McNeill v. Daniel
McNeill v. Daniel
Dissenting Opinion
I dissent from the ruling of the majority of the court in this case reversing the judgment of the trial court. The evidence authorized, if it did not demand, the finding of the jury in favor of the plaintiff. I can not agree to the proposition that where one buys a tract of land, paying therefor $27,500, and goes into possession of the same in good faith under a bond for title and deed, and remains in possession thereof for thirteen years and holds such possession adversely to the world for that length of time, without any other claimant asserting any right to the land or the timber on the same, or any portion thereof, within the thirteen-year period, such purchaser can lose his timber rights on the land in controversy, even though the defendant had an older recorded deed to certain timber on the land, but who has not asserted any right thereto against the plaintiff for thirteen years. In such circumstances the plaintiff in this case would acquire a title to the land, including the timber thereon, by prescription by reason of seven years adverse possession, where that' possession was acquired in good faith, for value, and without any fraud. The writer of this dissent sets out the facts
In the brief for the plaintiff in error it is stated that “It is conceded that the bond for title above-mentioned described the lower Emanuel farm without any reference whatever to the timber thereon; and therefore the controlling issues in this case were (a) whether or not the plaintiff had been in public, continuous, exclusive, uninterrupted, and peaceable possession of the timber in controversy for a period of seven years or more: (b) whether or not her possession of said timber, if any, originated in fraud; and (c) whether or not such possession as she may have had to said timber was adverse to the Savannah Eiver Lumber Co., the holder of the legal title thereto.” In Baxter v. Phillips, 150 Ga. 498 (104 S. E. 196), it was held: “In this State a bond for title is color of title, and the holder thereof may, through seven years adverse possession, acquire title against all persons, except his obligor, and the heirs, executors, and administrators of the latter.” In the opinion (quoting from Garrett v. Adrain, 44 Ga. 274) it was said: “The very object of the law allowing title by prescription is to protect a defective title against a perfect paper one, after seven jrears peaceable possession. If the one who makes the bond is a mere squatter, a tenant, or is under a forged title, or as trustee, and the purchaser buys in good faith and goes into possession, thinking his title good, he is in adversely. If this were not so, the title by prescription could never arise at all; since, if the person prescribing must have bought from one having the right to sell, he gets a good title without the prescription.
The evidence in this case tends to show that the plaintiff, Mrs. Daniel, went into possession of the property in controversy in 1915, and that she entered possession in good faith, and so remained for a period of about thirteen years. The evidence also tended to show that she was a bona fide purchaser for full value of the property in controversy, ■ and that there was no reservation of any timber rights in any bond for titles or deeds under which she held title to the realty; that she paid the sum of $27,500 for the realty, including all the timber thereon as a part of the realty; that the value of the timber on the land purchased by the plaintiff was one of the considerations that moved her to buy at the price named; and, as stated, she was in actual possession and control of the property, on which the defendant was cutting timber, since November 16, 1915. The evidence tended to show that near the house was a field enclosed with a wire fence; there was also on the place a tenant-house that had been occupied continuously since plaintiff’s purchase of it; a part of the land had been cultivated ; and some of the pine timber had been boxed for turpentine. The evidence tended to show also that from the time of the plaintiff’s purchase in November, 1915, to March, 1929, when she learned that the defendant was cutting timber on the land (a period of more than thirteen years), she had no knowledge or intimation that any one claimed title to the timber in controversy. It is true that a witness for the defendant claimed that he walked over the land in controversy once a year and sometimes oftener,
Opinion of the Court
The occupancy by the grantee in a deed of land upon which there is timber, though such occupancy be open, notorious, and in good faith, and though the occupancy has been continuous for such length of time as required by law to give the grantee a good prescriptive title to the land, does not conclude a prior lessee of the timber upon the land under a lease executed by the predecessor in title of the grantee and duly recorded. Such occupancy by the grantee in the deed is consistent with, and is not as matter of law adverse to, the possession of the prior lessee. That being true, no title by prescription would arise against the lessee; and the court erred in ruling upon the admission of evidence, and in charging principles of law contrary to what is said above. Civil Code (1910), § 4164; Moore v. Ensign-Oscamp Co., 131 Ga. 421 (62 S. E. 229).
Judgment reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.