Hood v. Hamilton

California Supreme Court
Hood v. Hamilton, 33 Cal. 698 (Cal. 1867)
Sanderson

Hood v. Hamilton

Opinion of the Court

By the Court, Sanderson, J.:

The only question presented by the record in this case is whether, under the grant from the Mexican nation to Joaquin Bernal, the ¡Rancho Santa Teresa became the separate property, or the common property of himself and his wife, Josefa Sanchez de Bernal.

On the part of the appellant a very able and learned argument has been presented in support of the latter view, and also in support of the point that we are not concluded upon the question by the previous decisions of this Court. The distinction attempted is, we think, a little too nice. Upon a careful review of the several cases in which the question has been considered, we are unable to say, with counsel for appellant, that this case is not within the rule there stated, nor that the question was not in those cases.

There is no distinction between this case and Scott v. Ward, on the ground that the grant to Alviso (which was before the Court in that case) was not a colonization grant, while the grant to Bernal is. While the record does not, as in the case of Scott v. Ward, contain the petition and reports of the Council of the Pueblo de San José Guadalupe and the Reverend Father, Minister of the Mission of Santa Clara, showing that the land for which Bernal petitioned was a part of the commons of the Pueblo of San José, the grant itself shows that it. was, or that it was supposed that it might be, and that it was granted upon that theory. In his brief, counsel for the respondents asserts the fact that the land belonged to the pueblo, and that these, missing documents show it to be so; and further states that they have not been brought up because counsel for the appellant never claimed that there was any distinction between the Alviso and Bernal grants until the case reached this Court. This statement is not denied, and while the uncontradicted statements of counsel cannot be taken as a part of the record, they may be referred to as tending to show that an inference drawn *703from a record which does not profess to disclose all the facts is not unfounded.

But, independent of this, we are of the opinion that Scott v. Ward does determine that land granted under the colonization laws of Mexico to married men became their separate property, and not the common property of themselves and their wives. Whether the grant, then, before the Court was a colonization grant or not, it was so regarded by counsel and Court. It was the law of those grants which was debated by counsel and declared by the Court, and whether the correct result was reached or not, we do not feel at liberty to disturb it. Being of this opinion, a rediscussion of the question would be idle and out of place. The rule in Scott v. Ward has been repeated in Noe v. Card, 14 Cal. 576; Fuller v. Ferguson, 26 Cal. 546; and Wilson v. Castro, 31 Cal. 433, and must now be accepted as a finality.

Judgment and order affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
WILLIAM HOOD v. SAMUEL HAMILTON
Cited By
3 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
Mexican Grant to Husband his Separate Property.—Whore a Mexican grant to a married man contained the following conditions : 1st. Neither the grantee nor his heirs can divide or alienate the premises granted to him, nor place upon the same any mortgage or other charge, even though such mortgage or charge be for pious purposes, nor shall he convey it in mortmain j 2d. He can fence it without prejudicing the crossings, roads, servitudes \\ he can enjoy it freely and exclusively, destining it to the uses or cultivation that best suits him, but in one year he shall build a house which shall be inhabited; 3d. He shall solicit, as soon as possible, the proper Judge to give him juridical possession, by virtue of this title, by which the boundaries shall be set out, in which boundaries he shall put land marks, and some fruit or rustic trees of some utility; 4th. The tract of land which is of one square league, a little more or less, according to the sketch which goes with the espediente ; The Judge who may give the possession will have it measured according to the ordinances, mark out the boundaries, leaving the surplus which shall result to the Nation for suitable uses; and 5th. If he fail to perform these conditions, he shall lose his right to the land, and it shall be denounceable by othersheld, that the land granted was a donation, and vested in the husband as his separate estate. Statements op Counsel in Briefs.—While the uncontradicted statements of the counsel of one of the parties in his brief cannot be taken as a part of the record, still they may be referred to as tending to show that the inference drawn from a record which does not profess to disclose all the facts is not unfounded. Cases Affirmed.—Seott v. Ward, 13 Cal. 458; Noe v. Card, 14 Cal. 576 ; Fuller v. Ferguson, 26 Cal. 546; Wilson v. Qastro, 31 Cal. 433.