St. Clair v. Sedgwick
St. Clair v. Sedgwick
Opinion of the Court
In her petition the plaintiff Lucy T. St. Clair alleged that on September 27, 1890, she purchased of the defendant S. H. Sedgwick 150 acres of land in York county, Nebraska, which land was fully described in the petition; that by virtue of said purchase the said Sedgwick agreed to deliver the possession of said real estate to plaintiff on or before March 1, 1891, as evidenced by a deed of conveyance on that date executed by Samuel H. Sedgwick and his wife to the plaintiff; that at the last mentioned date the co-defendants of Samuel H. Sedgwick were in possession of the real property so conveyed as lessees of said Sedgwick, their rights as lessees being limited in duration to the 1st of March aforesaid, and that at the time of the aforesaid purchase it was agreed by the said Samuel H. Sedgwick that he would commit no waste upon said premises, and that he would not cut down or destroy any fruit, shade, or ornamental trees standing upon said premises. Plaintiff further alleged that she became the owner of certain nursery stock on the premises aforesaid before the date of the conveyance above referred to, and that since said conveyance, and before the commencement of this action, she had paid the full purchase price for said nursery stock and had paid in full for the said real estate; that defendants, having unlawfully combined for that purpose, had cut down and removed many valuable growing trees from the premises aforesaid, and had threatened to, and if not restrained would still continue to cut down, destroy, and remove trees and vines from said premises, to the great and irreparable injury of the plaintiff. It was further alleged by the plaintiff that the co-defendants of said Samuel H. Sedgwick having refused to give up to plaintiff the possession of the buildings on said premises on March 1, 1891, plaintiff served notice upon them to quit said premises, and upon their continued refusal thereafter to yield possession to her the plaintiff
The answers filed need no notice except that to which attention is now directed.
With varying degrees of directness as to each averment of the petition the several allegations thereof were denied by defendant Sedgwick’s answer, by whom it was also denied that the nursery stock had been fully paid for; that there was a combination between defendants for any purpose; that defendant Sedgwick had instigated any one to commit waste or damage on the premises in dispute; and that said Sedgwick proposed or intended any unlawful act. The answer further alleged that no trees had been cut down by defendants of more than the value of $8 or $10 in the ag
Upon final hearing the court found the facts and decreed the relief following: “The court, being fully advised in the premises, doth find for the defendants on the issues joined between the parties. The court farther finds that the defendants, nor any of .them, have not heretofore nor is there danger that they will commit any waste upon the premises or property mentioned in plaintiff’s petition. It is therefore considered by the court that the plaintiff’s petition be dismissed and the said injunction be dissolved and that the defendants as to said petition go hence without day; * * * and upon consideration of the answer and cross-petition of the defendant Samuel H. Sedgwick, and the answer thereto, and the reply, and the evidence introduced by the parties, the court finds the issues thereon in favor of the defendant Samuel H. Sedgwick, and that there is due from the defendant Emmet L. St. Clair to the defendant Samuel H. Sedgwick on the cause of action set forth in said answer and cross-petition, after allowing upon said cause of action the value of the colt described in the pleadings herein, and the value of that part of the nursery stock taken and appropriated by the defendant Samuel H. Sedgwick, and all just credits, the sum of $260, and that the defendant has a lien in the said sum of $260 upon the nursery stock described in said cross-petition, in the nature of a ,chattel mortgage, and is by virtue.of said lien entitled
A careful, examination of all the evidence shows that the principal matters in controversy were, first, the right and intention to cut trees from the premises; and, second, the right to hold possession of the nursery stock for' payment of the amount due Mr. Sedgwick as part of the purchase price thereof. There was, of course, evidence that Mr. Sedgwick permitted, and that his co-defendants, removed valuable ash and other trees from the premises, some of which trees were two or three feet in diameter at the butt, and that such as were removed were thrifty trees of great present, and of still greater prospective, value. .On the other hand, the testimony was that the trees cut were not such as were thrifty or growing trees, but were in the highway or such as the Blue river was very likely to cut under and carry away, and that these latter trees were removed at the particular time at which they were because the ice then gave an unusual opportunity so to do by reason of its great
As to the nursery stock, the written memorandum introduced in evidence showed that Mr. Sedgwick was entitled to the possession of it until the purchase price thereof had been fully paid. While it was testified by Mr. and Mrs. St. Clair that the balance due for the nursery stock was included in the mortgage given by them for the premises, yet upon this point they were squarely contradicted by Mr. Sedgwick, whose statements were corroborated by a written memorandum signed by Mr. and Mrs. St. Clair and himself, in which the several amounts making up the mortgage referred to were set forth in detail. This finding of the district court was, therefore, fully justified by the evidence upon the proposition last discussed.
These considerations dispose of all questions arising upon the record, and the judgment of the district court is
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.