94 Cal. 195 | Cal. | 1892
This is an action to quiet title. Judgment went for plaintiffs, and defendants appeal from the judgment, and from an order denying a new trial.
The land in dispute is a narrow wedge-shaped piece, with the point to the south, and widening as it runs northerly. The northerly end of the piece is a certain ravine, called the San Juan or Graveyard barranca.
On the east side of the strip in dispute there is a piece of land called the “ Price tract,” which commences at the lower or southerly end of the land in dispute, and runs along it northerly about one third of the distance up to the barranca. Along the west side of the Price tract there is a road sixteen feet wide which stops at the northerly line of said Price tract.
Now, the contention of plaintiffs is, that the easterly line of the land in contest is the westerly line of said road as far as it extends, and a prolongation of said line northerly to the barranca. The direction of such line would be several degrees east of north. "The defendants contend that the true easterly line of the land in contest commences at the southwest corner of the Price tract on the easterly side of the road, and runs diagonally across the said road due north to the said barranca.
It is true, as appellants contend, that this is not an action to reform a deed; and being an action to quiet title, plaintiffs were called upon to show title in themselves. And the question to be determined was, whether or not the exception in a certain deed to defendant Lewis M. Lloyd included the land in contest.
On November 28, 1884, one Larkin Snodgrass owned a large tract of land —4,280 acres — including the land in contest in this case, and on that day he entered into a written contract to sell a certain part of said large tract to Alice L. Dunlap and Susan A. Watkins. The part of the description of the land mentioned in said contract which it is necessary to here state is as follows:
On September 8, 1886, Snodgrass, Brooks, and Cooper entered into a written contract with the defendant Lewis M. Lloyd, by which they agreed to sell to him the said large tract of land herein first described, excepting and reserving, however, several pieces of land which had thefetofore been conveyed, or which the grantors had contracted to convey; and among such exceptions was the said Dunlap place, described simply as “about sixty acres, known as the Dunlap tract.” Three days thereafter, on September 11, 1886, they executed a deed of conveyance of said large tract to said Lloyd in pursuance of said contract, and in the deed the exception of the Dunlap tract was as follows: “ Also, excepting a tract of land heretofore agreed to be conveyed by L. Snodgrass to Mrs. Alice Dunlap and Mrs. Watkins, known as the ‘ Dunlap place,’ particularly described as follows: Commencing at the bridge at the Graveyard barranca, on Telegraph road, thence running east along the 1ST. line of said road to S. W. corner of Mrs. Price’s land; thence ¡N". to Graveyard barranca, thence down center of same to place of beginning.”
If this description had followed the contract, and had stopped with the words “ Dunlap place,” there would have been no difficulty as to its meaning. But it is contended by appellants that the latter part of the de» scription controls the first part; that the words “to S. W. corner of Mrs. Price’s land ” carries the line across the road; and that “thence N. to Graveyard barranca” carries the line running northward diagonally back across the road in a course due north to the barranca. In the absence of proof whether or not the sixteen-foot road was upon, and therefore a part of, the Price tract,” it might be that the grantor, by the phrase
There is no question that the general description is entirely certain. In the original Dunlap contract, the land is accurately bounded on the east by the sixteen-foot road and a continuation of the west line thereof,— a most probable and natural boundary. Afterwards, and down to the time of the deed to Lloyd, it was always
The case at bar resembles very much the case of Haley v. Amestoy, 44 Cal. 132. The description involved in that case was: “ All the undivided two thirds (f) of all the lands known by the name of rancho de San Vicente, lying and being situated in the county of Los Angeles, and state of California; the lands of said rancho being known and described as follows ”; then follows a particular description of courses and distances, etc. This particular description, if adopted, would have left out a large portion of the rancho. The rancho, however, was well known by its name. The court, in its opinion, after some discussion of the question whether the particular description was uncertain, proceeds as follows: “ But however this may be, we are of the opinion that the rancho is well described by name, and that the particular description was not intended to be used in the sense of restriction. The language is [giving the general description as above stated]. This language indicates that the dominant idea in the mind of the grantor, when the deed was made, was of the rancho of San Vicente as a whole, and not of the particular lines or marks by which it might be described. This being so, the deed
The minor points in the case are not of sufficient importance to affect the correctness of the judgment. It was of no consequence that the contract to convey to Dunlap and Watkins was not recorded until after Lloyd’s purchase; his contract and deed put him on inquiry, and were the equivalent of actual notice. The co-defendants of Lewis M. Lloyd, to whom he conveyed certain interests in the land, occupy a position no different from that of Lloyd himself. The court did not err in denying defendants’ offer to introduce the judgment roll in a certain action of Snodgrass et al. v. Parks et al., which was an action to foreclose a mortgage upon certain described premises. In the first place, plaintiff was not in privity with the parties to that action; and in the second place, the complaint therein does not purport to describe the “ Dunlap place.” And for the same reasons there was no error in sustaining plaintiffs’ objection to a certain homestead declaration made at one time by Mrs. Dunlap. Other rulings on admission of evidence are not necessary to be specially noticed.
The court reserved some objections to offered evidence, and ruled upon them at the final decision of the case; and appellants contend that such practice was erroneous, and a ground for reversal of the judgment. In Mayo v. Mazeaux, 38 Cal. 448, such practice was severally criticised, but was not held to be ipso facto a cause for reversal. The better practice, is, no doubt, to rule upon questions involving the admissibility of evidence as they arise; but it happens sometimes that the determination of the merits of the case turns upon a question touch-the relevancy or incompetency of certain offered evi
Judgment and order denying a new trial affirmed.
Paterson, J., Sharpstein, J., Harrison, J., Garoutte, J., and De Haven, J., concurred.