The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-01-26
THE HEIRS OF
VIM. K. HILL
ABOUT TO COME INTO POSSES
SION OF PROPERTY THAT
THEY WE'RE DEPRIVED
OF YEARS AGO.
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION

MANY years ago VIM. X. HILL
nrominent citizen of Maury county,
ro,d large amount of his property I
and invested it in lands on lrlhlty
River. Texas, in the counties OIL l1i0
ertv Polk and San Jacinto, belng eleN-
an LEAGUES on both sides OF Trinity
River. about forty-eight or fifty thous-
ard acres. This land had been grant
cd To Mexican, Jose Dolores Mar
tinez who sold to Steme & Taylor, ana
thew to VIM. Hardin and Hardin 10
Hnl Arnold & Lewis,-W. X HILL
VIM. Arnold aud NJ. G. Lewis.
All of these first contracts I except
the grant to the Mexican, were what
would at common law be called eN-
ecntory or incomplete contracts, put
under the law then in force have oeen
bald IN he equivalent to deeds. This
is a recent decision in the Federal
Court involving this very land between
claimants under Davis title and the
Hardin heirs
Il After Mr.. Hill had with Lewis and
Arnold made this contract with Har-
din he. in 1897, obtained deed from
Hardin conveying this land to him IN
dividually. He also obtained a deeu
, from Steme & Taylor, to whom the
Rexican had sold the land, so con-
centratfng the title in him. But as
; there was no conveyance from Lewis
and Arnold they hold their original IN
terests, Ais each which passed 10
their heirs
pnt Mr. Hill was on his road to
T Liberty county, Texas, in 1871 10
attend TO the records of these DEEDS
when he was taken sick at the mousse
If Mr. Early. and as he was considered
dangerously sick, Mr.. Early WroIe
Cen. Davis, his brother-in-law' me
having married Col Hills sister,, 10
come at once. as he was dangerously
sick and needed his attention, espe-
cially about his papers. Gen DAVIS
was a prominent lawyer then at Hoi-
" Springs, Miss. Gen. Davis went 10
Taxas but Mr.. Hill was dead when ne
pot there having lived only Few
@ days.
a Mr.. Early delivered the papers OF
n Col Hill to Cen Davis, but took the
e nrecaution to have an inventory maze
r of them.
# Gen. Davis did not place these deeds
J. ON record. but carefully suppressed
them and kept them all the time dur
q ing his life time in a sealed package
II They were handed over to his admins
ls traitor, who still did not break the
coal They we're marked Private
napers of Cen. James Davis, and very
important papers in connection witt
20 Martinez league grant.
M Gen. Davis in 1S43 obtained deco
to half interest in this land IRON
the Mexican, ignoring all the othel
conyevances. He found this VOID OF
it's face for irregularity of description
4 and tried to cure it in 1858 with an
other conveyance of same half.
Several years back the Hardin heir
finding no deed from their ancesto
. to any one of record, and as their an
~ cestor held an older title from tn
= Mexican, sued the Davis heirs for tn
!, land and were about to recover whel
!, the package of Private papers wa
opened nv a grandson of Gen. Dayi
49, and Mr. Hills deed was discovered
and set up by them to defeat the Hal
" din title. It had that effect. But no'
the heirs of w. X. Hill claim thei
~ own.
= After this controversy, the old pa
pers of John 0. Hill, who was SO
80 and Oldest child Of w. X. Hill, wer
70 searched and thrown around loosel
90 for several years. The inventory
the papers taken from Col. Hills pc
~ son after his death was found. Til
inventory accords with the paper
marked private papers of Gen. jaime
Davis" above spoken of as set up
court and copied in the records undo
bia proof of his grandson, and these proc
Ills are now on file in court. So the
: per title in Hill to Ills of the land
perfect and Ais in each to Arnold al
Lewis.
IN, Mr.. VIM j. Webster, representa-
the heirs, in company with w.
- Hill, son of Jno. o. HILL and Wei
lad Williams, who married daughter
by Jno. o. HILL have just returned fro
am Beaumont, Texas, where they ha'
ter been to investigate this matter.
in They are satisfied with the OF
ole look and succeeded in selling tN
mt thousand acres of land on just SUI
inc. title as the Hill interest represente
or rather rs of the Hill interest
the rate of twenty dollars per &C
for the whole, or ten dollars per &C
OF for rs of 7-15, amounting in rou
.,,,,,bore tO e00 000