1. Confirmation by Congress of a Spanish grant in Florida (Acts
of March 3, 1823, February 8, 1827) followed by survey, passed
legal title.
Wilson Cypress Co. v. Marcos, 236 U.
S. 635. P.
270 U. S.
229.
2. Claimants of an undivided interest in such a grant, and their
predecessors, by postponing for seventy years after survey the suit
against those holding under the confirmation, were guilty of
laches.
Id. .
298 F. 286 affirmed.
Page 270 U. S. 228
Appeal from a decree of the circuit court of appeals which
affirmed a decree of the district court dismissing the bill in a
suit to establish an interest in a tract of land
MR. JUSTICE McREYNOLDS delivered the opinion of the Court.
By a bill filed April 7, 1920, appellants sought to establish
their right to one-half interest in 175 acres of land on Key
Biscayne, Dade County, Florida, granted by Governor White to Pedro
Fornells January 18, 1805, when the Floridas were under the
dominion of Spain. Appellee Deering acquired legal title to the
whole tract June 28, 1913.
In 1824, under claim of ownership through conveyance from
Raphael Andreu, stepson of Fornells and alleged by her to be his
sole heir, Mary Ann Davis obtained confirmation of the grant in
herself of the Board of Commissioners empowered under the Act of
March 3, 1823, c. 29, 3 Stat. 754, to ascertain and confirm title
to East Florida lands arising under patents, grants, concessions,
or orders of survey dated prior to January 24, 1818. The Board's
action was approved and confirmed by Act of February 8, 1827, c. 9,
4 Stat. 202. In 1847, the lands were surveyed under direction of
the Surveyor General and segregated from the public domain.
June 30, 1827, Mrs. Davis and her husband deeded three acres to
the United States, and the Cape Florida Lighthouse was constructed
thereon. They subsequently abandoned the light and, March 4, 1903,
conveyed the three acres to Waters S. Davis, one of the heirs of
Mary Ann Davis, whose death occurred in 1885. He had purchased the
interests of all other heirs during 1893. April 23, 1896, patent
for the 175 acres issued to Mary Ann
Page 270 U. S. 229
Davis, but this was not delivered until 1898, because of protest
by Venancio Sanchez, who claimed an interest. This protest was
overruled by the Surveyor General, the Land Commissioner, and the
Secretary of the Interior. June 28, 1913, Waters S. Davis deeded
the lands to Deering.
Complainants deraign their title to an undivided one-half
interest through deed to Venancio Sanchez from Antonia Porsila (or
Porala), daughter of Pedro Fornells and half-sister of Raphael
Andreu, executed by her May 26, 1843. About 1840, the husband of
Mary Ann Davis sought to interest Sanchez, then and long afterwards
a merchant at St. Augustine, Florida, in developing Key Biscayne.
As a result, it is alleged, Sanchez discovered that Mrs. Davis did
not own the entire property, and that Antonia Porsila had inherited
an interest therein. Accordingly, he went to Havana and there
secured the conveyance of the latter's interest.
Sanchez died in 1899. He knew Raphael Andreu, who lived for a
long time at St. Augustine and probably died there, but the time is
not shown. It does not appear when Antonia Porsila died.
Complainants sought to meet the anticipated defense of laches by
alleging that they were not able to secure legal evidence of the
relationship between Raphael Andreu and Antonia Porsila until the
discovery of an index to the Spanish archives during the year
1919.
The trial court dismissed the bill upon motion, holding that
appellants were chargeable with laches because of the long delay in
seeking relief after issuance of the patent of 1896. The circuit
court of appeals affirmed this decree upon the view that the delay
extended from the survey of 1847 when Mary Ann Davis secured full
legal title. 298 F. 286.
Under circumstances very similar to those here presented,
Wilson Cypress Co. v. Del Pozoy Marcos, 236 U.
S. 635, holds
Page 270 U. S. 230
that confirmation of the Spanish grant by Congress followed by
survey of the land passed the legal title. We can see no reason to
depart from this view. The title of Mary Ann Davis dates from 1847.
For more than 70 years thereafter, appellants and their
predecessors failed to assert their rights, if any, by legal
proceedings. We agree with the circuit court of appeals
"that it is too late now to enter into the merits of a claim of
title which could have been asserted and enforced if good, and
rejected if bad, while the witnesses who knew about it were living
and could have testified with reference to it."
The decree is
Affirmed.