Pridgen v. Cook
Pridgen v. Cook
Opinion of the Court
On February 16, 1914, Mrs. Anne Andrews and her two children, W. E. Andrews and Mary Andrews, the latter a minor, all of McLennan county, filed suit in the district court of Wichita county in the form of trespass to try title against R. H. Cook, W. J. Sheldon, Charles Pridgen, J. E. Meadows, and D.'T. Cross, all of whom were alleged to reside in Wichita county, alleging that plaintiffs, Mrs. Andrews as the surviving wife, and the other plaintiffs, as the children, were the sole heirs at law of J. B. Andrews, deceased. That on or about July 7, 1910, plaintiffs .were lawfully seised, and holding and claiming the same in fee simple, of lot 21, block 64,' in the town of Electra, Wichita county. The petition contained the usual allegations in trespass to try title suits of unlawful entry, etc., on the part of defendants.
.Defendants R. H. Cook and W. J. Sheldon in their answer alleged that they bought the lot from defendant Pridgen and that Pridgen represented to them that he owned and held same under a perfect title. That pending the negotiation of sale, Cook and Sheldon discovered that the record disclosed that the title to said lot had been conveyed by W. H. Wiseman et al., trustees, to one J. B. Andrews, and that Pridgen had purchased the lot from one J. B. Anderson. That they inquired of Pridgen how it happened that they held title to the lot through a deed from J. B. Anderson, while the record disclosed that the deed from the trustees had been made to J. B. Andrews. That Pridgen explained such apparent discrepancy by saying that he had talked to one Sol Williams who, as the promoter of the sale by the trustees aforesaid, was more familiar than any other person with all the details of said sale, and that said Williams stated to him (Pridgen) that the recording by the county clerk of Wichita county of the name of the vendee to said lot was the mistake of the trustees and that said record should have shown the name of said vendee as J. B. Anderson, who was really the man who had bought said lot and was entitled to own the same. That these two defendants had no reason to doubt the accuracy and truthfulness of the statement' alleged to have been made by Pridgen to them, but accepted and relied upon it as true. He further agreed to convey to said Cook and Sheldon a good title, such a title as was received from the trustees of the town of Electra, to wit, W. H. Wiseman, Geo. McDaniel, and G. P. Brunton. They further al *714 leged that at tlie time this representation was made by Pridgen to them they knew that the three trustees had owned a good title to the lot in controversy and that they (Cook and Sheldon) relied upon the representations made by Pridgen, paid to said Pridgen the sum of $500 in cash, and agreed to convey and deliver to him an undivided one-half interest in a brick wall which they agreed to build on the south’ line of said lot. Defendants further pleaded that since the filing of this suit they had become satisfied that plaintiffs owned and were entitled to the exclusive possession of said lot, and that they felt constrained to purchase the same from plaintiffs at whatever price they might be able to secure it. They further alleged that the representations made by Pridgen were untrue at the time they were made and were falsely and fraudulently made by said Pridgen for the sole purpose of inducing the defendants Gook and Sheldon to purchase said lot, and that at the time said Pridgen made said statements he knew that he did not own a good, or even merchantable, title to said lot, and also knew that said Sol Williams had never made to him the statements claimed.
Charles Pridgen, in answer to Cook’s- and Sheldon’s plea over, denied the several allegations as to fraud and as to representation made, and alleged that in good faith he had bought the lot from one J. B. Anderson and wife and paid a valuable consideration therefor on or about July 1, 1910. ' That Cook and Sheldon were fully aware of all the facts and circumstances relative to his (Pridgen’s) title, but in spite of said facts they accepted same, and therefore were estopped to claim any right over and against him (Pridgen).
The case was submitted to a jury on special issues, and the jury found as follows: (1) That Charles E. Pridgen did make false representations to defendant Cook and Sheldon in regard to the title of the lot in controversy ; (2) that Cook and Sheldon did not purchase the lot in controversy from C. E. Pridgen, taking the risk of the title; (3) that the reasonable value of the undivided one-half interest in the wall mentioned in defendants Cook’s and Sheldon’s pleading was $175.
It having been admitted by all parties defendant, who were in court, that plaintiffs were entitled to judgment for the title and possession of the lot involved, judgment was rendered on the verdict of the jury in favor of the plaintiffs against all parties defendant for the land sued for, and for costs, and judgment was rendered in favor of Cook and Sheldon and against Charles F. Pridgen for the sum of $675. Defendant Pridgen appeals.
The evidence shows that the title to the lots in Electra was vested in the three trustees hereinbefore named, and that a public sale was conducted by "Sol Williams, and that the lots, some T,800, were sold to various persons. One was purchased by J. B. Andrews, who lived near the ■ town of Lagrange on a farm. Pridgen testified that some three or four years before the trial he examined the record and found that title to this lot was in J. B. Andrews, and that he addressed a letter to J. B. Andrews at Lagrange, Tex., offering to buy the lot at a stated price; that in about three .weeks he received a letter from J. B. Anderson, or rather from his wife, Mrs. Eva Anderson, at Spokane, Wash., saying that her husband was out on a cattle ranch some distance from Spokane, and that when he came in she was satisfied he would take the price offered for the lot. That later he (Pridgen) sent a deed to Anderson, which was duly executed by Anderson and his wife and returned with draft attached for some $57. Pridgen denied making any false representations to defendants Cook and Sheldon, and testified that at the time of the sale he told them, or rather told Cook, with whom he claims to have had all the conversations relating to the lot, nothing as to the character of his title; that Cook offered to give him $500 for the lot and a one-half interest in the brick wall, and that he accepted said offer, furnishing an abstract of title. I-Ie further testified:
“I never did mention that lot to Sheldon in any shape or form, nor he to me at no time nor place, and the first time that Bob Cook ever said anything to me about it it seems that he borrowed some money on that lot. If I remember aright it was about a year after this trade was made he struck me in town. He said, ‘That lot belonged to J. B. Andrews;’ I said, ‘You had an abstract;’ he said, ‘Yes.’ I-Ie asked me what I knew about it. I told him all that I knew about it was what Sol Williams told me. After I got this deed, I brought it up here to put on record and Walter Reed called my attention to the discrepancy in it and I called Sol Williams up at Ft. Worth and asked him about it; there were records of those deeds up there in bad shape. I called Sol up. I asked him who it belonged to. When he answered the phone he was in the Elks’ poolroom, so he said. So I said, ‘The records here show that it belonged to Mr. Andrews, and I have a deed from Anderson.’ He said, ‘It is a technical error; I have got an interesting game of pool on here and after this game of pool is over I will look it up and write you.’ ”
Pridgen claimed that he never received any further communication from Sol Williams, but that some eight or ten months after this conversation ho went down to Sol Williams’ office and with the stenographer looked over the books.
The testimony of other witnesses discloses the fact that J. B. Anderson was the railroad agent at Lagrange some time prior to 1910, and that, perhaps on account of bad health, he left Lagrange and went to Washington, where, after the execution of this deed; he died; that J. B. Andrews was a farmer living some miles out of Lagrange, but that at the time of the Pridgen letter he was dead, and that Anderson had moved to Washington. This situation explains perhaps how the letter, if addressed to Andrews, was forwarded and .delivered to Anderson. '
The deed from Pridgen to Cook and Sheldon is as follows:
“Chas. Pridgen et ux. to R. H. Cook. Dated— Oct. 5, 1911. Filed — Oct. 26, 1911, at 8:37 a. m. Recorded — Doc. 14, 1911, at 9:09 a. m. in Book 59, page 113, Deed Records of Wichita County, Texas. Consideration — $800.00 and one-half interest in a brick wall to be built on the south line of said lot by R. H. Cook and W. J. Sheldon to us paid in cash, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged.
“Conveys unto R. H. Cook and W. J. Sheldon of the county of Wichita, state of Texas, said lot more particularly described as follows, to wit: Lot 21 in block 64 of the town of Electra, Wichita county, Texas, according to the recorded plat of said town, together with all the rights and appurtenances thereto belonging or in any wise appertaining, said lot hereby conveyed being the same conveyed by II. W. Wise-man, Geo. McDaniel and J. P. Brunton, trustees of the town of Electra, said deed being recorded in the deed records of Wichita county, Texas, to which deed and its record reference is made for a more accurate description.
“To have and to hold the above-described premises together with all the rights and appurtenances thereto in any wise belonging unto the said R. H. Cook and W. J. Sheldon just such title as was received from the said trustees of the town of Electra as aforesaid.
“Witness our hands this 5th day of October, A. D. 1911. Chas. Pridgen,
“Maude Pridgen.”
The deed was acknowledged in due form.
The judgment of the trial court is hereby in all things affirmed.
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Reference
- Full Case Name
- PRIDGEN v. COOK Et Al.
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- 2 cases
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- Published