Buckner v. Sewell

Griffin Smith, Chief Justice.

Forty acres, wild and unimproved in 1927 and for many years thereafter, were included in Joe Buckner’s trust deed to N. C. Marsh, executed December 23, 1927, securing a note for $250 payable to J. ~W. Edwards. At that time the land was assessed for $120, but appraisers certified that it was worth $4 per acre in 1931. Oil discoveries in the Cairo area (Shuler Field) of Union County — two-thirds of a mile from the property Buckner conveyed in the trust deed — have given the tract a lease value of from $500 to $1,000 per acre, and a royalty value of $1,000 per acre.

In…