Montgomery v. Trueheart
Montgomery v. Trueheart
Opinion of the Court
This is a partition suit, instituted by H. M. Trueheart against R. E. Montgomery, Mrs. M. T. Smith, Harry C. Howard, John A. Howard, Bertha F. Hicks, Orin Y. Hicks, Benjamin F. Thompson, the Panhandle Townsite Company, R. E. Huff, W. M. McGregor, T. I. Boone, Josephine Hudson, J. J. Dory, M. K. Emmert, Helen James, E. B. Gorsline, N. Henderson, W. T. Arthur, T. J. Riley, T. M. Bennett, B. M. Hardy, J. T. En-trekin, Ralph Darnell, John A. Dunn, Sam M. Michel, Mrs. Julia Holmes, R. H. Suter, B. W. James, N. C. McIntyre, and Myles O’Reilly, for the purpose of partitioning certain lots and blocks of land and 40. acres of land not platted, situate in the town of Wichita Falls, Tex.
.It is admitted that in the year 1882 H. M. Trueheart owned an undivided five-sixteenths of the town of Wichita Falls, except certain lots which had been conveyed by the heirs of one John A. Scott, to N. W. Sealy and his vendees Judd and Bliss, and others. It was further admitted that J. P. Smith owned an undivided four-sixteenths; that G. F. Howard and Z. H. Postéis owned an undivided four-sixteenths; that F. P. Knott owned an undivided three-sixteenths interest in the entire town of Wichita Falls, with the exception of the said lots conveyed by the Scott heirs named above. While the title to said property was vested, as stated, H. M. Trueheart executed and delivered to R. E. Montgomery, trustee, a bond for title to the above property, whereby he bound himself to said trustee in the penal sum of ?10,000; the conditions of such obligation being: “That whereas, the above bounden H. M. Trueheart is desirous that the Ft. Worth & Denver City Railway Company shall locate its freight and passenger depot upon surveys 15 and 16 and 250 acres off of the east end of survey No. 18, in the name of John A. Scott, in Wichita county, Tex., or either of them, upon which is now situated the town of Wichita Falls in said county. Now, if after the said Ft. Worth & Denver City Railway Company shall have located, established, and erected its freight and passenger depot and roundhouse upon said surveys 15, 16 and 18, or either of them, as aforesaid, the above-bounden obligators shall well and truly convey unto the said R. E. Montgomery, trustee, by a good and sufficient deed, all of my interest in said surveys 15, 16 and 250 acres off the east side of said survey 18, in the name of John A. Scott, upon which the town of Wichita Falls is now located, except the water power on said surveys and sufficient lands on the bank of the Big Wichita river for the efficient working and use of said power, say 10 acres on' each side thereof, said surveys to be sold by the said R. E. Montgomery as town lots or blocks and 55/100 of the proceeds of the sales, after deducting all necessary expenses, to be retained by the said Montgomery, provided that all expenses of the sales, advertisements and preparations of sale of said land, shall be not greater, prorated with my interest, than the actual payments and expenses of the interest of the said Montgomery in said land hereby agreed to be donated, and all advertising accounts of said expenses shall be fully met by said Montgomery, at least semiannually from the date hereof, and said total expense of every description connected with the advertisement and sale of said lands, shall not exceed 10 per cent, of the gross receipts of sales and as much less as reasonable good management on said Montgomery’s part can secure, and any excess over 10 per cent, shall be paid by the said Montgomery out of his interest, and that said Montgomery nor the railway, its representatives, nor their employes, as such, shall make nor charge for services rendered in connection with said land; said Montgomery to advance all sums necessary for the advertisements and sale of said land without interest, said advances to be deducted out of the first receipts for sales, the remaining 45 per cent, to be paid over to me in proportion to my interest in the several tracts, detail statements and the payments to be made and rendered on all lands sold and moneys received in at least three months from the date thereof. The said Montgomery to hold said land and to have the sole management of the same and the sale thereof for a term of five years from the date^ hereof and at the end of said five years to retain 55 per cent, as his portion and deed and deliver the remainder to me in proportion to my interest subject only to the conditions hereinafter mentioned, and that in addition donato and convey unto the said Ft. Worth & Denver City Railway Company the necessary right of way through said, surveys, together with sufficient ground for depots, roundhouses, *286 yards and machine shops and which grounds, excluding the area of the right of way, shall not exceed 30 acres as a whole and my interest in which I will convey,” etc. R. E. Montgomery, in writing, accepted the trust with all of its conditions, and the instrument was duly recorded. It was further admitted upon the trial that the remaining owners of the land, namely, J. P. Smith, F. P. Knott, Z. H. Postéis, and G. G. Howard, also executed and delivered to R. E. Montgomery, trustee, a bond for title to their interest in said lands in all respects the same as the bond executed by Trueheart, and in substance set out above.
It was further admitted that thereafter and on the 16th day of March, 1883, H. M. Trueheart executed and delivered to R. E. Montgomery, trustee, a deed, omitting the formal parts, as follows: ‘‘For and in consideration of the obligations and stipulations, and upon the terms and conditions named and stated, in a certain title bond, executed by me to R. E. Montgomery of Ft. Worth, Texas, dated at Galveston, Texas, June 3, 1882, and which is of record in the deed records of Wichita county, Texas, and to which records reference is hereby made for a more full and particular understanding of the terms and conditions of said title bond, do grant, bargain, sell and convey, unto the said R. E. Montgomery in trust for the term of five years from the 3d day of June, 1882, as stated in said title bond, all my interest in and to the town of Wichita Falls, in Wichita county, Texas, owned and held by me on the said 3d day of June, 1882, and which was and is an undivided five-sixteenths interest in the unsold portion of said town, situated on part of surveys Nos. 15 and 16, patented to John A. Scott. Excepting' from this conveyance the water power and other exceptions named in said title bond and also excepting so much of town plot as may be situated on survey No. 12, patented to John A. Scott. Witness my hand,” etc.
On the 7th day of February, 1883, Z. P. Howard, Z. Henry Postels, J. P. Smith, and F. P. Knott executed and delivered to R. E. Montgomery, trustee, their deed, conveying their interest in said land, which recites: “In consideration of the sum of one dollar to me in hand paid by R. E. Montgomery, trustee, and in accordance with the requirements of a certain bond, executed by us, to said R. E. Montgomery, trustee, of date the 18th day of March, 1882, have granted, sold and conveyed, and by these presents do grant, sell and convey unto the said R. E. Montgomery, trustee, of the county of Pottawattami and state of Iowa, all those certain lots, parcels of land,” etc.
On the 31st day of May, 1887, J. P. Smith, Z. Henry Postels, G. T. Howard, F. P. Knott, H. M. Trueheart and R. E. Montgomery executed what is termed a partition deed, as follows: “Know all men by these presents, that whereas heretofore, to wit, on the 12th day of May, 1882, J. P. Smith, Z. Howard Postéis, George P. Howard, and Frank P. Knott made and executed to R. E. Montgomery, trustee, his certain bond of agreement, whereby the said Montgomery, trustee, was to have conveyed to him certain real property, situated in the town of Wichita Falls, in the county of Wichita, state of Texas, said property to be sold by him' and 45 per cent, of the net proceeds to be paid by him to said Truelheart, Howard, Postéis, Montgomery and Smith, in proportion to their respective interests, and the remainder thereof, 55 per cent., to be retained by him at the expiration of five years from the date of said bond or agreement, the property remaining unsold to be divided and partitioned, said Montgomery to receive a conveyance from the other parties for his 55 per cent, and the 45 per cent, remaining to be conveyed by him to said Trueheart, Smith, Howard, Postéis, and Knott, and reference being hereby expressly made to said bond, agreement and conveyance from said Trueheart, Smith, Howard, Postéis and Knott, and which has been duly recorded in the records of Wichita county aforesaid; and whereas, said Montgomery, trustee, has made a settlement with said parties aforesaid in proportion to their respective interests; and whereas, all the parties hereto are desirous of terminating the trust and making a division and partition of said unsold town property: Now therefore, know all men by these presents, that we, the parties above named, in consideration of the premises, and the sum of one dollar by each of the parties named, to each other paid and delivered, we do hereby particularly set apart, grant, bargain, sell and convey all our rights, title and claims in and to the following named properly described, to wit.” The instrument then proceeds to set apart to the parties to it certain lots described therein, and, after the description of the respective shares, recites as follows: “To have and to hold to each of the parties named, the above property to them respectively set apart, to their own proper use and behoof forever, free from the claims of all the remaining parties. The intention of this deed of partition being to make and effect a complete division and partition of all the partnership property in said town, saving and excepting the land on the north side of the river in surveys Nos. 15 and 16, lying between said river, bank and Wichita street and on the south side of said river in surveys 15 and 16 and lying between said river bank and front street, subject, however, to all the reservations named and set forth in the title bond or agreement heretofore alluded to; and also excepting from this partition all such land as lies between the right of way of the Ft. Worth & Denver City Railway Company and the adjacent blocks or streets, also which exceptions are to be held as tenants in common and parti *287 tioned hereafter; and said parties do hereby declare that so much of said town map as may hare been laid out or run over on survey No. 12, granted to John A. Scott, is in error and is not claimed or regarded as a part of said town plot. Witness our hands,” etc.
It was further admitted that during the five years from, the date of the bonds and deeds in pursuance thereof, conveying the property to R. E. Montgomery, that none of the lots described in plaintiff’s petition had been sold or conveyed by the said Montgomery, but that all of said lots were a part of the property so conveyed to the said Montgomery, trustee, and that none of said lots described in plaintiffs petition were mentioned in said partition deed above set out. It is further agreed that on June 6, 1876, the Scott heirs conveyed to W. M. Sealey certain lots and blocks of the town of Wichita Palls, none of which are involved in this suit, and also an undivided one-fourth interest in the water power, created by the water falls of the rapids of the Big Wichita river, together with an undivided one-fourth of all the land lying between the Wichita river and Wichita street on the north side of the river and between the front street and the river on the south side of the river.
'The statement of facts is very voluminous, showing the introduction in evidence of various judgments and deeds between the original owners of the land and others and from Montgomery to the other named defendants of parts of the property described in plaintiff’s petition, none of which we deem necessary to be here set out. The 40 acres of land mentioned above, and which was partitioned by the judgment appealed from, is not involved in this appeal, since all parties concur in the judgment in so far as it divides said 40 acres; but the battle ground is the remainder of the property described in the petition, consisting of lots and blocks described by plaintiff.
We have carefully reviewed the entire record with the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the trial court erred in adjusting the equities of all the parties in the rendition of his judgment. We have not considered the assignments of error in the order in which they are presented in appellant’s brief; but upon inspection of the entire record, considering the errors assigned in connection therewith, we are unable to find any reversible error, and the judgment is therefore affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Montgomery v. Trueheart. [Fn&8224]
- Cited By
- 17 cases
- Status
- Published