26 Ala. 405 | Ala. | 1855
—The object of the suit is, to protect the title of the complainants to the remainder in certain slaves ; and the bill avers, that one Henry B. Haley died in the State of Kentucky, in 1825, leaving his widow Elizabeth, and the complainant Mary Ann Cockrell, then Mary Ann Haley, his only child; that letters of administration were taken out by one Maximilian Haley, “ and that some time thereafter, dower was assigned and allotted to the said Elizabeth in her said husband’s estate, and among the negroes so allotted was a negro woman by the name of Chaney”, who is one of the slaves in relation to which the interference of the court is prayed, and the others are her children, alleged to have been born since the assignment. The bill also avers, “ that by the statute laws of Kentucky, at the time of the death of the said Henry B. Haley, and the allotment of dower to his widow as aforesaid, she was only entitled to a life interest in the said negro Chaney and her increase, and the estate in remainder vested in the said Mary Ann.” These are the only allegations of title which arc to be found in either the original or the amended bills ; and the only question is, whether, under the rules' of pleading, the title of the complainants is stated with sufficient clearness and accuracy.
But independently of the ground wo have noticed, we are of the opinion, that the law of Kentucky which (it is averred) gave to the widow a life estate in the slaves, and the remainder to the daughter, is not well pleaded. Mr. Chitty, in his work on Pleadings, (vol. 1, p. 216,) lays down the rule, that foreign laws must, in general, be stated in the pleadings, for the reason, that courts cannot, ex officio, take notice of them; and in Holmes v. Broughton, 10 Wend. 74, where a plea set out a former recovery for the same cause of action in another State, and a satisfaction of the judgment by appraisement of lands upon execution issued upon such judgment, it was hold, that such satisfaction being a course of proceedings unknown to the common law, the plea should have set out the statute, and that the general averment that the proceedings were according to the laws of the State where they were had, and fully authorized by them, was not sufficient. The same principle has also been recognized by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts (Hempstead v. Reid, 1 Mass. 104); and we think it rests upon sound reason. As was said by the chancellor in his decree, “It is the province of pleading to state facts, and not conclusions.” In the present case, the averment is, that by the statute law of Kentucky, and the allotment of dower, the widow became entitled to a life estate, and the daughter to the remainder in the slaves; and this is simply stating what the pleader supposes to be the effect of the laws of Kentucky, and is clearly insufficient.
Decree affirmed, at the cost of appellants.