Winchester v. Watson

183 S.W. 483, 169 Ky. 213, 1916 Ky. LEXIS 667
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedMarch 16, 1916
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 183 S.W. 483 (Winchester v. Watson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Winchester v. Watson, 183 S.W. 483, 169 Ky. 213, 1916 Ky. LEXIS 667 (Ky. Ct. App. 1916).

Opinion

[214]*214Opinion of the Court by

Chief Justice Miller

Reversing.

In 1855, Joseph Winchester obtained a patent for a tract of between 70 and 100 acres of land in that part of Wayne county which is now a part of McCreary county.'

Many years ago, the exact time not being shown, Joseph Winchester removed to Tennessee, leaving the land above mentioned in the possession of his daughter, Betsy Troxell. He married a second time,"and died in Tennessee in 1881, intestate'.'

The children by his first marriage were Betsy Troxell, Jane Miles, Rachel Smith, and Zarilda Lewis; those by his second marriage, and who lived in Tennessee, were W. R., Henry W., Samuel, and Prank Winchester, the last named son having since" died in Texas, leaving a widow and eight children 'surviving him.

On January 4th, 1901,.ÍBetsy Troxell sold and conveyed her undivided interest .in' the tract to Sherman Watson for a consideration of $20.00; and, on January 15th, 1912, for the sung of. one, dollar and other valuable consideration, Jane Miles, Rachel Smith and . Zarilda Lewis likewise conveyed their undivided interests to Sherman Watson. Mrs. Troxell’s deed did not recite what her undivided interest was;'the joint deed of the other three daughters recites that it conveyed an undivided .three-fourths interest. At that time Watson was living upon the land, holding it in the way which will be hereinafter shown. -

Under his purchase from Mrs. Troxell, Mrs. Miles, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Lewis, Watson became the.owner of an undivided one-half interest in the land.

In 1911, Sherman Watson sold the timber upon .the land to C. C. Cooper and Newton King, .Jr., for $460.00.-

On July 20th, 1913, W. R. Winchester, Henry W. Winchester, and Samuel Winchester, as joint owners, brought this action under section 490 of the code, against Sherman Watson, C. C. Cooper, Newton King, Jr., and the unknown heirs of Prank Winchester, deceased, seeking a sale of the tract, on the ground of its indivisibility, and a division of the proceeds among the several joint owners. The plaintiffs also asked that Sherman Watson be required to account for the timber he had sold to Cooper and King, alleging that it was worth $1,000.00 ; and, to more surely accomplish that purpose, Cooper and King were also made defendants.

[215]*215By the original answer, Sherman Watson denied the ..joint ownership of the plaintiffs and Frank Winchester’s • heirs, and claimed to be the owner of the entire tract by reason of his purchase from Mrs. Troxell, Mrs. Miles, Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Lewis, alleging that the plaintiffs and Frank Winchester, who claimed to be children of Joseph Winchester by his second marriage, were bastards, and not the heirs of Joseph Winchester.

It having been shown, however, beyond any question, that the children by. the second marriage of Joseph Winchester were legitimate., the defendants withdrew their original answer and filed in lieu thereof an amended answer,.in which the defendant Sherman Watson expressly -admitted' the legitimacy of the plaintiffs and of Frank Winchester, and set up, for the first time, a claim to the greater part of the tract by adverse possession of more than 15 years through and under his brothers, Nathan Watson and Wash Watson.

The /amended .answer further admits that the land mow claimed by Sherman Watson by adverse possession, did not embrace the entire original Joseph Winchester patent, hut alleged that two small tracts, which it described by metes and bounds, lie upon the outside of and are.not included in Sherman Watson’s boundary; and that the plaintiffs’ and Frank Winchester’s heirs, jointly own these two small tracts, with Sherman Watson. The acreage of these two small tracts is, however, not given.

By their reply, the plaintiffs traversed all the material allegations of the answer, and interposed a plea of •estoppel against the defendants, based upon the acts •and conduct of Sherman Watson in taking the deeds ■of his vendors, Mrs. Troxell, Mrs. Miles, Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Lewis, it being claimed that, by-the provisions -of {hose deeds, as well as by his original , answer, Sherman Watson had admitted that he only owned the interests which had belonged to Betsy Troxell and her three sisters; and, that as he did not then claim to own any interest in any other way, or by any other title, he was now estopped from claiming to own the remaining one-.half interest by adverse possession.

By an amended petition, the plaintiffs charged Watson with wanton waste and damage to the extent of $1,000.00, for cutting and wasting the timber upon the land, and asked treble damages therefor under the .statute.

[216]*216Over the plaintiffs’ objection, tbe action was transferred to tbe ordinary docket for tbe purpose of trying tbe question of Sberman Watson’s adverse possession of that portion of tbe tract so claimed by him.

A jury trial resulted in a verdict for tbe defendants, and tbe plaintiffs appeal.

1. Tbe motion to transfer tbe case to tbe ordinary docket for tbe purpose of trying tbe issue- of adverse possession, was properly sustained.

Section 12 of tbe code reads as follows:

“In an equitable action, properly commenced as sucb, either party may, by motion, have tbe case transferred to the ordinary dockét for the trial of any issue concerning wbicb be is entitled to a jury trial; but either party may require every equitable issue to be disposed of before such transfer.’-’

This action under section 490 for the sale of tbe land in question on account of its indivisibility, was properly-commenced, as an equitable action. But when tbe issue involved in an equitable action is purely a legal one, and the equitable right depends uponthe decision of tbe legal issue, as here-, tbe case, on motion, must be transferred Tor a- jury trial of tbe legal issue; and,- tbe trial court has no discretion in that matter. Hill v. Phillips, 87 Ky., 169; O’Connor v. Henderson Bridge Co., 95 Ky., 633; Carder v. Weissenburgh, 95 Ky., 135; Morawick v. Martineck, 128 Ky., 155.

And, when a distinct legal issue is-submitted to a jury in an action begun in equity and transferred for a settlement of tbe legal issue, tbe verdict of.the jury is to be treated as in ordinary jury trials, and will not be disturbed unless palpably against the evidence. Hill v. Phillips, supra; Morawick v. Martineck, supra.

2. It is next insisted'that tbe judgment must be reversed for error of tbe court in selecting tbe jury.

During the same term of court at which this case was tried, two other cases bad been tried in which the ownership of parts of the same tract of land claimed by Sherman Watson was involved; and for that reason tbe court was of opinion that a new jury should try this case. Instead, however, of drawing a new panel-from the drum, as required by section 2247 of tbe Kentucky Statutes, tbe circuit court directed tbe sheriff to summon 20 bystanders; and, to that ruling tbe plaintiffs objected and excepted. After the entire jury bad been made up of [217]*217bystanders, the plaintiffs challenged the panel for canse; bnt this objection was also overruled, and the plaintiffs again excepted. The cause was then tried by a jury composed entirely of bystanders.

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Bluebook (online)
183 S.W. 483, 169 Ky. 213, 1916 Ky. LEXIS 667, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/winchester-v-watson-kyctapp-1916.