Henry Baldwin

“ A very important question is presented under the commissioner's deed. A fraudulently procures, by proceedings in the right of B, a title to be made to him, founded on that right, and obtains a conveyance in his own name. By the laws of Kentucky, no title can be derived but by deed or last will. A deed under the decree of a court is not the end of a suit, but it is the means to obtain a title. At the time when, by the decree of the Bourbon court, Chiles obtained the conveyance, the proceedings of the appellants in the circuit court of the United States were instituted. ”

“ His second purchase of an equity will not avail him more than the first, for the original notice of the plaintiff's equity taints his conscience, so as to make him a mere trustee, if he holds the legal title from one who is not an innocent, bona fide, purchaser. If, then, Green Clay purchased only by contract from Newland and wife, they held the legal title; such was the case presented by the answer on which Chiles must stand at the hearing: but if permitted to rely on a deed; the court would render a decree on a case not before them, or one which the plaintiff would be prepared to meet. ”

“ Equity makes the vendor without deed, a trustee to the vendee, for the conveyance of the title; the vendee is a trustee for the payment of the purchase money, and the performance of the terms of the purchase. But a vendee is in no sense the trustee of the vendor, as to the possession of the property sold; the vendee claims and holds it in his own right, for his own benefit, subject to no right of the vendor, save the terms which the contract imposes ”

“ These decisions are, unquestionably, correct; but the principle on which they are founded, is very different from that which the plaintiffs' counsel deduce from them: they admit that possession, under a deed conveying a legal title, is adverse, and that a defendant so holding may deny the title of his vendor in a suit at law. The contract of purchase, then, is no estoppel, though by the most solemn instrument known to the law. ”

“ In the former, the purchaser with notice is protected; in the latter, he has no standing in equity, for an obvious reason: that the plaintiffs' elder equity shall prevail, unless the defendant can shelter himself under the legal title acquired by one whose conscience was not affected with fraud or notice, and who can impart his immunity to a guilty purchaser, as the representative of his legal rights fairly acquired by deed, in such a manner as exempts him from the jurisdiction of a court of equity. Such a purchase affixes no stain on the conscience, and equity cannot disturb the legal title. ”

“ It is not to be doubted, that they would have been content with the quieting of their possession on paying for the land, on the terms agreed on with Chiles in 1817, on which they can now hold them, consistently with the law of the case.
Though neither of the parties have prayed for the specific relief which we think they are entitled to; we are of opinion that all have, in substance, submitted their case to our consideration, according to the rules and principles of equity: willing to abide such decree as we shall think will do justice between them. ”

“ As Chiles, by virtue of his contract with Hezekiah Boone, obtained conveyances of the interest of William Hoy and Parthenia Sappington, wife of John Sappington, two of the heirs of Hoy, he must, under the circumstances, be considered as holding the land in trust for those who have the better equity. In no sense can Chiles be considered as a purchaser of this interest, without notice and for a valuable consideration. But the interest of Newland and wife, which was conveyed to him through Green Clay, rests upon different principles. ”

“ In virtue of his legal title, the vendor has a legal right of possession, but equity will not permit him to assert it, unless the vendee has violated the contract: he will be enjoined if the vendee performs it. It is very certain, that a sale of the legal title by deed, creates no legal estoppel, by which a purchaser is prevented from contesting the title of the vendor, or the title of any person from whom the vendor derived title, 7 Wh. 547, &c. It is equally certain, that the sale of an equitable title by bond, or other contract, cannot have a contrary effect in equity ”

“ A purchaser in possession by a contract to sell, is in law a trespasser; but in equity he is the owner of the estate, having taken possession under the contract, and the vendor is in the situation of an equitable mortgagor, 15 V. 138. If the entry was by purchase, and the purchaser claims the land in fee, he is not a trustee; his title, though derivative from, and consistent with the original title of the plaintiffs, is a present claim in exclusion of, and adverse to it. A vendee in fee, derives his title from the vendor ”

“ We have come to the conclusion, that we must now consider them, as holding by their original claim, so far as to authorize the plaintiffs to make them their trustees, in virtue of their purchase from South, and ratify the agreement of Chiles. There is no other way in which the plaintiff can escape from the consequences of the staleness of his equity, coupled with the long possession of the defendants, than by considering them as friendly purchasers and possessors under them. ”

“ This leads to the reason for protecting an innocent purchaser, holding the legal title, against one who has the prior equity: a court of equity can act only on the conscience of a party; if he has done nothing that taints it, no demand can attach upon it, so as to give any jurisdiction. ”

“ Strong as a plaintiff's equity may be, it can in no case be stronger than that of a purchaser, who has put himself in peril by purchasing a title, and paying a valuable consideration, without notice of any defect in it, or adverse claim to it: and when, in addition, he shows a legal title from one seised and possessed of the property purchased, he has a right to demand protection and relief, 9. ”

“ And there is much reason to believe that his own quit claim title to Chiles, was made to avoid the suit which Chiles was prosecuting against him in virtue of the title-papers of Thomas Boone. A purchaser, to be protected, must show that he has paid a fair consideration, and what it was; and obtained the legal title, before he had notice of the equity. Clay and Chiles have utterly failed to establish these indispensable requisites: and Chiles himself, in the Bourbon bill, charged Clay to be a mala fide purchaser. ”

“ They charge Chiles with fraud in the whole transaction; pray that their answer may be taken as a cross bill against Chiles; that he be compelled to restore the bonds of South; or that they may have such decree against him as their case may require, and their contract with him cancelled. They deny the plaintiffs' rights to rents and profits in case of recovery: but if they lose the land, pray a just compensation for their lasting and valuable improvements ”

“ While it is said Searcy has complied with his contract, it is yet said he or his heirs should be made parties! The only important questions in this case are, whether Thomas Boone has parted with his rights; and whether these rights are lost by lapse of time.
The power of attorney to George Boone, gave no right to sell the land, or to impair the title to it. It authorized his completing the title, and no more. Those who claim to derive a benefit from the acts of an attorney, must look to his powers. ”

“ But this contract is not only declared by the tenants to be fraudulent and void: the complainants also denounce it as fraudulent. It finds favor in the eyes of no one but Chiles. And yet, this contract, thus treated by the complainants and defendants, and made by Chiles without a color of right, is made the basis of a decree of this court, which takes from the complainants, and gives to the defendants, a large estate. Chiles, though the fraudulent instrument in making this contract, is not permitted to enjoy any advantages under it. ”

“ What that reasonable time is, within which a constructive trust can be enforced, depends on the circumstances of the case; but there can be few cases where it can be done, after twenty years' peaceable possession, by the person who claims in his own right, but whose acts have made him a trustee by implication. ”

“ The covenants of warranty, and for further assurance, are expressly limited to their right, such as it was, and to their own acts only: they gave no covenant against the acts of Hoy: and by conveying only such interest as they held by descent, it passed to Clay with the same encumbrances of Boone's equity, as if it had remained in Newland and wife; who, neither in their answer or by their deed, pretend to any title or right. These circumstances make the deed suspicious on its face ”

“ In March, 1825, Green Clay, by his indenture, granted to Chiles all the right, title, and interest which he holds by a deed from Newland and wife, dated 23d of May, 1814, to the tract of Searcy, and a pre-emption and settlement right of one Townsend, in consideration of two hundred and sixteen dollars, with warranty against himself and heirs, but against no other person. ”