The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-03-09
Would Save Her Soul.

The record teens with this character
Of evidence and 1t comes from the de-
PENDANTS own witnesses and is not ques-
toned anywhere. The whole tenor and
effect OF II all is. that the consideration
that she was To receive for the land
was not the slightest factor in the trans
action. Her friends and relatives; her
spiritual advisers, all without exception,
tuned her 10 sign the deed as means
Of reganlng her standing In the church
with view TO receiving spiritual and
physical benefits by so doing This. and
this alone, was the moving cause for
her act in signing the deed This was
far from that free and voluntary act that
the law requires IN the execution OF in
struments. The conclusion of n cloud Of
witnesses that the act was. under such
circumstances, voluntary and free from
restraint, is OF little, If any. legal effect.
The assertion that there was no actual
fraud: no misrepresentation; that all CON
cerned were moved By pure and honest
motives and concerned only for her ply
sical and spiritual welfare. doesn L rescue
the act. from a legal standpoint. from
being in one sense coercive. Miss Bird
sails condition Of mind was such that
she neither saw nor comprehended mat
ters In their true light. She knew she
was suffering and In distress Her men
tai faculties were impaired by disease
and she attributed her suffering and dis
tress TO the fact that she had failed tn
yield obedience 10 the command of her
spiritual advisers, and had for that reason
been dlsfeowshipped from the church.
Up TO the time of making tle deed and
was solicited TO execute ii by all OF those
present at the time, as the record clearly
shows. she had always insisted that the
command Of the church authorities was
wrong and 10 follow IL would unJustly de-
prve her of her property. Her act in
Yielding, therefore. was not based upon
the consideration arising out of the trans
action at all.
In fact she. as clearly appears from the
evidence. never had any part whatever
in fixing the consideration forming
basis for the conveyance. This was en-
iirely the act OF others and her concur
renee was not even thought OF. II seems
in view therefore. OF her mental condi-
tlon due to the disease which was then
In progress and from which she suffered
seriously II is manifest that the act OF
making the deed was not her act, but
that she was Il mere instrument con-
'trolled by other minds. The mere pbysi-
cal act OF signing without her mental con
Currencc is and can be OF no legal effect.
II we assume, however, that Coral Bird
sa was competent 10 make the deed and
that she signed IL without legal coercion
or amy undue influence. stlll this deed
cannot be upheld. II appears from the
evidence, without contradiction, that
there never was delivery. either I'm law
or fact OF the deed so as to make IL a
binding contract upon Miss Birdsall. To
establish this we need only recur again 10
following morning after the deed was
signed. Mrs. Taylor. who was. as ap-
pears from the testimony, very much con-
Cerncd in having the deed signed. and
who called In tho spiritual advisers and
directed the deed 10 he prepared, says.
"The following morning she asked me To
let her see The thing I signed, or that
paper | first declined 10 get II and she
said, inasmuch as | signed 1t YOU can
let me look al H.. got II and she didn't
look IL over and said. viii not have
anything 10 do with lhis-l won't ever sign
IT. After she did that | Was afraid she
was going to destroy H. then | locked II
up in the writing desk and left 1t there