Smith v. McGlothlin
Smith v. McGlothlin
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Smith brought suit against appellee MeGlothlin to recover on a vendor’s lien note for $200, and to foreclose the lien on a certain tract of land deed-' ed by J. W. Thompson to MeGlothlin, and which note was transferred to appellant Smith by said Thompson.
MeGlothlin answered, vouching in J. W. Thompson, Amanda, John T., Luther, Earnest, and Annie Smith, the last a minor (these' Smiths no bin to appellant Smith), herein called respondents, and, in effect, alleged that Thompson by warranty deed sold to him 35 acres of land out of the Baugh survey, for which he paid $200 cash and executed to-Thompson two promissory notes for $200 each, one of which has been since paid; that he has been able to get possession of only 22 acres of said land, the balance, 13-acres, lying east being held and possessed by respondents, and is lost to him; that Thompson is not only now the owner of the-note, but is and has been since the sale to defendant the agent and attorney in fact for appellant Smith in all matters growing-out of or touching the transfer of said note; *656 that respondents are setting up claim to 13 acres oí said land, etc., and prays that he be allowed a credit on said note to the extent of the 13 acres lost to him at $17.14 per acre. Respondents pleaded the general denial, and specially that they own 55 acres of the Baugh survey lying immediately east of the land sold by Thompson to McGlothlin, and that none of said 13 acres lies within said 55 acres, and also pleaded five and ten years statutes of limitation. J. W. Thompson answered by general denial and two years limitation against the action in favor of Mc-Glothlin on the warranty. A jury being waived, the court rendered judgment that appellant E. H. Smith take nothing; that respondents (Amanda Smith et al.), be quieted in their title to said 13 acres; that the note sued on be canceled and held for naught; and that appellee W. P. McGlothlin recover of J. W. Thompson the sum of $22.82, with ■6 per cent, interest. Plaintiff E. H. Smith and J. W. Thompson appeal.
It clearly appears that Thompson sold to McGlothlin 35 acres of land out of the east end of the Baugh survey, bounded on the south by Trinity river. The northwest corner of the Baugh survey, the beginning corner of the land sold by Thompson, is 302 varas east of where the said corner of said land was supposed to be. The land of the Baugh survey, just west of the land sold by Thompson, had been sold many years before to the husband of Amanda Smith, who settled and raised a family thereon, and held it, if not by superior title, by the statutes of limitation. These conditions reduced the ■acreage of the Thompson land from 35 acres to 22 acres, which leaves McGlothlin with a loss of 13 acres. Appellant makes no complaint of the judgment in favor of the respondents Smith. They concede that the land claimed and possessed by respondents is no part of the 35 acres sold by Thompson to McGlothlin. The land sold by Thompson only extends east to the land claimed by the Smiths, and known as the Belknap tract. But it is contended that the 35 acres was ■originally surveyed to begin at a point 302 varas west of the northwest corner of the Baugh survey, and, if so surveyed, the quantity of land called for in Thompson’s deed, ■35 acres, can be found, and there will be no discrepancy. The proof, however, shows that in surveying the 35 acres the surveyors began at the wrong place, and a true survey leaves 13 acres short in the Thompson tract.
• The appellant assigns the following error, -viz.: “The court erred in holding and decreeing that said McGlothlin was entitled to recover on the warranty contained in this defendant’s said deed to him, and in holding that his claim, if any he had, was not barred by the statute of limitation, because the warranty did not cover any deficiency in the ■amount of land, and more than two years had elapsed before McGlothlin made any ■claim, and because said McGlothlin’s claim against this defendant was because of want of title in defendant, and not on account of deficiency in quantity of land.”
We cannot agree with all reasons stated by the trial court in rendering the judgment, but we believe, however, that the justice of the case has been reached, and the judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.