Christopher v. Mungen

Citations

• 71 Fla. 545
• 71 So. 625
• 1916 Fla. LEXIS 531

Syllabus

<p>1. J. M. and E. L. were half sisters, daughters of J. L. by slave marriages. J. L. died in 1894 leaving surviving him his widow whom he had married in 1866, and the two daughters J. M. and E. L. by slave marriages. The widow survived her husband a short while, and died prior to 1899 without children or other known heirs. The appellants claim title to the real property under one of the half sisters who were held to have inherited the real property of their ancestor J. L. under the Act of 1899 entitled “An Act to Legalize the Marriages and Offspring of Persons of African Descent,” and were tenants in common of such property. Held, that appellants could not be heard to insist that the real property was^inherited by the widow and at her death escheated to the State to defeat a bill for partition brought by the half sister of their grantor.</p> <p>2. Mere silent possession of land by one tenant in common is not sufficient to' divest the right of his cotenant. Open, notorious, continuous, adverse possession by one tenant in common for a period of seven years will ripen into title by adverse possession as against his cotenant only when the character of such possession has been brought home to his cotenant and thereafter continued for such a period of seven years.</p>