Williams v. Woodruff
Williams v. Woodruff
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court :
In a proceeding in equity by Woodruff, Powell, and Beverly against Williams, to enforce a lien on a tract of land in Henderson county, for the price for which they had sold it to him, the circuit court decreed the sale, appointed Y. E. Allison commissioner to sell, and directed him to proceed as prescribed by law in sales of land under execution. And, in sales of land under execution, the law requires an advertisement to be “ set up at the court-house door, and three other public places in the vicinity of the land.” The commissioner reported, that “ after-advertising” for the time and “ in the manner” required by the decree, “he had sold the land for $1,500 to Woodruff, who was the highest bidder.” .
Williams opposed the confirmation of the report and moved a quashal of the sale. Pie filed affidavits conducing to prove that the land was worth' at least $2,000, and that no notice of
The report of the commissioner, as the mere agent of the court appointed by it to sell the land', is not so conclusive as the return of a sheriff on his official oath and responsibility. But, however this might be considered, the commissioner himself, in this case, shows by his affidavit that he did not advertise the sale as required, and other testimony shows that the law was not complied with in that respect.
The conclusion seems to this court inevitable that the circuit judge erred in overruling the motion to set aside the sale, and in confirming the report of it.
Wherefore, the judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded, with instructions to sustain the exceptions to the report, and to quash the sale of the land.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.