Farmers' State Bank of Quanah v. Farmer
Farmers' State Bank of Quanah v. Farmer
Opinion of the Court
This was a suit by appellee Mrs. Eula Farmer joined by her husband, R. A. Farmer, to enjoin a sale under and to cancel a certain deed of trust executed by appellees on May 16, 1911, to secure a note in favor of appellant bank in the sum of $662.50. The trust deed conveyed lots 1, 2 and 3 in block No. 4, in the town of Paducah, in Cottle county. Appellees allege in their petition that at the date of the execution of the deed of trust and for a long time prior thereto, the unincumbered lots were the separate property of appellee Mrs. Eula Farmer; that said property was then being used and occupied by appellee R. A. Farmer as a livery barn, feed stable, etc., which said property had been improved by appellees for that purpose; that the same was then the business homestead of appellee R. A. Farmer and not subject to incumbrance by deed of trust, of all of which appellant had full knowledge; that with knowledge of such facts, appellant induced said R. A. Farmer, and through him the said Eula Farmer, to execute said deed of trust; that the debt secured thereby was the separate and individual debt of said R. A. Farmer and neither the said Eula Farmer nor her property was in any manner liable therefor; that at the time of the execution of said deed of trust said Eula Farmer had been suffering from a malady known as pellagra, and her mind had been affected therefrom to such an extent as to render her incapable of transacting any business; that she did not know what she was doing when she executed the said deed of trust and did not realize that she was executing a deed of trust on her property to secure the debt of R. A. Farmer; that no part of the consideration for which said note was executed was used for the benefit of said Eula Farmer or of her separate property; that she has never in any way ratified said deed of trust and because of said facts appellees allege that said deed of trust is and has always been void.
Appellant answered by general denial and specially that the said deed of trust and note were given by appellees to secure a loan made by appellant to appellees on said 16th day of May, 1911; that appellees were not using or occupying said property for any *285 purpose and never had used or occupied said property ¿or any purpose, but that the same was then and always bad been used and occupied by other persons than appellee; that as an inducement to appellant to loan ap-pellees said money appellees represented to appellant that said property was community property of appellees; that they were not using or occupying same for any purpose and had no interest in the business then being conducted on said lots; that they never had any interest in said business and had specially disclaimed any homestead interest therein; that at the date of the execution of said deed of trust, a firm by the name of Day & Anderson owned and conducted the business carried on in said property and had so owned and conducted said business for a month or so prior thereto. Appellant further alleged that the money so borrowed from appellant, evidenced by said note and secured by said deed of trust, was used to pay off and discharge a lien upon the property owned and claimed by appellees as the separate property of Mrs. Eula Farmer; that appellant relied upon said representations made by the appellees and had no notice or knowledge that the same were not true and that appellees were estopped to maintain said suit without first tendering to appellant said money borrowed. Appellant further alleged that if appellees had ever used said lots as a place to carry on any business, the same had been abandoned by them prior to the execution of said deed of trust and that ap-pellee R. A. Farmer, who was the head of the family, was then engaged in another and different business many miles from the town of Paducah and in a different county.
As constituting appellee Mrs. Eula Farmer’s title to the lot in question, the following evidence was introduced: (1) Deed from J. V. Guyton and wife to Henry Farmer, dated October 1, 1907, and filed for record the same day. Mrs. Guyton was the daughter of ap-pellee, and Henry Farmer, the grantee, was their son. (2) Deed from Henry Farmer and wife to Mrs. Eula Farmer, dated Feb. 9, 1911, filed for record April 11, 1911. This deed .does not recite that the consideration therefor was paid by the said Mrs. Eula Farmer out of her own separate funds and does not purport to convey the property to her for her own separate use and benefit. It appears from the statement of facts that, some time after this deed was recorded, appellees caused the same to be interlined so as to recite that the consideration therefor was paid by Mrs. Eula Farmer out of her own separate funds and conveying the property to her for her separate use and benefit. After this in-terlineation, the deed was never acknowledged by the grantors but was refiled for record June 24, 1911, and again recorded. Henry Farmer, the son of appellees, testified that some time in May, 1911, while he was living in Wise county, he received a letter from his mother, written in her own handwriting, advising him that the deed made in February to her did not convey the property to her for her separate benefit and requested him to make a new deed that did so recite. He stated that he complied with this request, but it seems that this new deed was never recorded and was not introduced in evidence.
Upon the issue as to whether or not the three lots in question, with the improvements thereon, constituted the business homestead of appellees, there is this testimony in the record: The property had been conveyed by Mrs. Guyton to her brother, Henry Farmer, to be held in trust by him for their mother. Henry Farmer had erected the livery stable upon the lots, acquired the necessary horses, mules, buggies, and other vehicles for the purpose of conducting a livery stable, and, assuming charge thereof, had been carrying on the business for several years. He left Paducah in February, 1911, when his father, appellee R. A. Farmer, who it ■ seems had been working under Henry’s direction as an assistant in the conduct of the business, took charge of the stable and continued to run it for himself until he contracted to sell -the personal property to Day & Anderson in April, 1911. This contract of sale to Day & Anderson was made about the middle of the month of April, in consideration of which R. A. Farmer accepted a deed to 1700 acres of land in Hardeman county, in which Day & Anderson claimed to have some sort of an equity. R. A. Farmer testified on this point: “I had no other business. I devoted my time and attention to the livery stable business up to the time that we disposed of it. I was running that business at the time this deed of trust was executed on the 16th day of May. I was getting the proceeds of the business at that time. It was turned over to the purchasers on the 17th or 18th of May. Mason Harwell was here on the ground when it was executed and the business was turned over to him on the next morning after it was executed. I was running the business on the day the deed of trust was executed. I was running it for myself and was getting the proceeds.” The record further discloses that prior to the time Henry Farmer left Paducah the business had been conducted in his name although it in fact actually belonged to Mrs. Farmer. It appears that the land for which R. A. Farmer contracted to exchange the horses, vehicles, and other personal property was at the time of that agreement leased to one Richardson, and Day & Anderson were to secure the cancellation of that lease so they could deliver possession of the land to R. A. Farmer and by the terms of the agreement Farmer was to retain possession of the livery business until possession of the land was delivered to him. It further appears that this lease was never canceled and that Farmer never obtained possession of the land. However, Day & Anderson sold the personal property, consisting of horses, buggies, etc., which they were to get for the land, to one Hirstein, who was then the cashier of the appellant bank; whereupon Hir-stein sold a half interest therein to Mason Harwell, who was president of the bank. On this point R. A. Farmer further testified: “The reason I turned the rolling stock over to them before they turned the pasture over to me was because they said they had the release from Richardson, but when we got *287 over there to Quanah they did. not have it and I never did get possession of it. I never was in possession of the pasture that I traded the rolling stock for. I was to keep the rolling stock and run the livery "stable and get the proceeds until the time they turned the pasture over to me. When Harwell came over here to Paducah I turned the horses, rolling stock, and stable over to him but I never did get possession of the pasture. I got the proceeds of the stable on May 16th and Harwell and Hirstein took possession the next morning.” It further appears from the evidence that part of the loan which is represented by the note sought to be canceled was used in discharging a lien held by a corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of vehicles and designated in the record as “Bmory-McLean people.” It appears that while Henry Farmer was conducting the business he purchased vehicles to the amount of $1,100 from said corporation, of which amount he had paid from the proceeds of the business about $600. The money borrowed was applied to the extinguishment of the balance due upon this debt and a remainder of $33 was, by agreement between R. A. Farmer and Mason Harwell, paid for insurance upon the personal property, the policy being made payable to appellant bank asi its interests might appear.
Since the evidence upon either theory of the case might be held sufficient to support the Judgment of the court, it must be and the same is hereby affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- FARMERS’ STATE BANK OF QUANAH v. FARMER Et Al.
- Cited By
- 18 cases
- Status
- Published