Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/169/55/
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 10:49:43+00:00

Document:
Under the laws of Maryland, which were in force in the District of Columbia in 1859, it was competent for a married woman, outside of the District, to execute, with her husband, a power of attorney to convey her lands therein, which, when acknowledged by her according to the statute relating to the acknowledgment by married women of deeds conveying their real property in the District, thereby became a valid and sufficient instrument to authorize the conveyance by attorney, and the first section of the Act of March 3, 1865, c. 110, 13 Stat. 531, contains a clear legislative recognition of the right to execute such power.
Such a power of attorney, executed in one of the Northern states before the civil war by a married woman then residing there, was not revoked by the fact that, when that war broke out, she and her husband removed to the Southern states, where he entered the Confederate service, and where she resided to the close of the war.
When the purchase money for land sold under such a power is received by the principal, to permit her heirs after her death to repudiate the transaction on the ground that the power of attorney had been revoked by the war, would be in conflict with every principle of equity and fair dealing.
A majority of the Court think that the deed made under the power of attorney which is in controversy in this suit, and which is printed at length in the statement of the case, below, was in the nature of a conveyance of the legal title, though defectively executed, and that it came within the provisions of the Act of March 3, 1865, and its defective execution was thereby cured.
By this disposition of the whole case upon the merits, the Court is not to be considered as deciding that parties situated as the plaintiff's were in this case, out of possession, can maintain an action for partition.
partition of certain lands in the City of Washington, known as square 53 of the ground plan of that city.
and we do hereby ratify and confirm all and whatsoever our said attorney-in-fact may legally do in the premises."
"In witness whereof we, the said parties to these presents, have hereunto set our hands and seals this twenty-third day of May, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine."
This paper was duly acknowledged by both Lieutenant Ransom and his wife, the latter of whom made the acknowledgment necessary to be made in the District of Columbia in order to convey real estate by a married woman.
The premises in question at that time were vacant lots. Soon after the execution of this power of attorney, Lieutenant Ransom was ordered away, and, with his wife, he left the station at Carlisle Barracks, and went to Fort Lyon, in the western country. He was a native of one of the Southern states, and when the war broke out, he resigned his commission in the army and entered the Confederate service, and at the conclusion of the war he had risen in that service to the rank of general. Mrs. Ransom's brother, George Gibson Huntt, to whom the power of attorney above mentioned was given, remained in the old army. At the conclusion of the war, Gen. Ransom returned with his wife to his native state, North Carolina, where she died in February, 1881, leaving a number of children, who are complainants herein. He remained in that state until his death, in January, 1892.
"Know all men by these presents that I, George Gibson Huntt, by virtue of the annexed power of attorney to me from Robert Ransom, Jr., and Mary Ransom, his wife, and for and in consideration of the sum of eight hundred and thirty-three 33/100 dollars to me in hand paid by Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, of the City of Washington, in the District of Columbia, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, have bargained and sold to said B. O. Tayloe, his heirs and assigns, all the right, title, and estate of them, the said Robert Ransom, Jr., and Mary Ransom, being one undivided third part of, in, and to those pieces of ground, in the City of Washington aforesaid, known and described as lots Nos. one and three in square No. five, lot No. ten in square fourteen, lots Nos. five and nine in square No. seventeen, lots Nos. three and four in square No. twenty-eight, lot No. three in square No. thirty, and the whole of square No. fifty-three, with the improvements and appurtenances, and I hereby further agree, in behalf of said Robert and Mary Ransom, that they shall and will, as soon as convenient, make and execute a proper deed of conveyance of said premises to said Benj'n O. Tayloe, in fee simple."
"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 29th day of November, A.D. 1864."
"[Stamp, $1. G.G.H. Jan.4th, '65.]"
from those before whom proof of the power of attorney was made. It was also, and on the 14th day of January, 1865, recorded in the proper land records office in the District of Columbia, together with the power of attorney already referred to.
After the death of Mr. Tayloe, which occurred in 1868, one of his daughters, Julia Tayloe, in November, 1870, succeeded, under proceedings in partition, to all the interest of her father in the premises. She married, in 1865, the defendant John W. Paine, and the other three defendants are the children of such marriage. From the time of the division of the estate of Mrs. Paine's father, Mr. Tayloe, which took place in 1870, his daughter, Mrs. Paine, claimed to be the owner of the property, and was in possession thereof, renting it through her husband and his agents, for a coal yard and for other purposes, and paying the taxes upon the same up to the time of her death in 1872, since which time her husband has been in possession, claiming the right as tenant by the curtesy, and his three children claim title in fee, subject to the life estate of their father.
Prior to the filing of this bill, Mr. Paine had expended large sums of money in building 22 dwelling houses on the property at a cost of about $125,000, and has received the rents from such houses, and paid the taxes on the property, the whole property being now estimated to be worth about $250,000. The sum at which the property was sold, in 1864, was a fair price for the same, and the best that could be secured after earnest efforts made to sell it.
the paper executed by Mrs. Ransom's brother, George Gibson Huntt, under the power of attorney given by her husband and herself, declared null and void as a cloud upon the title of the complainants in this property, and the bill then asks that the right of the complainants to a one-sixth (Mrs. Ransom's alleged) interest in the land in fee as tenants in common with the defendants may be established against all the defendants, as well the life tenant as the reversioners, and the land partitioned accordingly.
Upon these facts, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia dismissed the bill with costs, and, its judgment to that effect having been affirmed by the Court of Appeals of the District,7 App.D.C. 116, the case is now here upon the complainants' appeal from that judgment of affirmance.
The questions in this case grow out of the execution of the power of attorney by Lieutenant Ransom and his wife while at Carlisle Barracks, Pa. in 1859.
titles in favor of parties in actual possession of lands situated in the District of Columbia," as that act only applied to instruments conveying lands and to parties who were in actual possession at the time when the act was passed, and the paper executed by the attorney was not a conveyance, and when the act was passed, the premises in question were vacant; (5) that the purchase price for her interest in that land was never received by Mrs. Ransom, and her heirs are not estopped from setting up the invalidity of the alleged contract of sale or conveyance upon any equitable grounds.
in actual and full possession, was an answer to the bill for partition, even if there had been no other defense proved. The bill was therefore dismissed.
And first, as to the question whether the power of attorney executed by Lieutenant Ransom and wife to George Gibson Huntt authorized and enabled the attorney to bargain and sell and convey, or contract to convey by deed of bargain and sale, the property therein mentioned. We think it did.
Under the laws of Maryland, which were in force in the District of Columbia in 1859, we think it was then competent for a married woman, outside of the District, to execute, with her husband, a power of attorney to convey her lands therein, which, when acknowledged by her according to the statute relating to the acknowledgment by married women of deeds conveying their real property in the District, thereby became a valid and sufficient instrument to authorize the conveyance by attorney. It is not claimed that the acknowledgment to the power of attorney in this case was insufficient in matter of form to comply with the statute in that respect.
The real contention is, assuming the acknowledgment to have been sufficient, that a married woman could not by any manner of acknowledgment appoint an attorney with authority to convey her lands. It is true that, by the common law, a married woman could not convey an estate of freehold owned by her unless by levying a fine or suffering a common recovery. This was altered by the statute in England of 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 74, abolishing fines and recoveries and providing other means for the conveyance of estates. In most if not all of the states of the Union, statutes have been passed providing for the manner in which a married woman can dispose of her real estate. These statutes were intended to and did set aside the technicalities of the common law, and they provided some simple and effectual method for the transfer of the interests of married women in real estate. The Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, in delivering the opinion of that court in this case, has cited several Maryland statutes which the court holds were in force in this District in 1859, and those statutes are also held to provide for the case of the execution of a power of attorney by a married woman joined in by her husband and privily acknowledged by her, authorizing the attorney-in-fact to convey her real property in the District.
at the time, etc., may acknowledge said deed by letters of attorney, well and sufficiently proved, etc., are sufficient to embrace femes covert authorized to sell and convey their real estate. If not, then the husband could not sell and convey by power of attorney, free of the contingent right of dower of his wife, for if the wife could not acknowledge by power of attorney a deed for the conveyance of her own real estate, she would be equally unable to acknowledge by power of attorney a deed for the relinquishment of dower in the lands of her husband. Such disability, we think, was never intended by the legislatures passing the statutes to which we have referred to be fixed upon femes covert having lands with right to convey the same."
"It is laid down unqualifiedly in some of the states that a married woman cannot make a valid power of attorney, even jointly with her husband, to make a deed of her interest. But it is difficult to perceive any reason for the rule where she can do the principal thing herself, and such a right is clearly recognized by statute in Massachusetts. A similar right is also recognized by statute in New York."
"So, in regard to married women, ordinarily they are incapable of appointing an agent or attorney, and, even in case of a joint suit at law, an appointment of an attorney by a married woman is void, and her husband may make an attorney for both. But where a married woman is capable of doing an act, or of transferring property or rights with the assent of her husband, there, perhaps, she may, with the assent of her husband, appoint an agent or attorney to do the same."
In this case, we hold that as the wife was capable of conveying her real estate in Washington, in 1859, by a deed, properly executed and acknowledged by her privily, etc., and joined in by her husband, she could accomplish the same thing by authorizing another to convey for her, where the authority was joined in by her husband, and the required private examination, etc., made.
and Lawrence v. Heister, 3 Harr. & Johns. 371, in which the above-named statutes are referred to, were all cases where deeds had been executed and where the acknowledgment of either the wife or the husband was held to be defective under the provisions of those statutes. In some of the cases, it was said to be necessary, in order to pass the interest of the wife in her land, that she and her husband must join in the deed as grantors, which must be properly acknowledged, etc. This statement was not made as descriptive of the only method by which a married woman could convey her land, but was made in relation to the defective manner in which the deed of conveyance was executed in the particular case, which was the case of a deed defectively acknowledged under the statute. No decision has been cited by counsel for the appellants from the courts of Maryland which is inconsistent with or opposed to the construction given to these statutes by the court below.
"Here, the object, and the sole object, of the power was to enable the attorney to pass the title freed from any possible claim of the wife, and under the law of Colorado, that result could be accomplished by the deed of the husband alone as fully without as with her signature."
What was said by the learned Justice in delivering the opinion of the Court in that case in regard to the manner in which the interest of married women in real estate could be conveyed was not necessary to the decision of the case, the point decided being that, considering its form, the power of attorney signed by the husband and wife was valid to convey his interest in the real property.
"And provided also that, when the power of attorney shall have been executed by a feme covert, the same shall be effectual and sufficient if there shall have been such an acknowledgment of the same as would be sufficient, under the provisions of this act, to pass her estate and interest therein were she a party executing the deed of conveyance, the record and copy thereof of any deed recorded as aforesaid to be evidence thereof, in the same manner and to have the same effect as if such deed had been originally executed, acknowledged and recorded according to law."
"that the certificate of acknowledgment by a feme covert shall show that the acknowledgment was made 'apart' or 'privily' from her husband, or use some other term importing that her acknowledgment was made out of his presence, and also that she acknowledged or declared that she willing executed or that she willingly acknowledged the deed, or that the same was her voluntary act, or to that effect."
party executing a deed conveying her real estate in the District.
Upon a consideration of all the circumstances, we have no doubt that the power of attorney in question was properly executed and acknowledged, and that it authorized the person named therein as attorney-in-fact to convey Mrs. Ransom's real estate situated in this District.
Lieutenant Ransom, although one of the last officers to go out, did resign his commission in the army of the United States, and went South, and entered the army of the Confederacy, in which, before the close of the war, he attained high rank. His wife followed him, so that, during the war, they were both inside the lines of the Confederacy.
of debts to an agent of an alien enemy where such agent resides in the same state with the debtor. But this indulgence is subject to restrictions. In the first place, it must not be done with the view of transmitting the funds to the principal during the continuance of the war, though, if so transmitted without the debtor's connivance, he will not be responsible for it."
to the agency, and that the offer to pay the premium to the former agent was of no validity, and the failure to pay rendered the policy void. This Court held that the case was nearly on all fours with that of New York Life Insurance Company v. Statham, 93 U. S. 24, but the point as to the supposed power of an agent of a company in the adhering states to receive premiums in a state in insurrection after the war broke out not having been specially adverted to in the opinion of the Court in that case, it was particularly considered in the Davis case, as above quoted from. It was in relation to such an agency that the remarks were made. Agents of a life insurance company are undoubtedly engaged in the active business of their principal. Their duty is to receive the premiums for all policies obtained by them and to transmit such premiums to the home office. The prompt transmission of such premiums is a necessity for the successful prosecution of the business of the company. Upon their receipt, the company is able to invest them in some interest-bearing security, and thus provide funds for the ultimate payment of the policy when it matures. It is easy to see that active and continuous business of such a nature could not be carried on during a war where the principal and the agent reside in the different countries engaged in such war.
transmission of money or goods, or orders for the delivery of either, between the two countries, directly or indirectly, or through the intervention of third persons or partnerships, or by contracts in any form looking to or involving such transmission, or by insurances upon trade with or by the enemy. Beyond the principle of these cases, the prohibition has not been carried by judicial decision. The more sweeping statements in the textbooks are taken from the dicta which we have already examined, and in none of them is any other example given than those just mentioned. At this age of the world, when all the tendencies of the law of nations are to exempt individuals and private contracts from injury or restraint in consequence of war between their governments, we are not disposed to declare such contracts unlawful as have not been heretofore adjudged to be inconsistent with a state of war."
Under the circumstances of this case, we think the attorney-in-fact had the right to make the conveyance he did. It was not an agency of the class such as is mentioned in Insurance Co. v. Davis, supra, and was not necessarily revoked and avoided by the war. Where it is obviously and plainly against the interest of the principal that the agency should continue, or where its continuance would impose some new obligation or burden, the assent of the principal to the continuance of the agency after the war broke out will not be presumed, but must be proved, either by his subsequent ratification or in some other manner. And on the other hand, where it is the manifest interest of the principal that the agency, constituted before the war, should continue, the assent of the principal will be presumed, or if the agent continues to act as such, and his so acting is subsequently ratified by the principal, then those acts are just as valid and binding upon the principal as if no war had intervened. Insurance Company v. Davis, supra.
nature and character of the agency. This case shows that, in 1859, at the time when the power of attorney was executed, Lieutenant Ransom and his wife were desirous of realizing their share of the value of the land in controversy. It was vacant, unimproved land in the City of Washington, and the charge for taxes was quite burdensome. The parties desired to realize the money. No sale of the property was effected from that time until the latter part of 1864 or early part of 1865. There is no evidence of any such change of circumstances as would naturally suggest a revocation of the authority to sell, but, on the contrary, the testimony is otherwise. It appears to have been to the interest of all parties to sell, and thus to free themselves from a constant source of expense. In addition to that, the evidence is clear and sufficient that, after the sale, the action of the attorney-in-fact of Mrs. Ransom was ratified and confirmed by her by the receipt of her share of the purchase money or its expenditure for her benefit and with her assent and approval. Her sister, Mrs. Gibson, testified that Mrs. Ransom's share of the purchase money was either paid over to her or expended for her at her direction. This full and complete ratification of the act of the agent shows conclusively the assent of the principal to the continuance of the agency notwithstanding the war. Some criticism is made upon this testimony of Mrs. Gibson because, after the passage of so many years, she is unable to state definitely which course was pursued -- whether the money was paid to Mrs. Ransom or whether it was expended for her at her direction. We think the criticism is not well founded. Mrs. Gibson might well have been able to state with absolute certainty that she either paid the money to Mrs. Ransom or expended it for her at her direction, and yet, after this lapse of time, she might also be unable to state with like certainty which of the two courses was pursued. It is perfectly possible for a witness to be certain of the ultimate fact and yet to have forgotten the intermediate facts upon which that ultimate fact was based.
it was for the benefit and interest of the principal that such real estate should be sold at the time the sale in fact occurred; we have also the principal's receipt of her share of the purchase money in 1865, with full knowledge of all the facts, and her acquiescence in and approval of the action of her attorney up to the time of her death in February, 1881. Upon these facts, we think it clear that the instrument executed by the attorney-in-fact was as valid and effectual as if no war had intervened. The ratification of the act of the attorney was full and complete. It recognized and assented to the continued existence of the agency. The purchase money for the land was received by the principal, and to permit her heirs after her death to repudiate the transaction on the ground that the power of attorney had been revoked would be at war with every principle of equity and fair dealing. This principle applies as strongly in the case of a married woman as in any other, and it will not permit her, or, upon her death, her heirs at law, to repudiate a transaction the benefits of which she received with full knowledge of the circumstances attending it, and yet claim to recover an estate which had been sold with her authority, and the purchase money for which had been paid to her. Bein v. Heath, 6 How. 247; Bank v. Partee, 99 U. S. 325, 99 U. S. 329. Bedford v. Burton, 106 U. S. 338, considers generally the obligation of married women to do equity under circumstances somewhat similar in principle to the present case.
Nor does the Act of Congress of July 17, 1862, c. 189, 12 Stat. 589, to suppress insurrections, etc., have any effect upon the sales, transfers, or conveyance of the estate and property of persons in rebellion after September 23, 1862, except as to the United States. As against that government, the transfers of property liable to seizure were null and void. They were not void as between private parties or against any other party than the United States. Conrad v. Waples, 96 U. S. 279.
(4) That this objection is not cured by the act of Congress, above set forth.
We agree generally that although there are words of conveyance in praesenti in a contract for the purchase and sale of lands, still, if from the whole instrument it is manifest that further conveyances were contemplated by the parties, it will be considered an agreement to convey, and not a conveyance. The whole question is one of intention, to be gathered from the instrument itself. Jackson v. Moncrief, 5 Wend. 26; Ogden v. Brown, 33 Pa.St. 247; Phillips v. Swank, 120 Pa.St. 76.
"bargained and sold to Mr. B. O. Tayloe, his heirs and assigns, all the right, title, and estate of them, the said Robert Ransom, Jr., and Mary Ransom, being one undivided third part of, in, and to"
"And I hereby further agree, in behalf of said Robert and Mary Ransom, that they shall and will, as soon as convenient, make and execute a proper deed of conveyance of said premises to said Benjamin O. Tayloe in fee simple."
a deed conveying the same title and executed by the parties in person. This desire may easily be understood, even upon the assumption that the instrument executed by virtue of the power of attorney was intended to convey the title. Such a deed would remove all possible question which could, in any event, arise based upon the fact that the conveyance was executed by an attorney instead of by a principal. The agreement to obtain a conveyance from his principals is entirely consistent with the prior portion of the instrument, in which the attorney assumes to convey the title by virtue of the power of attorney, which he annexes. If the attorney had, instead of agreeing in behalf of his principals that they should make and execute a proper deed of conveyance of the premises, agreed that he would himself at some future time make such a deed, a different question would be presented, for in that case, taking the whole instrument together, it might be argued that there was no intention at that time to convey the title. But where, in addition to conveying the title himself by apt words, clearly expressed, he simply agrees to also procure a proper deed from his principals at some future time, there is nothing inconsistent in that agreement with the intention to himself convey the title by virtue of the power. Nor do we regard the fact as material upon this latter point that, in the acknowledgment of the instrument in question, taken by two aldermen who were ex officio justices of the peace, they describe the instrument as a certain contract of sale, and certify that "Mr. Huntt executed said contract and acknowledged the same to be his act and deed." What the aldermen may have regarded as the legal effect of the instrument is not of much importance, and whether they describe it as a contract of sale or as a conveyance cannot alter the character of the paper itself or its legal effect.
the deed shall have the same effect as if such attorney-in-fact had acknowledged the deed to be the deed of the grantors (his principals). One or two other defects existed of a like nature -- that is, of a nature which might be cured by a legislative act -- and which were cured by the act in question.
The statute applies where the parties intended to convey, thought they had conveyed, and yet had not complied with the requisites necessary to make the conveyance in all things effective. In such case, especially where the consideration for the instrument has been received and retained, curative statutes may be passed which give validity to the defective instruments to the same extent as was intended by the parties at the time when they were executed. Watson v. Mercer, 8 Pet. 88, 33 U. S. 110; Randall v. Kreiger, 23 Wall. 137.
when the act was passed, they could not have the benefit thereof in an attempt to obtain possession thereafter. But if thereafter they were in actual possession, they could defend that possession under the act, so far as their title depended upon defective instruments existing at the time when the act was passed and which were of a character covered by its terms.
(5) The fifth objection taken we have already answered in holding that Mrs. Ransom did in fact receive the purchase price of her share in the land with full knowledge that it was such purchase price, and thereby ratified and confirmed the act of her attorney.
By this disposition of the whole case upon the merits, we are not to be considered as deciding that parties situated as the plaintiffs were in this case, out of possession, can maintain an action for partition. We have not discussed that question, and do not decide it, because it was unnecessary on account of the views we have stated in relation to the other aspects of the case.
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled that all deeds heretofore recorded in the land records of the District of Columbia, which have been executed and acknowledged by femes covert (their husbands having signed and sealed the same) for conveying any real estate, or interest therein, situated in said District, and all acknowledgments of deeds heretofore recorded, as aforesaid, which have been made by femes covert (whether they have executed the deed or not) for the purpose of releasing their claims to dower in the lands described therein, situated as aforesaid, in which acknowledgments the form prescribed by law has not been followed, and all deeds heretofore recorded, as aforesaid, which have been executed and acknowledged by an attorney-in-fact, duly appointed for conveying real estate situated in said District, and all deeds heretofore recorded, as aforesaid, executed and acknowledged, or only acknowledged by such attorney-in-fact, for conveying real estate situated in said District, as to which the acknowledgment was made before officers different from those before whom proof of the power of attorney was made, and as to which the power of attorney was proved before only one justice of the peace, and all deeds heretofore executed and recorded as aforesaid for the purpose of conveying land situated in said District, acknowledged out of the District of Columbia, before a judge of a United States court, or before two aldermen of a city, or the chief magistrate of a city, or before a notary public, and all deeds heretofore executed and recorded as aforesaid for the purpose of conveying land situated in said District, acknowledged by an attorney-in-fact, duly appointed, or by an officer of a corporation, duly authorized, who has acknowledged the same to be his act and deed, instead of the act and deed of the grantor or of the corporation, and all deeds heretofore executed and recorded as aforesaid for the purpose of conveying land situated in said District to which there is not annexed a legal certificate as to the official character of the officer or officers taking the acknowledgment, shall be, and the same are hereby, declared to be of the same effect and validity to pass the fee-simple or other estate intended to be conveyed, and bar dower in the real estate therein mentioned in favor of parties in actual possession, claiming under and through such deeds, as if such deeds had been by such femes covert executed and acknowledged, or acknowledged in case of a dower right, in the form heretofore prescribed by law; as if such deeds had been executed and acknowledged by the grantor in the deed; as if such power of attorney had been proved before the officer or officers taking the acknowledgment; as if such power of attorney had been proved before two justices of the peace; as if such acknowledgment had been made before any judge of a state court, or before two justices of the peace; as if such attorney-in-fact or officer of a corporation had acknowledged the deed to be the deed of the grantor or the corporation; as if such deeds had thereto annexed a certificate, in legal form, that the officer or officers taking the acknowledgment were really what they purport to be, provided that the certificate of acknowledgment by a feme covert shall show that the acknowledgment was made 'apart' or 'privily' from her husband, or use some other term importing that her acknowledgment was made out of his presence, and also that she acknowledged or declared that she willingly executed or that she willingly acknowledged the deed, or that the same was her voluntary act, or to that effect, and provided also that when the power of attorney shall have [been] executed by a feme covert, the same shall be effectual and sufficient if there shall have been such an acknowledgment of the same as would be sufficient, under the provisions of this act, to pass her estate and interest therein were she a party executing the deed of conveyance, the record and copy thereof of any deed recorded as aforesaid to be evidence thereof, in the same manner and to have the same effect as if such deed had been originally executed, acknowledged, and recorded according to law."

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