsa-he; that the mother of Ho-tah-moie was Mah-sah-hah-e; that Ne-kah-lah-bre or Ne-ah-ble, otherwise known as O-pah-tun-kah, English name Big Elk, was the father of Mah-sah-hah-e and Me-tsa-he, and therefore the grandfather of appellant Wagoshe and deceased, Ho-tah-moie.

The register of Osage Indian families based on the December 1901 Annuity Osage Indian Payment Rolls shows that Ne-ah-ble, also known as Ne-kah-lah-bre, also known as O-pah-tun-kah, is the father of Mah-sah-hah-e and Me-tsa-he and Me-tsa-he is the mother of appellant.

There is also offered in evidence a transcript of the testimony of Wilson Kirk taken at a hearing in the county court of Osage county in the guardianship matter of Ho-tah-moie on the 22nd day of June, 1931, in which the witness testified that Ho-tah-moie was never married; that he had two sisters and a brother, all of whom were dead leaving no issue; that the mother of appellant Wagoshe was Me-tsa-he; that Mah-sah-hah-e was the mother of Ho-tah-moie and that Me-tsa-he and Mah-sah-hah-e were sisters and had the same father.

George Stabler, an Omaha Indian who also speaks and understands the Osage Indian language, testified that Ho-tah-moie referred to appellant Wag-oshe as brother and also said that Ho-tah-moie spoke of his grandfather on his mother’s side and gave his name as O-pah-tun-kah. It is also shown in the evidence that it is the Osage Indian ■ custom to refer to and call first cousins “brother”. Other witnesses also testified that Me-tsa-he had declared to them that she and Mah-sah-hah-e were sisters. Other witnesses, eight in number, testified that close relatives of the family had stated in their presence that appellant Wagoshe was the son of Me-tsa-he and that she and Mah-sah-hah-e were sisters.

Appellant Wagoshe testified that Ne-kah-lah-bre, also called O-pah-tun-kah, was his grandfather; that Mah-sah-hah-e was the mother of Ho-tah-moie and a sister of his (appellant’s) mother Me-tsa-he; that Ne-kah-lah-bre was the father of Mah-sah-hah-e and that Me-kah-he was her mother; that Ne-kah-lah-bre was also the father of his mother Me-tsa-he and that E-ne-shop-sha was her mother.

Appellees contend that Po-e-nah and not Ne-kah-lah-bre was the father of Me-tsa-he. In support of this contention they rely almost exclusively on the January 1878 Indian Payment Roll. This roll shows Che-shu-hun-kah head of family, Hun-kah-we wife, Me-tsa-he wife, Po-e-nah father-in-law, Num-pah-se son. The evidence shows that Num-pah-se is the Indian name of appellant Wagoshe. It is asserted that since this roll shows Che-shu-hun-kah to be the son-in-law of Po-e-nah therefore Po-e-nah must have been the father of Me-tsa-he, and that such evidence conclusively disproves the contention of appellant that his mother and Hotah-moie’s mother were sisters. This, however, is the only payment roll upon which Po-e-nah appears as the father-in-law of Che-shu-hun-kah. On the August and June 1879 rolls the name of Po-e-nah as father-in-law does not appear. The fact that Po-e-nah’s name so appears on the above roll is not sufficient to overcome the positive testimony of Wagoshe and numerous other witnesses and the Indian Payment Roll of 1901 that Ne-kah-ah-ble, otherwise known as Ne-kah-lah-bre, was the father of both Man-sah-hah-e and Me-tsa-he. It is asserted that the evidence of Wagoshe and other witnesses offered by appellants is sd conflicting or contradictory as to be valueless and therefore without probative force and should be entirely disregarded. While it is true that the evidence in some respects appears to be somewhat conflicting as to these witnesses, the same is true as to many of the witnesses testifying on behalf of appellees. This apparent contradiction or conflict is in a large degree due to a mis[535]*535understanding of the questions propounded and their testimony after the question was fully understood was corrected.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1948 OK 56, 198 P.2d 638, 200 Okla. 532, 1948 Okla. LEXIS 382, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wagoshe-v-morrell-okla-1948.