60 Iowa 60 | Iowa | 1882
— The plaintiffs claim the property in question as the children and heirs of Minerva Pierson, deceased. The
Under this statute it was held that the donor was invested with the ultimate fee simple of the land, expectant on the failure of issue, and the grantee became tenant in fee tail,
"Whilst Iowa was a part of the Territory of Michigan, by an act of the Territorial legislature of Michigan, approved March 2d, 1821, it was enacted that all estates tail shall be abolished, and that whenever any person should be vested with such an estate, he should be deemed and adjudged to be seized thereof as an allodium. April 20th, 1836, Congress organized the Territory of Wisconsin, of which Iowa was a part, and, by section 12 of that act, continued and extended the laws of Michigan over Wisconsin.
The law abolishing estates tail continued to be the law of Wisconsin, and was incorporated into the Revised Statutes of 1849, Chap. 56, Sec., 3. By an act of Congress, approved June 12, 1838, Congress organized the Territory of Iowa out of a part of Wisconsin, and, by section 12, extended the laws of Wisconsin over the Territory of Iowa. On the 30th day of July, 1840, the territorial legislature of Iowa repealed all the acts of the Territory of Michigan and the Territory of Wisconsin, which were in force in the Territory of Iowa on the 4th day of July, 1838. Section 2 of this act provided that the repeal of any act by any law of this Territory shall never be construed to revive any act previously in force. Revised statutes of the Territory of Iowa, chapter 130. The appellee insists that the statute d& donis was repealed by the act of the Territory of Michigan of March 2, 1821, and that it was not revived by the repealing act of the Territory of Iowa of July 30,1840. Upon the other hand, the appellant contends that, at the time of the passage of the act of March 2, 1821, the statute de donis was in force in this country as a part of the common law, and that, when this act was repealed, the common law was thereby revived. 1 Black. Com., *90. We do not deem it necessary to determine the effect of the repealing act of July 30, 1840. The principles of the common law have been adopted in this country only so far
It appears that Minerva Pierson had the requsite heirs, which, under the common law, aside from the modification of the staute de donis, made her fee absolute. The conveyance by Minerva Pierson and her husband to .the defendant invested him with the entire estate. The demurrer was properly sustained.
Affirmed.