84 Iowa 448 | Iowa | 1892
I. The appellee contends that, as the -defendant Barnhill, treasurer, does not join in the
II. It will be noticed that in his petition the plaintiff only claimed title to the southwest quarter of
The questions made as to the tax deed to Kingman on sale for the taxes of 1864 are that the north ten of the twenty acres described therein were taxed to one N. B. Brown for that year, and that Brown paid said taxes. It is also contended that the description of the land in the deed to Kingman is too indefinite. The appellant’s abstract shows that the treasurer testified
The description in thp deed to Kingman is, “West part, northeast quarter, northwest quarter, twenty acres,” of said section 36. We think the description sufficiently definite to identify the lands conveyed. If it were, “West half, northeast quarter, northwest quarter,” of said section, its sufficiency would not be questioned; but it is “West part, northeast quarter, northwest quarter, twenty acres.” The words “twenty acres,” added as they are, render the description sufficiently definite. “That is certain which may be rendered certain.” This description covers the west twenty acres of the forty described, and its identity may be ascertained by measurement. It will be found upon examination that the description is noticeably different from any of those held to be insufficient. In Roberts v. Deeds, 57 Iowa, 320, cited, the description, “Northwest part of northeast section 31, township 74, range 8 west, containing three acres,” was held not to describe the lands owned in that section by Deeds, as what he did own lay only along part of the west line of said tract. It is there said: “The decisive question in this case is this: Is the description used in the tax books and deed sufficient to identify the land owned by Deeds'?” It was held that it did not, because of the peculiar form of the lands so owned, as stated in the opinion. In Collins v. Storm, 75 Iowa, 36, also cited by the appellant, the description was, “the west fractional half quarter of the northwest quarter of section 7,” etc. This was held not to describe the land in question or any particular part of it. It will be seen, on comparing these descriptions with the one in question, that they lack the certainty that the words here used express.
IY. It was upon the strength of this title that the appellee asked in his original petition that the
YI. A' sheriff’s deed, dated January 20, 1888, covering this land, was made to J. L. Wilson, who
Without discussing the appellant’s abstract of title further, it is sufficient to say that the defendant acquired all the title that it now asserts after the commencement of this action; that it took nothing by the sheriff’s deed to Wilson, nor by the quitclaim deed from Susan Olney to Lansley; that its only shadow of title is to the north half of the west half of the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of said section, which title in its grantors was divested by the two tax deeds under which the appellee holds the property. Another consideration in favor of the
We think the equities of the case are with the appellee, and that the judgment of the district court should he affirmed.