Tigner v. McGehee
Tigner v. McGehee
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
We are satisfied by the evidence that the conveyance made by William Tigner, of the land constituting “ Millbrook ” and the other property embraced in it, was made as part of the testamentary scheme of the grantor, and, although by the conveyance the title of the property was vested in W. N. Tigner and C. H. Tigner, it was held bv them subject to the payment of the legacies created by the will of the grantor, whose plan was to make them the holders of the property and the payors out of it of the legacies. The circumstances all combine to
The certificate of the clerk of the Chancery Court of Wilkinson County, that the notes were not found in his office after diligent search, was legal evidence of that fact (Code 1880, sect. 1628), and was sufficient, in the circumstances of this case, to admit evidence of the contents of the notes, and the evidence of their existence and genuineness, and of the office they were to perform is abundant. They were drawn up by William Tigner, signed by his sons W. N. and C. H. Tigner, retained in the possession of William Tigner with the deed he had made, written upon by him the 14th of September, 1854, six weeks before his death, left among his papers at his death, obtained by the makers as his executors, and delivered by them to the payees and legatees. They were exhibited to Mrs. Womack in taking her deposition, and should have been filed with it among the papers in the suit of Ogden et al. v. Tigner, and failure to find them in the office in which that suit was, made evidence about them competent.
Decree affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- W. N. Tigner v. Louise S. McGehee
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Chancery. Testamentary disposition. Charge on land deeded. Pecuniary legacies. ' Where a man has conveyed his lands and subsequently made a will bequeathing pecuniary legacies to persons other than the grantees in the deed, and the circumstances show that the execution of the deed was a part of a testamentary scheme, the grantees owners of the property conveyed and to require them to pay out of the purchase-money thereof, the pecuniary legacies given in the will, a court of equity will, after the death of the testator, charge the land with the payment of the legacies, notwithstanding the deed on its face appears to be an absolute conveyance, having no reference to a testamentary disposition. 2. Chancery Practice. Evidence. Promissory notes absent. Certificate under sect. 1628, Code 1880. Where it is proper for the complainant in a suit in chancery to produce at the hearing certain promissory notes, as a part of his evidence, if it be shown that the notes should have been filed with the papers in a pre-existing suit, the certificate of the clerk in whose office such papers should be made under sect. 1628 of the Code of 1880, that the notes cannot be found in his office after diligent search for them, is a sufficient foundation to authorize the admission of secondary evidence of the existence, contents, and genuineness of the notes.