60 Ct. Cl. 850 | Ct. Cl. | 1925
delivered the opinion of the court:
The plaintiff, Maurice Joo, predicates a right of recovery for certain buildings attached to realty upon an alleged act of omission upon the part of the defendant. The gravamen of his complaint is restricted to an allegation that in the course of the proceedings to be set forth herein, he, the recognized owner of the buildings involved, was in fact recognized as entitled to the award made for the value of the same, and that the sum awarded the Hampton Boads Company in a suit in this court for the value of the lands taken did not include the value of his buildings.
The pertinent facts are as follows: The Norfolk-Hampton Boads Company was the owner of what is known as the Pine Grove tract of land at Sewalls Point, Ya. When the Jamestown Exposition Company was organized the Norfolk-
An adverse claimant, the Vue de L’Eau Company of Virginia, asserted title to a portion of the tract, and the question of fee simple title to the whole was dependent upon open, notorious, and adverse possession by the land company for the sufficient statutory period to give the land company title by prescription to the Vue de L’Eau Company’s interest. The land company on September 16, 1914, seven years after the making of the verbal agreement with the plaintiff,, i. e., the initial agreement, hereinbefore mentioned, entered into a written agreement with the plaintiff by the terms of which the indebtedness of the plaintiff for the purchase of the Kentucky buildings was canceled.and the promissory notes destroyed and liability thereunder released. In consideration of which the plaintiff conveyed to the land company his title to the Kentucky buildings and all other improvements then on or thereafter to be placed upon the premises in question, the plaintiff to continue in possession of the land as tenant at will.
The President, in pursuance of the act of June 15, 1917, 40 Stat. 207, took over this entire tract of land for use as a naval operating base. The order taking it over was dated. June 28, 1917. The compensation board appointed by the President fixed as just compensation for the lands taken $37,000 and $2,175 for the buildings thereon, a total award
In addition to what has been said, and despite the equities as between the plaintiff and the land company respecting the buildings, the agreement of September 16, 1914, clearly and unmistakably confirms title to the buildings in the land company. The plaintiff by this written instrument divested himself of all legal claim of title to the buildings in suit. An attempt is made to give this instrument a different effect. It must necessarily fail. We must take the agreement as we find it. The plaintiff may not be heard to say that he executed it for an intended purpose, quite aside from transferring title to the property mentioned therein. It is a written contract, free from doubt or ambiguity, presented by the defendant, and evidence which we may not ignore.
The petition will be dismissed. It is so ordered.