Westbrook v. Hawkins
Mississippi Supreme Court
Appeal from the Chancery Court of Monroe County. Hon. L. Hahghton, Chancellor. The appellant’s petition for dower, which alleged that her husband died in 1852, owning a quarter section of land and his dwelling-house thereon, where she resided continuously until March, 1881, when she was ousted by force, was dismissed upon demurrer by heirs, the appellees, as barred by the Statute of Limitations.
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Appeal from the Chancery Court of Monroe County. Hon. L. Hahghton, Chancellor. The appellant’s petition for dower, which alleged that her husband died in 1852, owning a quarter section of land and his dwelling-house thereon, where she resided continuously until March, 1881, when she was ousted by force, was dismissed upon demurrer by heirs, the appellees, as barred by the Statute of Limitations. The appellant’s right to dower became fixed by her husband’s death and is governed by the statute then in force. Hutch. Code, pp. 621, 622; Magee v. Young, 40 Miss. 164; Bates v.' McDowell, 58 Miss.…
1Opinion of the Court
Chalmers C. J.,
delivered the opinion of the court.
A petition for dower is barred by the same lapse of time that will bar an action of ejectment (Moody v. Harper, 38 Miss. 599), but although nearly thirty years is shown by the petition in this ease to have intervened between the death of the husband and the filing of the petition, it is stated that the widow has been continuously in possession of the land from the death of her husband until a short time before the filing of the petition, — a possession from which she has been recently ousted by force. The statute did not run while she was in…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Moody v. HarperMississippi Supreme Court · 1860
3Cited by3 opinions
- Sperry v. SwigerWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1903
- Devers v. Chateau Corp.Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1984
- No. 83-2102Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1984