Kent v. Lasley
Wisconsin Supreme Court
APPEAL from the Circuit Court for Winnebago County. Ejectment, etc. Defendants claimed title to the premises under two deeds from one George Cown, to their ancestor, William Lasley, dated June 12,1849. Plaintiff claimed as purchaser at a sale made in 1865 upon foreclosure of a mortgage made to him by said Cown in 1859, and alleged, and asked the court to adjudge, that said deeds to William Lasley, though absolute upon their face, were in fact mortgages, and that the…
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APPEAL from the Circuit Court for Winnebago County. Ejectment, etc. Defendants claimed title to the premises under two deeds from one George Cown, to their ancestor, William Lasley, dated June 12,1849. Plaintiff claimed as purchaser at a sale made in 1865 upon foreclosure of a mortgage made to him by said Cown in 1859, and alleged, and asked the court to adjudge, that said deeds to William Lasley, though absolute upon their face, were in fact mortgages, and that the conditions which were, by agreement between the parties, to constitute a defeasance, had been performed. The following facts…
1Opinion of the CourtDixon, C. J.
In considering the nature and sufficiency of the evidence required to convert a deed, absolute on its face, into a mortgage, we should never lose sight of the rules and practice of the court of equity at the time it was established by that court that parol evidence could be received for that purpose. The doctrine that a deed absolute in its terms can be thus transformed into a mortgage, and the title of the holder defeated, is purely an equitable, and not a legal, doctrine. It had its origin in the court of chancery, in which court alone the remedy could formerly be administered. The rules…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Bryan v. CowartSupreme Court of Alabama · 1852
- Newton v. HolleyWisconsin Supreme Court · 1858
3Cited by19 opinions
- Howland v. BlakeSupreme Court of the United States · 1878
- Jasper v. HazenNorth Dakota Supreme Court · 1894
- McClellan v. SanfordWisconsin Supreme Court · 1870
- Jordan v. Estate of WarnerWisconsin Supreme Court · 1900
- Schriber v. LeClairWisconsin Supreme Court · 1886
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