The appellees, who were the plaintiffs below, are the children and heirs at law of Allen T. Caperton, who, the bill alleged, was seised and possessed at the time of his death of an estate in fee in various tracts of land in West Virginia which are fully described in the pleadings.
The appellants, who were defendants below, assert ownership of the same lands.
The object of the present suit-which was removed from one of the courts of West Virginia-was to obtain a decree annulling the deeds under which the defendants claim title. and thereby remove the cloud created by them on the title of the plaintiffs. By the final decree those deeds were set aside as inoperative, fraudulent, and void, and as clouds upon the plaintiff's title, 'so far as they, and each of them, overlap and include any of the lands of the said plaintiffs as laid down and shown upon the map filed with the papers of this cause, marked 'Map of the lands in the Suit of Caperton's Heirs v. Rich and others, Decree Map." Attention will first be directed to the title asserted by the plaintiffs. They derive title from numerous patents and deeds, as follows:
1. A patent from the commonwealth of Virginia, dated March 25, 1795, to Robert Morris, for 153,900 acres of land in the county of Greenbrier; a deed from Robert Morris and wife, dated March 13, 1797, conveying to William Crammond several tracts, including the above tract of 153,900 acres; a deed from William Crammond and wife, dated October 28, 1814, to Thomas Astley, covering all the above lands conveyed by Morris and wife the William Crammond; a deed dated December 10, 1840, to Henry Crammond from Littleton Kirkpatrick and wife (the latter being the only heir at law of Thomas Astley), and Sarah Astley, the widow of Thomas Astley, embracing the lands covered by the deeds from Morris and wife and William Crammond; a deed by Henry Crammond to John Williams, dated December 21, 1842, conveying to the latter the tract of 153,900 acres.
2. A deed to Caperton by John Williams and wife, dated February 21, 1850, conveying to the grantee 77,104 acres of the tract of 153,900 acres named in the Morris patent. Caperton sold and conveyed a part of the land embraced by this deed, so that, at his death, he claimed to own only 41,171 1/2 acres of the above 77,104 acres.
3. A patent from the commonwealth of Virginia to Abner Cloud, assignee of Lewis Franklin, dated March 10, 1790, for 5,000 acres in Harrison county, on the waters of Gauley river. By a change in the lines of counties this tract was included in the county of Nicholas. It appears from the official records that these 5,000 acres were forfeited to that commonwealth in 1842 for the failure of the owner to enter them upon the books of the commissioner, and for nonpayment of taxes. That fact being regularly reported by the commissioners of delinquent and forfeited lands to the Nicholas county circuit superior court, they were ordered by that court to be sold in the manner and upon the terms prescribed by law; and they were sold, John Williams becoming the purchaser. The sale having been confirmed, a deed was made to Williams June 20, 1843, by the commissioner of delinquent and forfeited lands for Nicholas county. Subsequently, February 21, 1850, Williams and wife conveyed to Caperton the above 5,000 acres, as well as various other tracts that had been sold under the order of court by that officer and purchased by Williams.
4. A patent from the commonwealth of Virginia to A. C. and D. B. Layne, dated September 1, 1851, for 2,738 acres in what is now Webster county, W. Va. A. C. Layne and wife, by deed of March 18, 1856, conveyed their interest to Douglas B. Layne, who, with his wife, by deed of April 12, 1859, conveyed to Caperton.
5. Patents from the commonwealth of Virginia to Austin Hollister, one dated November 1, 1855, for 9,330 acres, and the other dated February 1, 1858, for 5,938 acres, both tracts being in Randolph county. By deed of February 12, 1859, Hollister and wife conveyed both of these tracts to Caperton.