80 Iowa 733 | Iowa | 1890
It is claimed by appellant that the plaintiff did not show that the land was conveyed by H. Greve to the plaintiff, and that for that reason the decree should have been for the defendant. The original tax deeds and deeds from Greve to the plaintiff were not in the plaintiff’s possession during the progress of the trial, and he sought to prove them by the record of conveyances. It was objected by defendant that no foundation had been laid for the introduction of the record. The court appears to have been off opinion that the objection was well taken, and all the other evidence was introduced, and the cause was continued to give plaintiff time to make the showing. A deposition was taken which left no doubt of the right of the plaintiff to introduce the record of the deeds. But it is not properly shown that this deposition was considered by the court. The record of the further proceedings in the case is silent as to this question. But the court regarded the evidence before it when it decided the case as sufficient to authorize a decree for the plaintiff. W e are of opinion that, so far as the decree involved a finding that the
*736 “ State of Minnesota, j “ County of Ramsey. ( ss‘
“On this twenty-fifth day of May, A. D. 1878, before me, a notary public in and for said Ramsey county, personally appeared EL Greve, to me personally known to be the same person described in, and who executed, the foregoing deed, and acknowledged that he executed the same for the uses and purposes therein mentioned. Ansel Oppenhem,
“[Seal.] Notary Public, Ramsey Co., Minn.”
It will be observed that this acknowledgment does not certify that Greve, the grantor, acknowledged the instrument to be his voluntary act and deed, as required by section 1958 of the Code. It has frequently been held by this court that the omission of the word voluntary, or its equivalent, in a certificate of acknowledgment is a fatal defect, and does not impart constructive notice to a subsequent purchaser. Wickersham v. Reeves, 1 Iowa, 413; Dickinson v. Davis, 12 Iowa, 353; Bell v. Evans, 10 Iowa, 353; Newman v. Samuels, 17 Iowa, 528. Under the rule in these cases, the deeds in question are defectively acknowledged, and the plaintiff had no right to introduce them in evidence. So far as the plaintiff is concerned, then, he had no right to further maintain the action. The record did not show that he was the grantee of Greve. It is true, this acknowledgment was taken in the state of Minnesota, and it may conform to the laws of that state, and, under our own laws, it may be a good acknowledgment. Acts 20th Gen. Assem., sec. 1, chap. 203. But the record does not show that it is in accord with the laws of that state, and it was incumbent on the plaintiff to make that showing. Greenwood v. Jenswold, 69 Iowa, 53. This was the end of the plaintiff’s case. He could not demand a decree quieting his title without showing that he was the grantee of Greve.
As neither party is entitled to any relief upon this record, the decree of the court below will be reversed, and the cause remanded for a trial in accord with the views above expressed, and each party will be required to pay his own costs in this court.
Reversed.