Case Name: Towell v. Etter
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Arkansas
Decision Date: 1900-12-01
Citations: 69 Ark. 34
Docket Number: 
Parties: Towell v. Etter.
Judges: 
Reporter: Arkansas Reports
Volume: 69
Pages: 34–43

Head Matter:
Towell v. Etter.
Opinion delivered December 1, 1900.
1. Accretion — Tax Sale. — A purchase at commissioner’s sale for delinquent levee taxes of a tract of land described as the Southwest quarter of a certain section, containing 151 acres, will carry title to 35 acres of land which had previously been added to such land by accretion. (Page 38.)
2. Tax Sale — Mistake as to Acreage. — Where a tract of land is otherwise properly described in a levee tax assessment, a mistake as to the number of acres will not invalidate a commissioner’s sale b.ased upon such assessment. (Page 39.)
3. Forcible Entry and Detainer — Instruction.—An instruction in an action of forcible entry and detainer that, “if the plaintiff had abandoned the land, and the defendant entered and took posses- , sion, then the plaintiff cannot recover in this suit, and you will find for the defendant,” and that “an abandonment, for the purpose of this suit, would mean such acts as a man usually does : when a field or portion of land becomes unprofitable to cultivate, and he removes the fence, or permits it to go to decay or to be thrown down and to waste,” is incorrect where it ignores the question of actual possession of the land by the plaintiff at the ' time of defendant’s entry, and also ignores the question of the . use of actual force in making the entry. (Page 40.)
4. Same. — One having title and right to possession of land may get possession peaceably, and defend his possession by force, if necessary; and, if he do so, he will not be guilty of forcible entry and detainer. (Page 40.)
Appeal from Crittenden Circuit Court.
Felix G-. Tayloe, Judge.
STATEMENT BY THE COURT.
. The appellee, Etter, brought this action of forcible entry and detainer against appellant Towell, who claimed to be a tenant of appellant Thompson, to recover possession of 35 acres of land, said to be accretion to southwest quarter of section 13, township 9 south, range 8 east, and claimed damages in the sum of $50. Thompson, being the real party in interest, was made defendant.
The evidence shows that Etter bought the land in controversy March 13, 1889, and had a house upon it, and had, through his tenants, occupied it since the spring of 1889 up to about the time of the entry by Towell, claiming the exclusive ownership thereof. Thompson, the landlord of Towell, claimed title and possession under a deed made to him on Eebruary 16, 1897, by J. L. Holloway, as commissioner in chancery of the Crittenden county circuit court, which deed shows that at a sale of lands for levee, taxes of the St. Eraneis Levee District Thompson had bought the southwest quarter of section 13, township 9 north, range 8 east, containing 151 acres. It seems from the evidence that Etter had been keeping a tenant in the house on the premises nearly all the time. Sometimes there would be an interval between the going out of one tenant and the coming in of another, when the house would be unoccupied for a week or two. The house was not locked, and no one was occupying it when Towell entered. Thompson came to the house first, and put some chains in it, and locked or nailed it up. At the time the gates were closed, the fences unbroken, and the house shut up. This was about January 1, 1897. Towell, it appears, moved in about this time. Towell cultivated 10 or 12 acres of the land in 1897, and made 6 bales of cotton and about 100 -bushels of corn. Thompson and Towell took possession without the consent of Etter or his son, who seems to have been in charge of the land at the time.
William M. Randolph, of Memphis, Tenn., for appellants.
Forcible entry and detainer and unlawful detainer cannot be joined in the same suit. 13 Ark. 448; 27 Ark. 46. The action depends on the statute. Sand. & H. Dig. § 3443. Force is the gist of the action. 38 Ark. 258; 41 Ark. 535; 40 Ark. 92; 10 Ark. 43. The defendant must have entered without consent, and the original entry and subsequent holding was with force. 18 Ark. 284; 18 Ark. 304; 27 Ark. 460; 41 Ark. 539. The whole case, both the law and the facts, should have been submitted to the jury. 27 Ark. 334; 20 Ark. 493; 25 Ark. 405-417; Cooley, Const. Lim. (6th Ed.) 392-397 and 564-567; Constitution of Ark. art. 7, § 23. The court should have told the jury what was possession and what was taking possession forcibly and without force, and left it to the jury to find the facts. 8 Ark. 83; 30 Ark. 380; 14 Ark. 530; 31 Ark. 699; 52 Ark. 45. The court should have given the first instruction asked by the defendants. 40 Ark. 192; 62 Ark. 688; 55 Ark. 360. The second and third instruct-tions asked by the defendants shonid have been given. 7 Wall. 272; 168 U. S. 349. The land was an accretion to section 13, and became a part of it, and title was in the owner of section 13. 25 Ark. 120; 53 Ark. 316. The court shonid have told the jury the effect of the deeds and decrees referred to. 20 Ark. 583; 23 Ark. 205; 1 G-r. Evidence, §§ 49 and 277 and notes. The act creating the St. Eraneis Levee District provided for the levy and collection of taxes. Acts 1893, c. 19, p. 24; e. 75, p. 119; c. 100, p. 172; Acts 1895, c. 71, p. 88. These acts provided for a snit in rem, and a sale of the. land proceeded against passed title to lands sold to purchaser. Acts 1893, c. 19, §§ 11-12-13, p. 31-2; Acts 1875, c. 71, p. 88, §§ 1 and 2; 51 S. W. Rep. 830. It was the duty of the court to decide that title of the land was in Thompson. 41 Ark. 535; 55 Ark. 360; 62 Ark. 588. The entry now allowed by law is a peaceable one. 4 Black. Com. p. 148; 41 Ill. 285; 132 Mass. 200. The party out of possession must use legal means to obtain possession. 119 U. S. 611.
G. W. E'eishell, for appellee.
Thompson entered the house without the knowledge and consent of plaintiff. 41 Ark. 535. This was a forcible entry on the part of Thompson. Sand. &. H. Dig. 3443. Accretion could never have been made. 25 Ark. 120. Thompson’s entry was forcible. 119 D. S. 611.

Opinion:
Hughes, J.,
(after stating the facts.) Section 3443 of San-dels & Hill's Digest provides that "if any person shall enter into or upon any lands, tenements, or other possessions, and detain or hold the same without right or claim of t-itle, in such cases every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a forcible entry and detainer within the meaning of this act." Were the defendants guilty under this statute and the proof in this case? The defendant Thompson had a deed as above set out for the southwest quarter of section 13, township 9 north, range 8 east, 151 acres only, and claimed that 35 acres in controversy were an accretion to the southwest quarter of section 13, and that when he bought at' tax sale the said southwest quarter of 13, described in his deed as containing 151 acres, the said 35 acres as an accretion passed to him under his said deed to said southwest quarter of' section 13. Bnt this is not the law. At the time of his purchase of the southwest quarter of section 13, this accretion of 35 acres had been formed, and was above the surface of the water, and susceptible of private ownership, and, according to authorities, the title to the same did not vest in or pass to him under his purchase of the southwest quarter of 13, which, as shown by the evidence, was after said accretion of 35 acres had merged from beneath the water, and had had a housebuiltuponit,and part of ithad been in cultivation. "As between vendor and vendee, the right to alluvion depends upon the condition of the land at the time of the transfer of the legal title. It includes future additions,* but cannot be carried back by relation to the date of a title bond, under which the conveyance was made." Gould, Waters (3d Ed.) § 186. That is to the effect that a vendee is entitled to accretions to land made after his purchase, but not to those made before, unless the accretions are expressly conveyed. Jones v. Johnson, 18 How. (U. S.), 150.
In Barre v. City of New Orleans, 22 La. An. 612, the court held: "That to riparian proprietors belong the accretions which may, in progress of time, be formed by the sedimentary deposits of the stream along its shores, there is no question. In the sale of the riparian land the test as to whether the alluvion or batture, if any attached to it is conveyed with the land or not, has been definitely settled by repeated decisions of this court. If, at the time of the sale of riparian land, the alluvion attached has attained a sufficient elevation above the waters to be susceptible of private ownership, the alluvion does not pass with the land, unless so expressed."
So it appears that Thompson had no "right or claim of title to the alluvion of 35 acres accretion to the southwest quarter of section 13 b}r virtue of his purchase and the conveyance to him of said southwest quarter of section 13; for before said purchase and conveyance said accretion "had attained a sufficient elevation above the waters to be susceptible of private ownership," and had been sold and conveyed, and been partly in cultivation. The expression, "claim of title," should be construed to mean a claim having some appearance of legality, not a mere bare claim without the appearance or pretense of anything to base it upon.
It follows, therefore, that, under the statute above quoted, the appellant Thompson was guilty of forcible entry and detainer, and that the judgment of the circuit court was correct. Judgment affirmed.