73 Mo. 289 | Mo. | 1880
By this proceeding, plaintiffs seek to set aside a deed of trust of certain lands executed by John Odie and wife to Wallace Pratt, in trust to secure".the payment of a sum of money owing by said Odie to the. defend ant insurance company. The following facts are admitted and agreed upon by both parties : That the plaintiffs, Calvin Odie, Dorotha Odie, James William Odie and John Henry Odie, are minors ; that they are the only legal heirs of Janette M. Odie, deceased; that Charles T. Collins is' their curator; that on the — day of January, 1863, one W. F. Haines died intestate, leaving as his only heirs at law S. F.Williams, Calvin Williams and Dorotha J. Shelton, formerly Williams, and Janette M. Odie, formerly Williams; the mother of these plaintiffs; that said W. F. Haines died seized and possessed of the land described in the petition off plaintiffs; that each of said uncles and aunts was entitled to one-fourth part of said real estate upon the death of said Haines; that at the time of the decease of said Haines, Janette M. Odie was the wife of John Odie, one of the defendants, who is the father of plaintiffs; that in November, 1865, after the death of said Haines, an amicable arrangement was made between the above named heirs of said Haines for the partition of said land which descended to them from said Haines; that said arrangement was entered into while the mother of these plaintiffs was living with John Odie as his wife; that in order to carry out said arrangement the mother of these plaintiffs joined with her husband in a conveyance to the other coheirs with her in said Haines’ estate, to-wit: Calvin Williams and S. F. Williams, by which she conveyed to her said brothers the part of said real estate allotted to each one of them respectively, which conveyances are recorded in book 0, pages 163 and 164; that about the time said arrangement for said partition was made, the said defend
The deed to John Odie, constituting part of such agreed statement of facts, was duly signed, sealed and acknowledged, and omitting signatures, seals and acknowledgment, is as follows: “ Know all men by these presents, that, whereas, one Wm. F. Haines departed this life on the — day of January, 1863, inheriting from his father, C. M. Haines, the following real estate, lying in the county of Henry, State of Missouri, to-wit: The southeast quarter section No. 20, except twenty acres of east side, and ‘Old Mill Tract’ in southwest corner of same; the northwest quarter of section No. 32 ; the east half of northeast quarter section No. 31, and the southeast quarter of southeast quarter section No. 30, in township No. 42, of range No. 26; containing 336 20-100 acres; leaving SquireF. Williams, Calvin Williams, Jane M. Odie, formerly Jane M. Williams, Dorotha J. Shelton, formerly Dorotha J. Williams, his uncles and aunts on the side of his mother, as his only heirs at law. Therefore, the said Squire F. Williams and Jane his wife, Calvin Williams and Mary J. his wife, Mark A. Shelton and Dorothá J. his wife, -for and in consideration of the sum of $520, to them in hand paid by John Odie, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and for
The court made the following decree, from which defendants have appealed : “ Wherefore it is ordered, adjudged and decreed by the court that said deed of trust so executed by said John Odie to said Pratt, trustee for .said Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, be set aside and for naught held, so far as these plaintiffs are concerned, and that said defendant, John Odie, execute and deliver to said plaintiffs a good and sufficient deed conveying to them the one undivided one-half of the above described real estate ; and if said Odie fail or refuse to execute to plaintiff's such deed, that all the title of said John Odie in and to said real estate be' divested out of the said John Odie and vested in said plaintiff's.”
The deed to John Odie did not convey the interest of Jane M. Odie in the land. She was not a party to the deed, neither ¿s grantor or grantee. She, with the other heirs of Wm. E. Haines, joined in a deed conveying to S. E. and Calvin Williams, each, specific portions of the .360
If the trustee in the deed of trust and the insurance company, are' to be held as innocent purchasers, without n°tice of the equity of Mrs. Odie, then they can g0 jjqucjq 0f the land as John Odie acquired a légal title to. We ai’e of the opinion that the defendants are not affected with notice of Mrs. Odle’s equity. There is nothing on the face of the deed to John Odie to impart such notice. Jane Odie was not a party to that deed. While it purports to convey 188 82-100 acres, it in fact conveyed but an undivided three-fourths — the title to the other fourth remaining in Mrs. Odie. Of the ■consideration expressed in the deed, the grantors acknowledge the receipt, not by one only, but by all of them. It does not appear in that deed that Jane Odie was the wife of John Odie, nor is there, therein, any reference to the partition agreement. The grantors each had a legal title to one-fourth of the land, and had the legal right to convey it, and the purchaser from John Odie was not obliged to search the records or elsewhere in order to ascertain whether there were any equitable rights which could be asserted against it. Mrs. Odle’s equity originated in the partition agreement, of which there was no record to impart notice, and in the deeds executed by her to her two brothers. These deeds disconnected from the partition agreement, and making no reference to it, could impart no notice of her equity.
