Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/120/575/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 08:06:16+00:00

Document:
Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 120 › Schley v. Pullman Car Co.
An irregular act of practice by an attorney of record rebuked.
A deed, dated May 26, 1856, by C. L., grantor, described as "sister and heir-at-law of H. M." and as "of the County of St. Clair and State of Michigan," which conveyed to the grantee a tract of land in Illinois and was signed and sealed by C. L. and by W. L., the name of W. L. not appearing in the granting clause of the deed, and which was acknowledged May 27, 1856, by said "C. L. and W. L. her husband," held sufficient to pass said title of husband and wife under the statute of Illinois of February 22, 1847, then in force, respecting the conveyance of lands or real estate situate in Illinois by a feme covert not residing within the state, and respecting her joining with her husband in the execution of the deed.
to me to be the persons who executed the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged the same to be their free act and deed" is equivalent to stating that they came before the officer and were personally known to him to be the real persons who subscribed the deed, and in this respect complied with the requirements of the statutes of Illinois then in force.
An officer's certificate of the acknowledgment on the 27th May, 1856, of a deed of land in Illinois by a married woman, showing her privy examination separate and apart from her husband, and which shows that she, "fully understanding the contents of the foregoing instrument, acknowledged," &c., is a sufficient compliance with the statutes of the state in force at that time respecting the communicating the contents of such a deed to her.
Ejectment. Plea, general issue. Judgment for defendant. Plaintiff sued out this writ of error. The case is stated in the opinion of the Court.
of the sum of forty-three dollars in hand paid by Milton & Thomas C. McEwen, of the County of Orange and State of New York, party of the second part, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, do hereby release, grant, bargain, and quitclaim unto the said party of the second part, their heirs and assigns forever all her right, title, claim, and interest in that certain tract of land granted by the United States unto David Millspaugh and Christina Lynn, the brother and sister and only heirs at law of Henry Millspaugh, deceased, as follows, to-wit [here follows a description of the land] . . . to have and to hold the said premises, with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging or in anywise appertaining, to their only proper use, benefit, and behoof of said parties of the second part, their heirs and assigns, forever."
"In witness whereof, the said grantors have hereunto set our hands and seals the day and year first above written."
"Signed, sealed, and acknowledged in presence of:"
"State of Michigan, County of St. Clair, ss.:"
"On this twenty-seventh day of May, A.D. 1856, before me, a justice of the peace in and for said County of St. Clair, personally came Christina Lynn and William Lynn, her husband, known to me to be the persons who executed the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged the same to be their free act and deed, and the said Christina Lynn, having been by me privately examined separate and apart from the said husband, and fully understanding the contents of the foregoing instrument, acknowledged that she executed said deed freely and without any force or compulsion from her said husband or from anyone."
Lynn and William Lynn her husband in the real estate therein described, entered judgment for the defendant on its plea of not guilty.
Before entering upon the consideration of the case, it is proper to notice the motion made in behalf of the plaintiff in error to strike out certain parts of the printed argument filed by the counsel for the defendant in error. Notwithstanding the agreement that the case should be heard in the court below upon the single question referred to in the stipulation, the counsel for the defendant in error states many things which he declares to be "incontrovertible facts" and within the knowledge of opposing counsel, but which are wholly unsustained by anything in the record. The motion to strike out relates to those matters. The excuse given for this breach of professional propriety is "the extreme brevity of the record." But it is the same record upon which counsel for the company succeeded for his client, and which, by agreement, contained all that was to be submitted to the court. The excuse given furnishes no apology whatever for his violation of the terms of the stipulation. Much less does it palliate his attempt to influence the decision here by reference to matters not in the record, and which he must have known could not be taken into consideration. It is only necessary to say that the facts dehors the record, which have been improperly introduced into the brief of the counsel for the defendant in error, have not in any degree influenced our determination of the case.
The plaintiff insists that the deed was void under the laws of Illinois, upon two grounds: 1. that the husband is not a party to the deed; 2. that the acknowledgment is defective. In Lane v. Soulard, 15 Ill. 123, it was held that the Revised Statutes of Illinois of 1845 repealed all former laws on the subject of conveyances of real estate, and authorized married women within that state to convey land by joining with their husbands, and acknowledging the deeds in a specified way; but that no provision was made for the conveyance by nonresident married women of their lands in Illinois until the passage of the act of February 22, 1847. See also Higgins v. Crosby, 40 Ill. 260, Rogers v. Higgins, 48 Ill. 211.
"When any feme covert, not residing in this state, being above the age of eighteen years, shall join with her husband in the execution of any deed, mortgage, conveyance, or other writing of or relating to any lands or real estate situate within this state, she should thereby be barred of and from all estate, right, title, interest, and claims of dower therein in like manner as if she was sole and of full age. And any such feme covert joining with her husband in the execution of a power of attorney or other writing authorizing the sale, conveyance, or other disposition of lands or real estate as aforesaid shall be bound and concluded by the same in respect to the right, title, claim, or interest in such estate as if she were sole and of full age as aforesaid, and the acknowledgment or proof of such deed, mortgage, conveyance, power of attorney, or other writing may be the same as if she were sole, and shall entitle such deed, mortgage, conveyance, power of attorney, or other writing to be recorded as is authorized by this act, and the provisions of this section shall apply to deeds, mortgages, conveyances, powers of attorney and other writing heretofore as well as these which may hereafter be executed."
2 Scates, Treat & Blackwell's Stat. Ill. 965; 1 Gross' Stat.Ill. c. 24, § 24; 1 Adams & Durham's Real Estate Stat. & Decisions Ill. 175.
named in the granting or operating clauses, must pass whatever interest he had, and thereby also express his willingness that the wife should convey her title or estate. While this position is sustained by some adjudications, it is necessary to inquire as to the state of the local law, for the rights of the parties must be governed by the requirements of that law in respect to the mode in which real property situated within the limits of that state may be conveyed or transferred. United States v. Crosby, 7 Cranch 115; Clark v. Graham, 6 Wheat. 579; McCormick v. Sullivant, 10 Wheat. 202; Suydam v. Williamson, 24 How. 433; Brine v. Ins. Co., 96 U. S. 627.
"for any married woman to release her right of dower of, in, and to any lands and tenements whereof her husband may be possessed or seized by any legal or equitable title during coverture by joining such husband in the deed or conveyance for the conveying of such lands and tenements, and appearing and acknowledging the same, etc., . . . which [certificate of privy examination] being recorded, together with the deed, duly executed and acknowledged by the husband according to law, shall be sufficient to discharge and bar the claim of such woman to dower in the lands and tenements conveyed by such deed or conveyance."
"This precise question has not hitherto been presented, but we entertain no doubt it has always been supposed by both the people and the profession in this state that a married woman, signing her husband's deed and being properly examined before an officer, and causing his certificate of that fact to be placed upon the deed, would bar her dower in the premises conveyed, although her name nowhere appeared in the body of the deed. By signing the deed, she 'joins' in it, and, having done this, her dower is barred if she takes the other steps pointed out by the statute."
This decision bears somewhat on the question as to what the local statutes mean when they require the wife to join with the husband in a conveyance of real estate.
make the deed effectual to pass the title to the wife's separate estate."
"No release, waiver, or conveyance of the estate so exempted shall be valid unless the same is in writing, subscribed by said householder and his or her wife or husband, if he or she have one, and acknowledged in the same manner as conveyances of real estate are required to be acknowledged, or possession is abandoned or given pursuant to the conveyance, or, if the exemption is continued to a child or children, without the order of the court directing a release thereof."
"In the case now being considered the wife joins with her husband in the release of the homestead in precisely the same manner as the husband did with the wife in the case cited. "
While those cases do not cover the precise question under consideration, we are of opinion that under the principles announced in them, the deed of May 26, 1856, must be upheld as a valid transfer, under the law of Illinois, of the interest of Christina Lynn and her husband. If, as adjudged by the supreme court of the state, the wife, whose name did not appear in the operative clause of the husband's conveyance of his lands, is to be held as having joined him therein and surrendered her right of dower by simply signing the deed and acknowledging it in conformity with the statute, and upon privy examination duly certified; if, under a statute making it lawful for husband and wife "to execute" a conveyance of her real estate, they will both be held to have executed a conveyance of her separate property where her name appears, but that of the husband does not appear, in the granting clause of the deed, but they both sign and acknowledge it in the mode required by law, and if the wife's "estate of homestead" can be conveyed by a deed, signed and duly acknowledged by herself and husband, her name, however, not appearing in the body of the deed, it would seem to follow that within the meaning of the act of 1847, and according to the tendency of the decisions of the supreme court of the state, the wife joins with her husband in the execution of a conveyance of her estate of inheritance where her name alone appears in the granting clause, but the deed is signed by both herself and husband, is acknowledged by both, and is certified as required by law. Such conveyance, so signed, acknowledged, and certified, of the wife's land seems to be as effectual under the local law to invest the grantee with the title and interest of both husband and wife as if his name had also appeared in the granting clause.
If, as suggested, the purpose of the act of 1847 in requiring the wife to join the husband in the execution of conveyances of her real estate was to protect her against strangers, and secure his cooperation and counsel, that object was as fully accomplished by his signing and acknowledging the deed with her as it would have been by designating him in the body of the deed as co-grantor with the wife.
It is proper to say that the question under consideration is not free from difficulty, and we should have been glad to be guided, in our determination of it, by an express decision of the highest court of the state. The conclusion reached by us is more in harmony with what that court has held in cases somewhat analogous than would be a decision adjudging the deed of 1856 to be void.
One other question remains to be considered. It is contended that the certificate of acknowledgement is fatally defective for two reasons: 1st, it does not appear that Mrs. Lynn was personally known to the magistrate or that she was proved by a credible witness to be the same person as the one who subscribed to the deed; 2d, it does not appear that she was informed of the contents of the deed.
"No judge or other officer shall take the acknowledgment of any person to any deed or instrument of writing as aforesaid unless the person offering to make such acknowledgment shall be personally known to him to be the real person who and in whose name such acknowledgment is proposed to be made, or shall be proved to be such by a credible witness, and the judge or officer taking such acknowledgment shall, in his certificate thereof, state that such person was personally known to him to be the person whose name is subscribed to such deed or writing, or having executed the same, or that he was proved to be such by a credible witness (naming him),"
of any informality or omission in setting forth the particulars of the acknowledgment before such officer, as aforesaid, in the certificate thereof, provided however that it appears in substance from such certificate that the parties executing said deed, mortgage, or other instrument of writing executed the same freely and voluntarily and that, in case of married women executing the same, it appear in substance that they knew the contents or said deeds, mortgages, or other instruments of writing, and that they were examined by the officer aforesaid, separate and apart from their husbands."
1 Adams & Durham 185.
"Personally came Christina Lynn and William Lynn, her husband, known to me to be the persons who executed the foregoing instrument, and acknowledged the same to be their free act and deed."
This is in substance a statement that they came before the officer and were personally known to him to be the real persons who in fact subscribed and acknowledged the deed.
The objection that the officer's certificate does not state that she was informed formed of the contents of the deed -- if it have any force whatever under the act of 1847, permitting the nonresident feme covert to acknowledge her deeds as if she were unmarried -- is not well taken. The certificate shows that she executed the deed freely, and without force or compulsion from the husband or from anyone else, "fully understanding the contents" thereof. Besides, this defect, if it be one, is of the kind that was cured by the act of 1853, which only required it to appear, in substance, as it does here, that the deed was executed freely and voluntarily, and in the case of a married woman, that she knew its contents, and was examined separately and apart from her husband. She must have known if, as certified, she fully understood, the contents of the deed.

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