Hunter v. City of Jacksonville
Hunter v. City of Jacksonville
Opinion of the Court
On December 7, 1950, John T. Hunter and Joanna E. Hunter, his wife, granted to the City of Jacksonville certain real estate, reserving a life estate in grantor, John T. Hunter, upon the following conditions, viz.:
“The consideration moving to the above grantors from the above grantee is that upon grantee coming into possession of said property, it will, with all convenient dispatch, take proper steps and proceedings that the same will become known as the ‘Cuba Hunter Memorial Park and Playground’, as a tribute and memorial to grantors’ daughter, Cuba Hunter Brehme, who was born in the City of Jacksonville, Florida, December 7, 1910, educated in the public schools of Duval County, graduated from the Florida State College for Women at Tallahassee, June 1, 1932, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Education, began teaching the following Fall at Kirby-Smith Junior High School and continued teaching there until run down by a reckless driver as she alighted from a bus May 7, 1943; was a member of Brentwood Chapter Order of Eastern Star, and wife of J. H. Brehme; all of said premises to be maintained and used permanently as such memorial for the uses and purposes herein set forth; and this grant is given with the express understanding, and grantors especially stipulate, that in the event the aforesaid land and premises or any part thereof shall be conveyed by the above grantee or its successors or by the said grantee or successors, abandoned and cease to be used for the purposes herein expressed, then and in that event, the above tract of land shall revert to the grantors’ heirs and assigns, together with the right of immediate possession thereof.”
Grantor, John T. Hunter, died in the year 1958, which terminated the reserved life estate and vested right of possession in the subject property in the City of Jacksonville. On July 7, 1971, appellee-plaintiff, City of Jacksonville, filed the instant complaint in ejectment against appellant-defendant, Wilson H. Hunter, the sole surviving heir of grantors, John T. and Joanna E. Hunter. Judgment upon a jury verdict in favor of the City was rendered, hence this appeal.
The salient point posed by appellant is: The court erred in instructing the jury that “mere delay” in the application of the land for the purposes of the grant will not impair the grant.
In light of the foregoing evidence, it is our opinion that the trial judge erred in giving the quoted instruction. The basic issue presented to the jury was whether or not the City was entitled to possession on July 7, 1971. In order to arrive at its decision, the jury necessarily had to decide whether the consideration set out in the deed had failed, and to so decide, it was incumbent upon the jury to resolve whether the City had with all convenient dispatch memorialized Cuba Hunter in accepting the land conveyed. The intention of the grantors in conveying the property to the City is clear, that is, for the City to develop a park and playground
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
. 2 The World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary 1492 (1963) defines “playground” as “a piece of ground used for outdoor play, especially by children, often containing equipment for games and sports.”
. The deed impliedly contemplated a memorial plaque to be erected on the park and playground publishing the biography of Cuba Hunter Brehme recited therein.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.