Harris v. Smith
Harris v. Smith
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting). I think complainant is entitled to relief. But inasmuch as the case involves nothing but facts, I do not think it necessary to discuss them at length.... Complainant has, I think, shown that she did not know the contents of the deed she executed. No doubt a strong case should be made out to avoid a paper which a person has had the means of understanding. But I think in the present case, where the whole matter was a family arrangement, complainant could not be held to the same diligence as in other cases, and was justified in resting on what she was given to understand by those with whom she dealt. It seems to me the arrangement was not one which she would have made if she had known what she had a right to know, and that the deed was a fraud against her.
Opinion of the Court
The complainant files her bill to set aside as having been obtained by fraud a conveyance by herself as one of the heirs at law and distributees of Hannah Smith deceased, of her interest in two certain lots in the village of Milan in the county of Washtenaw, and also in a certain mortgage for $250 on lands in Dundee in Monroe county. The deed was given to Kezia Smith, wife of Alexander, and was also executed by Martha Pickell and Delia McCafferty, who with Alexander Smith
This is complainant’s case; and as the deed is witnessed and acknowledged in due form, a serious burden was obviously laid upon her when she undertook to show that it was signed as a mere form, and without any knowledge or suspicion that it was a deed.
An examination of the evidence introduced by complainant shows that her case is not sustained. By her own testimony it appears that she looked at the deed so far as to notice a description of land in it, and that she inquired what this meant and was told that it was a mortgage running for the mother’s support while she lived, and then belonged to Alexander Smith. A son of complainant, called by her as a witness, testified to the same facts. It appears, then, beyond dispute, that complainant did know at the time that the paper she executed was not a mere form for dividing the goods; that she did make some examination of it, and saw that a description of land and a mortgage were mentioned in
Under the circumstances, a further examination of the case on the evidence is not necessary, but it may not be unimportant to say that defendant Alexander Smith makes a strong showing of equities which should entitle him to have the deed executed by the other heirs, and that the officer who took the acknowledgment of the deed and the person who witnessed it both testify that it was read to complainant.
The decree should be affirmed with costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Mary Harris v. Alexander Smith
- Status
- Published