Mullins v. Greer
Mullins v. Greer
Opinion of the Court
Opinion op the Court by
Affirming.
M. D. L. Greer was, prior to 1897, engaged in the mercantile and logging business in Pike County, Kentucky. He owed considerable money, .and some of his debts were pressing him. ^ In order to obtain immediate relief he called upon his father-in-law, Smith Mullins, and arranged to get some financial assistance through him. In order to secure his father-in-law against loss, he conveyed to him four tracts of land, described as follows:
“Lying and being in the county of Pike, State of Kenturky, on the waters of Beefhide creek, a tributary of Shelby creek, and bounded as follows:
“First tract, being a 100 acre survey made and patented to Booker Elkins, lying on Brushy Fork, and bounded with the calls with the said patent. Second tract, lying on Brushy Fork, being a 100 acre survey made by Harvey Johnson, and patented to same, and bounded with the calls of said survey. Third tract, being a survey made by Harvey Elkins, containing 100 acres and patented to him, lying and being on the waters of Beefhide Creek on left hand side near Smith Mullins’
About nine months after this conveyance, being relieved in a measure of. his financial embarrassment, and Ms father-in-law not having had to pay off any of his indebtedness, he reconveyed to him and his wife one of the above described tracts of land, known as the Home Farm, and gave to .him a title bond, obligating himself to convey the three remaining tracts, known as the Harvey Elkins survey, the Booker Elkins survey,.and the Harvey Johnson survey. Shortly after the execution of this deed and title bond Smith Mullins, his father-in-law, and Sarah Mullins, his wife, both died. They left surviving them twelve children. Eight of said cMldren voluntarily conveyed to Greer the tracts of land described in the title bond. Three others agreed to and did sign the deeds to two of these tracts. Joseph Mullins, one of the children, refused to make conveyance to any of them. Greer thereupon brought suit against Joseph and his sisters-in-law, Polly Ann Mullins and Martha Jane Burke, and the heirs of Nancy Horn, deceased, for a specific performance of Ms contract with their father. Proof was taken' and the case submitted for judgment. The chancellor found in favor of' the plaintiff, Greer. From that judgment Joseph Mullins alone appeals.
The execution of the title bond by Smith Mullins and Ms wife is not denied, but for Joseph Mullins upon ap
Considering these questions in the inverse order of their importance, we will first dispose of the second ground relied upon by appellant for reversal, to-wit: That the-consideration for the conveyance had not been repaid by Greer to Smith Mullins prior to his death. Upon this point it is sufficient to note that tiie record shows that after the death of Smith Mullins it was found that he held notes representing sums advanced to all of his children, and that when his administrator attempted to collect- these, his children got together and gave acquittances, the one to the other, and acknowledged settlement in full of all such evidence of debt, those against Greer and his wife as well. Hence the claim that appellee was indebted to his father-in-law can be of no avail.
We next consider the “innocent purchaser” claim. There is no merit in this. Whatever title the children of Smith Mullins had in this property they acquired from theiu father. They could by no possibility have had a better title than he had. If he owned none, they could convey none; and it being conceded that he in his lifetime had executed the bond for title to appellee, he in fact owned none of this land at the date of his death, although he was in possession of it. Appellant added no strength to his title by purchasing of his brothers and sisters, for he could acquire from them only such interest as they had, and this was, under the facts proven -in this ease, no interest at all, for the property was not that of their father when he died.
Lastly, as to the question of the sufficiency of the description of the property in the title bond. It is not denied that this land described in the title bond is the iden
“Three tracts of land lying and being in the county of Pike and State of Kentucky, on the waters of Beefhide Creek, each tract containing one hundred acres, and bounded as follows: First tract, being surveyed by and patented to Harvey Elkins, Sr., and bounded by the calls of said patent. Second tract, being surveyed by and patented to Booker Elkins, and bounded by the calls of said patent. Third tract, surveyed by Harvey Johnson and bounded by the calls of same.”
It is not necessary that the writing should contain a survey of the land, but merely should be such as will serve to identify it. These three tracts of land', of one hundred acres each, all, according to the writing, lie in Pike County, Kentucky, on Beefhide Creek. One was surveyed by and patented to Harvey Elkins, Sr. A reference to the books wherein these patents are recorded will readily furnish an accurate description of this tract. The same is true of the other tract. And, as was well said by counsel for appellee, this being the same land “which appellee conveyed to his father-in-law by deed, if the description is not sufficient to pass title by bond, it would likewise be insufficient to support the title in Smith Mullins; and hence the result of appellant’s contention would be that the title is now in appellee because the description in the deed is, in its main features, identical with that in the bond. It is true that in the deed it states that these tracts of land lie on Beefhide Cheek, a tributary of Shelby Creek; but for a particular description they refer to the respective patents. So at last the sufficiency of the description of the land in the deed rests, as it does in the title bond, upon the question as to whether or not the reference to the respective patents is such a description as will identify the land. We are of opinion that it is. There is no evidence showing that more than one patent was ever issued to Harvey Elkins,
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.