Hopkins v. King
Hopkins v. King
Opinion of the Court
This suit originated in an action of trespass to try title instituted by the appellee, King, against the appellant, Hopkins, and a number of other parties, for the recovery of several tracts of land. It was finally reduced to a controversy between King and Hopkins as to the title and owner*ship of 50 acres of land situated in Camp county and described as a part of the Isom Lee survey. In a trial before the court without a jury, a judgment was rendered in favor of the appellee for an undivided nine-sixteenths of the land sued for. It was agreed by the parties that M. J. Couch, the surviving widow of J. M. Couch, and her son, J. W. Couch, constituted the common source of title. As evidence of title, the appellee introduced a judgment in his favor against Mrs. Couch for the sum of $120.95 rendered in the justice court of Camp county in 1893; also a deed by the constable of that precinct, which recited the issuance of an execution and levy upon the land in controversy and a sale to the appellee. This deed was dated March 7, 1893. When the deed was offered in evidence, the objection was made that no execution authorizing the sale had been shown. There was ample evidence to warrant a finding by the court that an execution had been issued upon the judgment and placed in the hands of the constable and that the sale was made by virtue of that writ. Parol testimony was offered showing that a search had made among the records of the court for the execution, and it could not be found. Appellant claimed the land by limitation under deeds executed after the constable’s sale to King. He proved that after the death of J. M. Couch his widow, M. J. Couch, qualified as community administratrix of the common estate. He offered in evidence a deed from M. J. Couch as such community administratrix conveying 50 acres of land to J. F. Sor-rells in consideration of a cash payment and the execution of three vendor’s lien notes. This deed- was dated August 9, 1893. He then offered in evidence a judgment rendered thereafter in his favor in a suit instituted by him against Sorrells to foreclose his vendor’s lien upon the land in controversy; and an order of sale issued on that judgment, in which the return of the officer showed a sale to appellant Following this, the appellant offered a deed made by the sheriff of Camp county in pursuance of that sale. The deeds from Mrs.' Couch to Sorrells and the sheriff’s deed were excluded upon the objections that the descriptions of the property contained in them were insufficient to sustain valid conveyances.
The judgment is affirmed.
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Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.