Case ID: ohio_10/html/0179-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "Wood, J.", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

Thomas L. Hawkins, Administrator of Cyrus Hulburd v. Jaques Hulburd, Administrator of H. J. Harman and others.
    Land scrip issued to the heir under the act of Congress of 1828 is liable, in equity, to the debts of the ancestor.
    This is a bill in chancery from the county of Sandusky.
    The object of the suit is, to compel the heir at law of Cyrus Hulburd, deceased, to account to the administrator upon his 179] Restate, for the amount of about $1,400, received for forfeited land stock, under an act of Congress, passed May 23, 1828, entitled “ an act for the relief of purchasers of public lands that have reverted for non-payment of the purchase money."
    The entries, in this case, were made under the act of 1800, by which the credit system was especially provided for. By section 5 it is enacted, “ That the minimum price of the public lands shall be two dollars per acre, and payable in installments.” Where the conditions of the sale were not complied with, relief was extended, with various modifications, up to April, 1820, when the credit system was abolished. By the act of 1821, persons holding certificates of purchase were authorized to file a relinquishment, in writing, of any legal subdivision of tracts of land entered, and have the money paid on the parts so relinquished applied on those retained, toward completing payment. This act also provides for the forfeiture of the lands, if not so paid for, within a limited period, after the transfer of the payments, and the expiration of the extended time. These enactments, in favor of purchasers, in different forms, and by subsequent statutes, were continued until July 4, 1829. '
    Cyrus Hulburd,
    the intestate; died on May 22, 1828. On that day, he had not completed the payments for the entries so by him made. On May 23, 1828, and one day after his death, Congress passed the act, declaring that whero lands had reverted, or were liable to revert, to the United States, for non-compliance with the terms of the act, under which such reversion would accrue, etc., it should be the duty of the register of the land office, where the purchase or deposit was made, to issue, upon the application of the person legally entitled to the benefit of such payment, etc., his ’ or their legal representatives or assigns, a certificate for the amount so paid and not refunded, which should be received and credited, as cash, in payment of any of the public lands, etc. Under the provisions of this act, the heirreceived the scrip, which was afterward converted into money..
    Boalt, for the plaintiff.
    *Harris & Spink, for the defendant.
   Wood, J.

It is admitted, in this case, that Cyrus Hulburd, the intestate, died in May, 1828. At his death, he had an incontestable equity in the lands entered by him, which, under the provisions of the acts of Congress, had he lived, he might have made available, until July 4, 1829. By the act of May 23, 1828, passed one day after Hulburd’s death, that right was made available in scrip. This scrip was to be issued to the person, or persons, legally entitled to the benefit of” the provisions contained in the act, “ his, her, or their legal representatives or assigns.” Harriet Hulburd, the heir at law, availed herself of these enactments, and the scrip was issued to her, which was afterward converted into money. She received it, not as an original right, conferred upon her by the act of Congress, but as a right conferred upon the estate to which she stood in the relation of heir at law. In other words, it is clear that she is in possession not by purchase, but by descent. It follows, then, that the scrip, though issued to the heir, is assets which belongs to the estate. It has descended, liable to the payment of debts of the ancestor, and the heir must account to the administrator for the avails; for the heir holds property descended, in trust, for the benefit of creditors, as far as the liabilities of the ancestor extends

Decree for the complainant.