Rawlins v. Shropshire
Rawlins v. Shropshire
Opinion of the Court
On the 12th day of June, 1869, the heirs-at-law of F. C. Shropshire brought an action of ejectment against J. C. Rawlins to recover the possession of a tract of land in the county of Floyd, containing twenty-seven and one-half acres, being the place whereon F. C. Shropshire formerly resided. The plaintiffs are the widow and children of F, C. Shropshire, When the case was called for trial the defendants made a motion for a continuance, on the ground that they desired to file a bill on the equity side of the Court to bring other parties before the Court, and set up certain equities against the plaintiff’s right to recover in the action of ejectment, stating to the Court the facts which constituted their equitable defense. The Court overruled the motion, on the ground that under the existing laws of this State new parties could be made, and the rights of all could be settled on equitable principles in the present action. The defendant then amended his plea,
On the 18th of November, 1862, Hults purchased the property of Stevens, as the agent of F. C. Shropshire, and paid him therefore the sum of $5,000 in cash. The money was raised by calling in loans made previous to the war, receiving the Confederate money paid for the land. from his debtors as gold, dollar for dollar. Shropshire was living at the time of the purchase of the property, but died shortly afterwards, before a deed was executed. Stevens, the agent, is also dead. After the sale of the property by Stevens to Hults, Mrs. Shropshire, the widow and her children, vacated the premises, and Hults took possession of it under the purchase from Stevens, as the agent of Shropshire, on the 1st of March, 1863, and continued in possession of it until 1866, when he sold it to Cleaves for $5,000 cash. Shortly after the death of F. C. Shropshire, his father, Wesley Shropshire, became the administrator on his estate, and executed a bond to make a title to the property in which it is recited: “Whereas, Francis C. Shropshire, in his lifetime, by his agent, J. R. Stevens, did sell the place where he resided near Rome, Geor
This deed was written by Judge Wright, the father of Mrs. Shropshire and the grandfather of her children, who are the plaintiffs in the ejectment suit, and was executed by the paternal grandfather of the children. Hults swearsffhat the deed was prepared by Judge Wright and handed to him by Judge Wright, who assured him the deed was good and conveyed a perfect title to Cleaves. Judge Wright, who was examined as a witness, admits writing the deed, but denies telling Hults the title was good. Hults asked him to write the deed and paid him for writing it. The reason why the deed was made direct to Cleaves instead of to Hults was to save stamps. Wesley Shropshire, who was examined as a witness, states that Judge Wright advised him to accept the money and pay Francis’ debts ; that he has paid all the debts with the money except one. In his return to the Court of Ordinary, Wesley Shropshire charges himself with the following receipt: “Received December 26th, 1862, of J. R. Stevens, $5,000 in full for the purchase of F. C. Shropshire’s house and lands on the Calhoun Road, one and one-fourth miles from the city of Rome, Georgia. Wesley Shropshire,.
There is other testimony in the record, but the foregoing recital embodies the main facts which must control our judgment. The jury, after hearing the charge of the Court, returned the following verdict: “We, the jury, find for the plaintiffs the premises, together with $1,452 for rents ; and find for the defendants $5,000 and interest on the same from the 18th day of November, 1862, to date, and in addition thereto the sum of $1,200, and interest on that amount from the 27th day of July, 1864, for improvements, and plaintiffs to pay the costs of suit. This 27th July, 1871. Eben Hillyer, foreman.” On this special verdict of the jury the Chancellor ordered the following decree to be entered : “It is ordered adjudged and decreed by the Court, that the said heirs of Francis C. Shropshire do recover of the said J. C. Rawlins and his tenants the premises in dispute, and that the Clerk do issue the usual writ of possession for said premises after the expiration of thirty days from this date, and that the rents be set off against the improvements as the value of the improvements made by Rawlins, and interest thereon just equals the rents. And that John P. Hults do recover of Wesley Shropshire, as the administrator of Francis C. Shropshire, deceased, the sum of $5,000 principal, and the sum of $3,042 07 interest to date; and that the defendants recover of plaintiffs the sum of ......dollars, costs of
It is true, there is no evidence of any written authority from F. C. Shropshire to Stevens to sell the land, and it is also true that no deed was made by Shropshire or his agent during his life, but his legal representative received the purchase-money and applied it for the benefit of his estate. How stands the equities between the purchaser of the land and those claiming title under him, and the heirs of the intestate? But for the money paid by the purchaser for the land, the land would have been taken to pay the intestate’s debts. Shall the heirs of the intestate hold and enjoy the land without paying back to the purchaser of it the ambunt he paid, and which was applied to the payment of the intestate’s debts to enable them to enjoy it? Shall the heirs of the intestate have the land and the money paid by the purchaser of it without refunding to him the money paid for their benefit? If their is any equity or justice in that, we are unable to see it. If F. C. Shropshire, while in life, had made a parol contract with Hults for the sale of the land, and had received the consideration therefor, a Court of equity would have compelled a specific performance of it.
Full payment alone accepted by the vendor, if clearly proved with reference to the parol contract, will be sufficient part performance to justify a decree. Code section 3131. The statute of frauds requires that “Any contract for the sale of lands, or any interest in or concerning them, must be in writing, signed by the party to be charged therewith, or by some person by him lawfully authorized.” But the Statute of Frauds does not extend to cases where the contract has been fully executed, or where there has been performance on one side, accepted by the other, in accordance with the contract: Code, sections 1940, 1941. The parol contract in this case for the sale of the land was made by Shropshire through his agent, Stevens; the purchase-money for the land was paid by Hults and accepted by Shropshire’s
It is considered, ordered and adjudged by the Court that the special verdict rendered in this case be affirmed, and that the decree made thereon, signed by the Chancellor, as set forth in the record, be reversed, vacated and set aside, and that the Chancellor do make and sign the following decree upon said verdict: The jury in the above stated case, after hearing the evidence submitted to them under the pleading set forth in the record, returned the following special verdict: “We, the jury, find for the plaintiffs the premises, together with $1,452 for rents ; and find for the defendants $5,000 and interest on the same from the 18th of November, 1862, to date; and in addition thereto, the sum of $1,200, and interest on that amount from the 27th of July, 1868, for improvements, and plaintiffs to pay the cost of suit. This 27th July, 1871. Eben Hillyer, foreman.”
It is therefore ordered and decreed by the Court, that the plaintiffs do have and recover the premises described in the record on the payment of the sum of $5,000, with interest on the same from the 18th day of November, 1862, up to the 27th day of July, 1871, to the defendants within sixty days after the date of this decree; and that the sum of $1,200, together with the interest on that amount from the 27th day of July, 1868, up to the 27th day of July, 1871, for improvements, be set-off against the sum of $1,450 found for
Reference
- Full Case Name
- J. C. Rawlins, in error v. Mary A. Shropshire, in error
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- 2 cases
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- Published