Hamilton County Development Co. v. Sullivan
Hamilton County Development Co. v. Sullivan
Opinion of the Court
Appellees, W. E. Sullivan and wife, sued appellants, Hamilton County Development Company and the individuals composing the partnership bearing that name, to cancel a certain oil and gas lease executed by them to the company.
The grounds for rescission and cancellation of the lease were: That the agents of the company fraudulently induced appellees to execute the instrument, upon the promise that it would drill a well -within six months upon the leased premises, which was the homestead of appellees, and that this stipulation would be placed in the lease. That the lease was prepared by an agent of the company, and that appellees supposed the lease had been written according to the agreement; it being alleged that appellees could not read the instrument. It was also claimed that Mrs. Sullivan unwillingly signed the lease, and so told the agent of the company who took her acknowledgment. It was alleg *117 ed that, while the notary told Mr. Sullivan to leave the room after' he had signed the instrument, he stood in plain view of his wife, and within hearing of all that was said hy the notary and the wife. It was also pleaded that J. L. Lewis, who took the acknowledgment of both appellees, was interested in the company, in the lease and subject-matter of the same, and was not, under the law, authorized or qualified to take the acknowledgments. It was specifically alleged that plaintiffs relied upon defendant’s promise, and that it was the sole consideration for the execution of the lease.
The defendant H. E. Chesley, one of the individual partners, filed a general demurrer, which was by the court overruled. The remaining partners and the company made default. The court rendered judgment against Hamilton County Development Company, in the name of which the lease contract was taken, and also against each individual partner ; they having been duly served with citation.
Upon the writ of inquiry, the court heard proof, and found that the partnership was composed as alleged, and that the lease was obtained through fraud, and was without consideration; also that the agreement as to drilling the well wag made as alleged, and that, in event the drilling of the well was not begun within six months from the date of the lease, it was agreed that same should be null and void; that defendants did not begin the drilling of such well within six months, and had not commenced drilling operations at the date of the trial, nor made any preparations to do so; that the plaintiffs could not read, and did not know that the lease did not contain this provision or condition until after it was executed; that the land was the homestead of plaintiffs, and that the separate and privy acknowledgment of Mrs. Sullivan was not taken. The court concluded, as a matter'of law, that plaintiffs were entitled to the relief asked, and rendered judgment as above indicated. There is no statement of facts in the record.
Opinion.
It is first claimed that the petition was fatally defective,' and that it was error to overrule the general demurrer of appellant Chesley, and fundamental error to render judgment against the other appellants by default. This contention is based upon the familiar principle that the allegata and pro-bata must correspond, and that the judgment of the trial court was without pleadings to support the same, or the findings made therein.
The petition was not fatally defective, but was, at most, objectionable as defectively stating the cause of action relied upon. In such state of the pleadings, the defects, iff any, were cured by the findings of the court and the judgment. This case is referable to the principle announced and followed in the following decisions: Williams v. Warnell, 28 Tex. 612; Shirley v. Burns, 34 Tex. 645; Tinsley v. Peniman, 83 Tex. 56, 18 S. W. 718; Schuster v. Frendenthal, 74 Tex. 53, 11 S. W. 1051.
■ Believing that no reversible error has been shown, the judgment is affirmed.
Affirmed.
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Reference
- Full Case Name
- HAMILTON COUNTY DEVELOPMENT CO. Et Al. v. SULLIVAN Et Ux.
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- 3 cases
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- Published