Horace Gray

“ The evidence appears to us wholly insufficient, in fact and in law, to support the conclusion that the attorney had any notice of the previous deed to McMillan, or any knowledge of such circumstances tending to prove the existence of such a deed that he should have considered or treated them as of any weight, or have reported them to the authorities at Washington. The inevitable conclusion, as matter of law, is that the United States acquired a good and valid title, as innocent purchasers, for valuable consideration, and without notice of a previous conveyance to McMillan. ”

“ The United States are in the same condition as other litigants, in the sense that neither can invoke the jurisdiction of this court by writ of error to a state court, unless that court has decided against a right claimed under the constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. But surely the United States have and may assert a right, privilege, or immunity under the constitution of the United States which private parties could not have. ”

“ But, in order to charge a purchaser with notice of a prior unrecorded conveyance, he or his agent must either have knowledge of the conveyance, or at least of such circumstances as would, by the exercise of ordinary diligence and judgment, lead to that knowledge; and vague rumor or suspicion is not a sufficient foundation upon which to charge a purchaser with knowledge of a title in a third person. ”