Farrow v. Farrow
Farrow v. Farrow
Opinion of the Court
delivered' the opinion of the Court.
In 1841, Joseph-Farrow filed this bill against Williams Farrow, to obtain- the re-conveyance of a tract of land, and a restoration of the possession, and a decree for rent® and profits, upon the allegation that in 1803, he bad conveyed the land to William Farrow for the alledged consideration of two hundred and fifty pounds, but really for the sole purpose of indemnifying hip against a particular liability then apprehended, as growing out o-f the acts of the complainant, but long since terminated without loss that a bond was executed by William of even date with the deed, stipulating for the- re-conveyance of the land, on receiving payment, with-in a year, of the said sum of £250, and being indemnified against certain matters referred to, but that the £250 was never due, and was fictitious ; and that William Farrow bad taken possession of the land shortly after the date of the deed, and held it ever since,-receiving the issues and profits, &c.
The great delay in failing, for nearly thirty eight years, to assert the alledged' equity, being wholly unaccounted for by any statement i-n the bill, the claim, upon the complainant's own showing, is one which the Chancellor regards as stale, and on that ground not enforeible in a Court of Equity. Nor upon looking through the record, do we find any attempt to explain this long delay, or any fact which tends to excuse it, or to detract materially from the inference which it authorizes, that long before the commencement of this suit, the claim was abandoned. The deed and bond referred to, prove that there was a real consideration of £250, the re-payment of which, within a year, was one of the conditions on which alone (he title was to be re-convéyed ; and the allegation of the bill to the contrary, even if not conclusively disproved by
It is true the defendant in his answer, refers to the record of a former suit, brought by himself against Joseph Farrow and other co-heirs, for a division of the larger tract of which the land conveyed to him by Joseph was a part; and from that record it appears that William Farrow then claimed Joseph’s part; that Joseph, by answer and cross bill, resisted the claim on substantially the same ground now set up ; and that William Farrow, in his answer to the cross bill, filed more than nineteen years before the commencement of the present suit, referred to the fact that Joseph had lately entered upon the possession without authority, and said that as, he had agreed to let Joseph have the land on re-paying the £250, and indemnifying him, he was still willing to do so, claiming, however, interest upon the sum named, and also a reimbursement of other advances coming within the condition of -the bond'. No proof having been taken and no offer of re-payment having been made by Joseph Farrow, his cross bill was dismissed without prejudice, and the share of the land claimed from him, allotted to William Farrow, by a decree rendered about nineteen years before (be present bill was filed.
The defendant relies, not only upon lapse of'time, the statute of limitations, and the staleness of the claim, but also upon the proceedings and decree in the former suit, as a bar to the demand now setup; and the complainant relies upon-the admissions of the former answer as obviating the effect of the lapse of time, and as in fact furnishing the sole ground on which any relief can be granted. But without stopping to enquire what should be the effect of the former decree, or what influence the statements of the former answer might have, if the bill had been properly framed for redeeming the land according to the terms of the deed and bond, and upon allegations which would have entitled the complainant to the benefit
Wherefore,'the decree is affirmed:
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.