Guilmartin v. Padgett
Guilmartin v. Padgett
Opinion of the Court
This is a suit of trespass to try title brought by appellee, Padgett, against appellant, Guilmartin, to recover the title and possession of 100 acres of land, part of the William Clark survey in Sabine county. The plaintiff in describing the land sued for first set out the field notes of a tract of 200 acres which embraced the land sued for, then described by metes and bounds the particular 100 acres which he sought to recover in this suit, and to this description was added: “Being the same tract of land and all of that tract of land that Davis & Davis, of San Augustine county, Texas, acting as attorneys of defendant, John P. Guilmartin, had a wire fence constructed around said tract of land in the year 1907.” The defendant answered by general demurrer, general denial, and plea of not guilty. The case was tried before the court without a jury, and resulted in a judgment for plaintiff Padgett for the 100 acres of land particularly described in the petition; from which judgment the defendant, Guilmartin, has appealed.
The trial judge upon proper request reduced to writing and filed his findings of fact and conclusions of law, which are as follows:
“(1) The Wm. Olark survey, of which the land in controversy is a part, was titled to Wm. Clark by the Mexican government on -day of June, 1835.
“(2) That Wm. Clark conveyed the land in controversy to his son, Elijah Clark, on the 12th day of October, 1838.
“(3) I find that Wm. and Elijah Clark and their wives are all dead; that Elijah Clark died in 1857, and his wife, who was Jane Ashmore, died in 1863.
“(4) I find that the 100 acres of land in dispute is the north part of the tract of land on which Elijah Clark lived at the time of his death and lying north of Pologoche creek.
“(5) I find: That Elijah Clark contracted to sell this 100 acres of land to his brother-in-law, Pascal Ashmore. That Ashmore was to be a neighbor to him and to pay him $1 an acre for the land. •
“(6) That Ashmore moved on the land, built a small log house, and cleared four or five acres of land. That he lived there about a year’, when he and his wife parted and left the place. That the house he built was about one-fourth of a mile from Elijah Clark.
“(7) That soon after Pascal Ashmore and his wife parted and left the place Elijah Clark died. That he never made a deed to Ashmore to the place, and that Ashmore never paid for same.
“(8) That after Ashmore left the place he sold his improvements to Colon McRae for store account he owed him. That no deed was ever made by Ashmore to McRae as he sold his improvements only.
“(9) I find that the widow of Elijah Clark lived on the place at which he died from 1857 to 1863, when she died, and their children lived there until 1867, when Elias Clark, the last to leave, went to where he now lives, some two or three miles from the place.
“(10) X find that Elijah Clark’s widow always claimed the land, because it had never been paid for, and that the Clark heirs have claimed the land ever since their mother’s and father’s death.
“(11) X find that Elias Clark has lived in two or three miles of the land ever since his father’s death, and that Lewis Clark lived 20 or 25 years after his father’s death in Sabine county; that none of the Clark heirs nor any one else ever lived upon the land in controversy; that the place was known and called the Ashmore old place for a long time, and is still called by some as the Ashmore old place, but for 20 or 30 years it is generally called the Burroughs land.
“(12) I find that Elijah Clark had seven children, and that said children or their heirs, so far as have been heard from within seven years, conveyed the land involved in this suit to E. P. Padgett; that the heirs of Elijah Clark are poor people, except Elias Clark, who was able to' pay taxes on his part, but did not do so, because his interest was so small he was not justified in paying on the whole.
“(13) In 1850 Elijah Clark rendered 592 acres for taxes on the Wm. Clark headright. In 1851 to 1857, inclusive, the Clarks rendered 432 acres. In 1858, 333 acres, in 1S61, 1863, 1864 Jane Clark rendered 333 acres. Since 1867 the only land rendered by any Clarks in said Clark survey did not exceed 190 acres.
“(14) I find that in 1861 J. H. McRa^ rendered for taxes 200 acres of the Wm. Clark survey. In 1S62 H. C. Hicks rendered 200 acres. In 1868 H. C. Hicks rendered 100 acres. From 1S69 to 1891 J. J. Burroughs rendered 200 acres, from' 1891 to 1908 J. J. Burroughs or Guilmartin rendered 100 acres.
“(15) I find the heirs of Elijah Clark partitioned and sold out their father’s old homestead lying south of the 100 acres in controversy, but the 100 acres in controversy was never divided amongst them.
“(16) I find that H. C. Hicks “sold and conveyed the land in controversy to J. M. Burroughs October 10, 1869, and that J. H. Mc-Rae had previously sold and conveyed it to H. C. Hicks.
“(17) I find that Colon McRae, J. H. Mc-Rae, H. C. Hicks, and J. M. Burroughs are all dead, that J. M. Burroughs left a will bequeathing his estate to his brothers and sisters, and that "the will was duly probated, and that J. E. Guilmartin has a regular chain of title by mesne conveyances from executors of the will of J. M. Burroughs down to and into himself.
“(18) I find that J. F. Guilmartin put a wire fence around this land after E. P. Pad-gett had bought it, which is the only actual possession of the land attempted by any one since Pascal Ashmore moved off.
*1145 “I conclude as the land was never paid for by Pascal Ashmore, and no deed was ever made to it by Elijah Claris to Pascal Ash-more, nor from Ashmore to Colon McRae, nor Colon McRae to J. H. McRae, the defendant has no title to the land. I conclude, as Elijah Clark died possessed of the title to the land sued for, that it passed by inheritance to his children, and their deed to E. P. Padgett put the title to the 100 acres in E. P. Padgett. And I therefore find in his favor for said land.”
The twentieth and twenty-first assignments relate to the exclusion of certain testimony offered by defendant on the trial. The defendant was attempting to prove a declaration against interest made by one of plaintiff’s predecessors in title, who at the time of the trial was dead. A witness was asked the question, “Did you ever have any conversation with any of the Clarks with reference to their claim to the land?” to which the witness answered: “Yes; I did with Paschall Clark once.” The plaintiff objected to this question and answer on the ground that Paschall Clark was dead, and this objection was sustained by the court, and to this the defendant took'his bill of exceptions. No-statement was made by the defendant at the time of taking the bill of the facts he expected to prove by the witness, or that he expected to prove anything further than that established by the answer elicited; that the witness had once had a conversation with the deceased Clark relative to the claim of the land by the Clarks without his further testimony of what was stated by Paschall Clark in that conversation was wholly immaterial. After the trial defendant’s attorney prepared a bill of exceptions embracing the question and answer above set out, and then, for the first time, stated what he would have proved by the witness had not the objection been sustained. This is shown by the court’s qualification of the bill. This testimony was of vital importance to defendant, and its rejection, had it been properly offered, would constitute reversible error.
The court permitted plaintiff to prove by the witness W. S. Arthur, over the objections of defendant, that Elias Olark, plaintiff’s witness and vendor, bore a good general reputation for truth and veracity in the community in which he lived. The objection of defendant to this testimony was “because it was wholly immaterial as to what was the reputation of Elias Olark in this community.” Appellant by his proposition under the twenty-second assignment, which presents the point, asserts that “proof of the general reputation of a witness for truth and veracity in the community where he resided and was best known is not admissible unless the character of such witness for truth and veracity has been attacked, and the fact that such witness had made statements which were contradicted would not authorize the introduction of such proof.”
This assignment must be sustained. The evidence shows that Elijah dark and his wife left seven children, two of whom were Martha Bedo and Susan Clark, both of whom died leaving children surviving them, and that these survivors did not join in the conveyance of the land to Padgett. Thus standing, Padgett has the title of five of the seven original heirs of Elijah Clark only, and is therefore entitled to recover only five-sevenths of the land instead of the whole, as awarded to him by the judgment.
It is therefore ordered that judgment be here rendered in favor of appellee Padgett for an undivided five-sevenths of the land in controversy, and that said judgment denying appellant Guilmartin recovery of any of said land be reversed and judgment be here rendered in his favor for a two-sevenths undivided interest in said land.
Affirmed in part, and reversed and rendered in part.
Reference
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