White v. Schroetter
White v. Schroetter
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff sues .in ejectment for the possession of forty acres in Barry county. Defendant’s answer was a general denial except that he admitted possession. At the trial a jury was waived and the cause was tried by the court. The judgment was for the defendant and the plaintiff appealed.
It was admitted that Adam Schroetter, the father of defendant, was the common source of title. The plaintiff’s evidence was as follows: A judgment rendered in the circuit court of Barry county in favor of one Sheets against Adam Schroetter, September 4, 1902, for $661.34; execution on that judgment, levy and sale of this land by the sheriff February 12, 1903, at which sale the plaintiff became the purchaser and received the sheriff’s deed which was in due form.
The evidence for defendant was a warranty deed from Adam Schroetter and wife to defendant conveying this land dated February 13, 1894, duly acknowledged and recorded. The consideration mentioned in the deed was love and affection and one dollar, sub
Contra, the plaintiff introduced evidence to show that defendant and his brother were at the date of the alleged agreement minors and could not make such a contract; also that the land was, when taken in connection with forty acres on which Adam Schroetter resided and which constituted his homestead, worth more than $1,500, and that the old man was in debt. There was some other testimony as to paying taxes, etc., but it is unnecessary to mention it.
All the oral evidence was incompetent. The title to this forty acres passed to the defendant by the deed from Adam Schroetter and wife in February, 1894, more than eight years before the Sheets judgment under which plaintiff claims was rendered, and the records so showed.
Appellant in his brief refers to “suits in equity” and, as if this were such a suit, argues that the deed from father to son should he set aside as having been made to defraud creditors. But this is not a suit in equity, it is an action at law; there is not a trace of equity in the pleadings. The defendant’s deed cannot be attacked collaterally, it cannot be assailed except in a proceeding in equity. We do not mean to
In the face of the defendant’s record title the court could have rendered no other judgment than it did.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- A. L. WHITE v. FRANK SCHROETTER
- Status
- Published