Towles v. Conrad
Towles v. Conrad
Opinion of the Court
The petitioner states that, after the death of his mother, his father, being his natural tutor, gave a receipt on the 8th of June, 1818, wherein he acknowledged to have received from the succession of the petitioner’s grandfather, in a tract of land in the State of Mississippi, the sum of $4,000. He further alleges, that some years ago, his tutor, appointed after the death of his father, instituted a suit against the present defendant, to ascertain the amount due to him as the heir of Susan Turnbull, his mother; that in that suit, the tutor specially stated, that not having a personal knowledge of the petitioner’s rights, he may have omitted to set forth some of the claims to which he was legally entitled, in which event, it was prayed that he might not be injured by such omission. He says that, at the time of instituting and trying said suit, it was not known to his tutor, nor to the persons by whom his rights were prosecuted, that his father had not received the land in kind, but that the price only had been received. He now alleges, that the estate of Turnbull, his grandfather, was indebted to his mother for a balance on her portion; that Robert Semple, the husband of Isabella Turnbull, a maternal aunt of the petitioner, was indebted to the succession of the common ancestor in about the same sum, as an excess over his wife’s portion; and that Semple agreed to give a tract of land belonging to him, near Pinckneyville, in Mississippi, to the executrix in payment, which tract of land Towles, the father, agreed to take from the executrix of Turnbull’s estate in payment of what was
He, therefore, prays for $4,500, with interest and a legal mortgage, and for a correction of the error into which the court had fallen as respects this claim.
The defendant denies all the allegations, and further avers, that all these matters, so far as the estate she represents is concerned,
There was a judgment in the inferior court in favor of the defendant, and the plaintiff has appealed.
We have examined this case with the most earnest desire to extend relief to the plaintiff, but are obliged to decree that the plea of res judicata must prevail. The demand is essentially between the same parties. Turnbull, the tutor of the plaintiff, claimed all that was owing to him as the heir of his deceased mother; the defendant is the same, and still acts in the same quality of administratrix. It -only remains to inquire whether the the thing demanded be the same, to bring the case within art. 2265 of the Code, and the case of Plicque et al. v. Perret, 19 La. 318. By reference to the petition filed in the suit decided, we find Daniel Turnbull, the tutor of the plaintiff, suing the defendant for various pieces of property which belonged to the present plaintiff’s mother; also for a settlement of the community that existed between his father and mother, for the hire of slaves, and for a large amount in money. Among other allegations in the petition is one, that John Towles, the father of the plaintiff, -on the 8th of June, 1818, signed a receipt acknowledging that he had, at different times, received on account of his first wife, the plaintiff’s mother, the sum of $11,375. To make up this sum the $4,000 were included. The plaintiff chose to assume that Towles (the father) had sold the land/which the receipt stated he had received, and he claimed the proceeds of the sale. This court, in its opinion, says : “ it does not appear that the land was conveyed to Towles for that price, or that he had disposed of it. The title to the land and the slaves specified in the receipt, rests on the same ground ; and the slaves have been received by the plaintiff under it.” The plaintiff wished the court to presume that Towles, the father, had sold the land; but it declined to do so, and decided that the plaintiff could not make his estate liable for that which might yet exist in kind, and which was presumed to so exist, as there was no intimation of a sale, nor attempt to prove it. 10 La. 261,
The plaintiff insists that the reservation made by the court in its judgment, protects him, and will enable him to avoid the plea of res judicata. We do not think so. Any right he had to the land itself is reserved, but it is absurd to suppose that the court intended to reserve a right to that which had been rejected absolutely, unless it were expressly so stated.
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John T. Towles v. Ann A. Conrad, Administratrix
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