William C. Chapman v. Orange Rice Milling Company, and Edward J. Stine

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:

A lessor of a large tract of ranch land appeals from a take-nothing judgment following a bench trial in this Texas diversity action for breach of contract. While the district court found that the lessee had breached his lease by not clearing sufficient acreage, it held the contract claim barred by the applicable four-year statute of limitations. Persuaded of a different reading of the schedule for clearing under the lease, we conclude that the breach sued for came later than found by the district court, and that the lessor’s claim was not time-barred. We…