Settegast v. Schrimpe

Citations

• 35 Tex. 323

Syllabus

<p>1. After a foreigner by birth has duly declared his intention for the purpose of being naturalized as a citizen, it seems that he is invested, under the laws of this State, with all the rights of citizenship except the elective franchise; and therefore he could acquire real estate by purchase, and on his death could transmit it by descent to his children.</p> <p>2. The fourteenth section of the act of January 28, 1840, regulating descents, and its re-enactment in the act of March 8, 1848, (Article 44, Paschal’s Digest), demonstrate that the rule of the common law which disables an alien from casting descent on an alien has not been in force in Texas. Sabriego v. White, 30 Texas, 576, cited on this point with approval.</p> <p>3. S., a foreigner by birth, immigrated to Texas in 1851, and duly declared his intention for the purpose of becoming naturalized, but died in 1853, before the lapse of the period necessary to consummate his naturalization. In 1868, his children, who were minors under seventeen years of age at the time of his immigration, sued as his heirs for lands purchased by him in this State, and in their petition they alleged the above stated facts, as well as their own citizenship at the institution of this suit. The defendant demurred, and relied on the alienage of S., the plaintiffs’ ancestor, and his alleged incapacity to transmit title to the plaintiffs by descent. Held, that it was error to sustain the demurrer. Yates v. lams, 10 Texas, 168, is not analogous to the present case.</p>