| La. | Jul 15, 1860
The appellants purchased their respective tracts of land from Daniel W. Coxe, deceased, whose title, as derived by mesne conveyances, was based upon the grant to the Marquis de Maison Rouge.
The Supreme Court of the United States, in a case in which Daniel W. Coxe was a party, decided that the De Maison Rouge claim, or title, was null and void, and that the land in question belonged to the United States, by virtue of the treaty of cession of Louisiana. Vide 3 Howard 773, The United States v. Richard King and Daniel W. Coxe; 7 Howard 833, same case.
It is admitted that the appellants remained in possession of the lands, which they had purchased from D. W. Coxe, since the date of the transfer up to the present time, and that they have in the meantime obtained titles from the Government by availing themselves of the Act of Congress above recited.
The question submitted for our consideration is, whether the appellants have been evicted by the superior title of the United States; and, if so, whether they are not entitled to demand a repetition of the amounts which they have paid on the purchase from Daniel W. Coxe.
It is well settled doctrine that actual dispossession is not always required in order to constitute an eviction. A purchaser may be evicted, although he continues in possession of the property, if that possession be under a different title ; as, for instance, if the vendee should subsequently hold under the true owner, either' by right of inheritance or otherwise. Eviction, as defined by the code, “ is the loss suffered by the buyer of the totality of the thing sold, or of a part thereof, occasioned by the right or claims of a third person.” O. O. 2476 ; 1 Rawle 362" court="Pa." date_filed="1828-06-03" href="https://app.midpage.ai/document/reitenbach-v-reitenbach-6314310?utm_source=webapp" opinion_id="6314310">1 R. 362, Auguste Landry v. Honoré Felix Garnet; 11 R. 397, Isaac Thomas et als. v. Elizabeth Clemens et als ; 13 An. 390, Moses H. Butler v. James T. Watts.
The case under consideration does not seem. to be contemplated by the above quoted authorities, as will appear by reference to the facts. It is true, that the appellants have acquired the superior title of the United States ; but they were enabled to do so upon the express condition that they had purchased the lands from Daniel W. Coxe, in good faith and for a valuable consideration. That was the inducement that led Congress to confer upon them the extraordinary privileges granted by the Act of 1851. These purchasers cannot be allowed to avail themselves of the benefit of this Act, and then repudiate the contract which enabled them to obtain relief. Had Daniel W. Coxe entered these lauds, the title would have enured to the appellants’ benefit; and as it was through the titles, which he had transferred to them, that they were enabled to become the real owners of their respective tracts, there is no reason in law, and still less in equity, why these titles should be treated now as absolute nullities. It was as purchasers from Daniel W. Coxe — and purchasers in good faith and for a valuable consideration— that the appellants acquired the superior title of the United States ; and, had it not been for the transfer from Daniel W. Coxe to them, they could not have acquired the ownership of these lands.
It is, therefore, ordered and decreed, that the judgment of the District Court be affirmed, with costs.