This was an action of foreclosure. A judgment was rendered by the district court for Hitchcock county by which the defendant John S. Cranor obtained a decree foreclosing his mortgage for $1,000 on a certain tract of land in that county, and the defendant Heskett has appealed.
The facts as they appear from the record may be briefly stated as follows: One Steinhaus was the owner of the west half of the southeast quarter, the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter, and the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of section 32, in township 2 north, of range 31 west of the sixth P. M., in Hitchcock county, Nebraska. He died intestate, and the administrator of his estate sold and conveyed the land in question to August Anderson, whose deed was recorded April 4, 1888. It may be conceded that the deed by which he obtained his title was voidable for irregularities in the administrator’s sale. Anderson went into possession when he obtained his deed, and in March, 1964, conveyed the land by warranty deed
It thus appears that the controlling issue in this case is one of fact, and the real question to be determined is:
It appears from the testimony that August Anderson purchased the Steinhaus land at administrator’s sale in the spring of 1888, and received a deed therefor, which was recorded in April of that year. The witnesses Phillips, Knobbs, Brennan, and Josephine Anderson, his widow, all testified that he took possession of the land and broke a part of it in the year 1888,- and fenced all of it the following season; that he continued in uninterrupted possession of the land and paid the taxes thereon until he sold it to Cranor in 1904. The testimony also shows that Cranor took possession of this and other lands and remained in possession until he sold to defendant Heskett in 1907; that Heskett has remained in the uninterrupted possession of it ever since that date. While there were irregularities in dhe administrator’s sale to Anderson, he took possession under color of title, and the evidence is clear and convincing that he and his grantees, Cranor and Heskett, have been in the open, notorious, adverse and exclusive possession of the Steinhaus farm for more than 22 years. It appears that plaintiff, Franklin, in the year 1911 obtained quitclaim deeds from the two Steinhaus heirs for the sum of $1 each, but Franklin has never disturbed Heskett in his possession. Such being the case, Heskett’s allegation of disseizin was not sustained. It seems clear that the title which Heskett obtained from defendant Cranor is valid,, and therefore he had no defense to the $1,000 mortgage given by him to Cranor.
The judgment of the district court was clearly right, and is
Affirmed.