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Excerpt from record |
"This cause came on to be further heard at this term upon the proof heretofore taken in the case and upon argument of counsel. And it appearing to the court from the proof that the tract of land described in the pleadings in this cause was deeded to Margaret Lillard by H.H. Kerr and wife at some date prior to March, 1902 and that said deed was never put to record but is mentioned in another deed of record in book 39, page 397, R O for Rutherford County, Tennessee, conveying certain property to Golena Anderson;
And it further appearing to the court from the proof that the said Margaret Lillard on or about March, 1902 by parol gave said tract of land to John Mason and that the said John Mason on or about the first day of April, 1902 entered upon said tract of land and proceeded to occupy the same as his own; cleared rocks off of said land and built a fence with said rocks around the said tract; and that the said John Mason from and after his entry upon said land continuously occupied the same openly, notoriously, exclusively and adversely from that day and date until the bringing of this action by the Government and that the said John Mason worked and cultivated a garden theron and paid the taxes each year on said tract of land and filed his tax receipts as exhibits to his answer in this cause;
This cause came on to be further heard at this term upon the proof heretofore taken in the case and upon argument of counsel. And it appearing to the court from the proof that the tract of land described in the pleadings in this cause was deeded to Margaret Lillard by H.H. Kerr and wife at some date prior to March, 1902 and that said deed was never put to record but is mentioned in another deed of record in book 39, page 397, R O for Rutherford County, Tennessee, conveying certain property to Golena Anderson; he having acquired title thereto by prescription by adverse possession for more than twenty years;
Thereupon and upon consideration thereof the court is of the opinion and so adjudges and decrees that the defendant, John Mason, was on February 6, 1931, the date of the filing of the report of the Jury of View herein, the owner in fee simple of the said parcel of land containing 1.1 acres, more or less, as is more particularly described in a petition of the United States of America herein, he having acquired title thereto by prescription by adverse possession for more than twenty years;
That the War Department has paid into the registry of this court, in satisfaction of the award of the Jury of View heretofore filed herein and in compliance with the law and the orders of this court the sum of $194.40 which sum includes said award for said land with interest thereon and also certain costs and expenses, all as is enumerated in the petition of the United States of America filed in this cause on June 8, 1932.
It is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed by the court that the Clerk of this court shall pay out of said sum of money herein above mentioned, which has been deposited in the registry of this court, the sums indicated below to the persons designated:
John Mason................................$162.40
Howell Washington, fee as guardian ad litem 25.00
Howell Washington, refund costs.............25.00
Alvin Collins, refund costs..................2.00
Thereupon and upon consideration thereof the court is of the opinion and so adjudges and decrees that the defendant, John Mason, was on February 6, 1931, the date of the filing of the report of the Jury of View herein, the owner in fee simple of the said parcel of land containing 1.1 acres, more or less, as is more particularly described in a petition of the United States of America herein,
The depositions of John Mason, Nathan Mason and Will Harding, taken by agreement, before Alfred B. Huddleston, Notary Public, in the presence of W.P. Maddox, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Alvin B. Collins, attorney for John Mason, and Howell Washington, Guardian Ad Litem; Caption, certificate, notice, and all formalities being expressly waived.
The first witness, John Mason, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:
Direct Examination by Mr. Collins:
Q.1. State your name, age, and residence.
A. John Mason, aged 79, I reside on the Asbury Lane, near the National Cemetery.
Q.2. Do you know the property described in the pleadings in this case, which is said to belong to the heirs of Margaret Lillard?
A. Yes, I do. In the year of the big flood, in 1902, I went onto this place. It was right after that big rain, and the ground was still covered with water. I had to ride a horse to get to it. I went onto this place and took possession of it.
Q.3. What work have you done on this place, and when?
A. Right after I went there, in 1902, I began to get up rocks off of the place, and I took these rocks and built a fence all around it. It took me two or three years, working at odd times, to build this fence. I would get up the rocks, and roll them to the place in a wheelbarrow, and then build them into the fence. [...] to cultivate.
Q.6. Who paid the taxes on this place?
A. I did. I paid them every year. I always paid them before Christmas.
Q.7. How was this land assessed, to you, or someone else?
A. It was assessed to me. Nobody else had anything to do with it.
Q.8. Have you any of your receipts where you have paid these taxes?
A. Yes, sir, I did have them all, but when my house burned up, three years ago, all of my old receipts were burned. I have the receipts for the years 1927, 1928, and 1929.
Q.9. Will you file these receipts as exhibits Nos. 1, 2, and 3 to this deposition?
A. Yes.
Q.10. Has anyone else ever made any claim to this place since you have been there on it?
A. No, sir, nobody has ever made any claim to it, of any kind.
Further deponent saith not. Cross examination waived.
The next witness, Nathan Mason, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:
Direct Examination by Mr. Collins:
Q.1. State your name, age, and residence.
A. Nathan Mason, age 72, I reside near the National Cemetery.
[...]
A. He went there about the first of April, 1902, right after the flood.
Q.4. What did he do after going there?
A. He first built a rock fence around the place, and then he cleared up a little garden sport, and tended a garden there.
Q.5. Has he lived there, or did he live there until the Government took possession of the place for the Park?
A. Yes sir.
Q.6. Who paid the taxes on the place?
A. John Mason did. The place was assessed to him, and he paid the taxes on it every year.
Q.7. Have you ever seen his receipts?
A. Yes, sir. I know I have seen most of them, and I think I have seen them all. He had all of them in his house and when it burned up a few years ago they burned too. I have seen these receipts at his house, before it was burned.
Q.8. Has anyone else, to your knowledge, ever made any claim to this property since John Mason first went onto it in 1902?
A. No one else that I know of. I lived in sight of this place all the time, and if there had been any question about it, I would have heard about it.
Further deponent saith not. Cross examination waived.
The next witness, Will Harding, being first duly sworn, deposed as follows:
Direct examination by Mr. Collins:
State your name, age, and residence?
A. Will Harding, I was born the year after the Stones River fight. I live at the Cemetery.
Q.2. Do you know the property claimed by John Mason, and how long have you know it?
A. Yes, I know it. I have lived there at the Cemetery all my life.
Q.3. Do you know when John Mason first went upon this place?
A. Yes, it was right after the flood, in 1902, about the first of April.
Q.4. Has he been there ever since, and what has he done to the place?
A. Yes, he lived there til the Government took the place for the Park. John built a rock fence around the place right after he went there, and cleared up a place for a garden. It was too rocky to be much good.
Cross examination by Howell Washington, guardian ad litem:
Q.1. Did you know any of Margaret Lillards family or children?
A. Yes, I know her, and her two oldest children. They used to live on that place, but they left there before he moved onto it. They have not been seen or heard of since, that I know of, anyhow they have never been back to the Cemetery.
Q.2. Have any of them, or anyone else, to your knowledge, ever claimed this property since John Mason first went there?
A. No sir, Nobody has.
Q.3. Who paid the taxes on the place?
A. John Mason did.
Further deposition saith not. Cross examination waived by Mr. Maddox." |
Stones River Battlefield Historic Landscape Collection
