Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-03-15

Aii'Sl''A vac la- george apple and others
The comp ainant II z4Je,b, is the widow of JON
attau Hol fIrd and claims dover in frtct Of $50
acres Of lsud yBg 10 Ovlroa coaaty. Il Eelor ged
to his IA her, Joan i-lyf5Jd who died about the
year 1880, leaving vii, iG which he devi4ed thrs
land to his wife, sally Hoef0rd, during h = widows
hood, with remainder IA Tee TO said jonathan Hole
ford. lie married the complainant Eliz ,be b, aud
died during the lifetime of his mother the sal Sal
y HJief5'd, VINO never agtn married, acd is now
dead. The question aOW Ia, whether the id Jon.
sthan was so seized Of said tract of land, Or had
such estate CT interest in the same as that cympain
ant, Elizabeth, be widowed thereof The
Chancellor was of opinion be had, ard 50 decreed
Ia this VIC think he erred At tie common law she
was not entitled 70 dover, because her husband
jonathan Holeford, was never seized Of this estate
lie had 10 be sure, al estate OF Inherit lnee IL re
mainder, but the freehold and and life-estate aud
therefore the sezin, were in Sally Holeford, who
survived him.
blackstone, in the second volume Of his commen-
t8ries, page r. IN tres0g of freehold estates not
Of Inheritance says "Suoh estates for life will gea
orally speaking endure as long the life for which
they are granted, hut there are some estates for
life, which may determine upon future contingen>
cies, before the life for which they are created ex>
pi1O3. As If an estate be granted to a woman dur
ing her WidoEhood, or 20 a man until be be pro.
noted te benei.e, in these and similar cases,
whenever the contingency happens, when the widow
maTrles, or when the grantee obtains benefce. the
respective estates ale absolutely determined and
gOnc yet while they sabslst, they are reckoned es-
taes for life, because the term for which they will
endure, being uncertain, they may by possibility,
last for life, If the contingencies upon which they
ore to determine. do not sooner happen"
So that in this case, and for the purpose of The
deter nation Of this question there can be no doubt
that regard sally Holeford as the owner of
this estate for her life and having the freehold
and seizin This being SO, it is impossible that
Mt ct a L. +. i
Of this land. An indispensable element in the claim
TO dover was the ssizin Of the husband during the
c0YertuTe. An ae.Ual seIzin was not necessary,
sezin st law being sufficient. But the freehold aud
Inheritance must be consolidated and be in the bus
land SHINE Ct Seasi during the marriage to render ho
WIfe d9wabie. helt, 80 He must have been
seized during he coverturs Of present eeacd
tate. ss well Of estate Of inheritance in the
Irem'ses. Dunhsm vs.. Osborne, l Paige G3i.
The term seizin had a fixed legal meaning among
common Law writer's, and whenever q free old es-
tate, such a. that Of Sally HOeford, existeI in aD-
other and prevented the husband from an immediate
pcsessi and ef joymen' Of the inheritance tis wife
not entitled to d5wJr because be had no ssizin
Of the estate The authorities even went so far as
hold that, if upen tko determination Of paricu
lar freehold estate, the tenant held over and con
tiuued his sez, and the husband died before entry
or if be died before entry in OF forfeiture for
4 coudI ion broken, bis wife not doWabla, BE-
cause be had seiz.n, either in fact or in law.
Kent, So
These authorities are not eontroverted by CON-
Planants counsel But they insist that th. rule OF
the common Law, has bsen go changed by the act Of
1854, ch p, sec 8, thag she may now have dover
IN this estate To this we cannot assent. ave fud
nothing il ibis &C to justify any such conclusion,
but quite The contrary
81 ID The widows dover Is now to be one third
part Of Gil The lands tonemeuls and heIad.taments
Il wtlah her husband died reized OF possessed,
during her naiura life.
1t IS evident that those who framel this act we'll
understood the pinciples Of the common Law, and
he meaning CT rs terms. In employing the term
seized, VIC cannot doub;, that they used it in It's
well known COM on law sense, and go We must aGe
H. This is he settled rule in tie construction OF
statutes Ii had been intended to eB5oW the vile
OF remainder dependant upon freehold estate,
vary different language wOuld 5aye been u-ed.
IN example may be found in the second seciion
Of the act changing the Common law rule OF de-
scents There the provision is hat when any per-
shall die seized or possessed of, having any
rght title or interest in a7d to any estate, or in
heTitsnoe of land or other real estate in fec sml lie,
ald such person shall die iutestate, sc THIS 50
altered the common law rule as TO make the actual
ziu Of the ancestor unnecessary 10 order to make
HIM The root CT stock from which an inheritance
might be transmitted, and now he may be accounted
an a. cestor, Eho bath only bare right or title to
enter or be otherwise seized. 2 Black 2OJ.
But as TO the right OF dover Se find no such
phraseology. Sbstutes not presumed TO make
any alteration in he common law, farther CT other
wise than the act expressly declares and are to be
construed near the rule and reason Of the COM