Cotten v. . Moseley
Supreme Court of North Carolina
Appeal from Whedbee, J., at December Term, 1911, of Pitt. This case was beard below upon tbe following admitted facts: On 13 September, 1871, William Gardner, being tben tbe owner in. fee of'tbe tract of land in controversy, containing 140 acres, conveyed tbe same by deed “to Henry 0. Gardner and bis wife, Martha Jane Gardner, during tbeir natural lives, afterwards to Martha Jane’s beirs forever.”
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Appeal from Whedbee, J., at December Term, 1911, of Pitt. This case was beard below upon tbe following admitted facts: On 13 September, 1871, William Gardner, being tben tbe owner in. fee of'tbe tract of land in controversy, containing 140 acres, conveyed tbe same by deed “to Henry 0. Gardner and bis wife, Martha Jane Gardner, during tbeir natural lives, afterwards to Martha Jane’s beirs forever.” Tbe said grantees entered into 'possession of tbe land on that day, and continued in tbe possession until 2 January, 188.6, when they conveyed tbe land in fee, by tbeir deed duly executed, to tbe…
1Opinion of the Court
Walker, J.,
after stating the' case: The question in the case is, whether the limitation of the estate to husband and wife for their natural lives, afterwards to the heirs of the wife forever, is sufficient to pass the fee under the rule in Shelley’s case. The principle embodied in this rule, which, perhaps, was first formally and authoritatively announced by all the judges during the reign of Elizabeth, in the case from which it takes its name (1 Coke, 219), was of far more remote origin, and for many years had been called “an ancient dogma of the common law.” The principal and most forceful…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Starnes v. . HillSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1893
- Nichols v. . GladdenSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1895
- Bails v. DavisIllinois Supreme Court · 1909
- Price v. GriffinSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1909
3Cited by14 opinions
- Welch v. . GibsonSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1927
- Smith v. . SmithSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1917
- Brown v. . GutherySupreme Court of North Carolina · 1925
- Hartman v. . FlynnSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1925
- Harmon v. ThompsonSupreme Court of Arkansas · 1954
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