Todd v. Masterson

Citations

• 61 Tex. 618
• 1884 Tex. LEXIS 160

Syllabus

<p>1. Donation certificate.— A certificate was issued by the secretary of war of the republic of Texas on the 26th of January, 1846, for six hundred and forty acres, reciting that Wm. O. M. Baker, having engaged in the battle of the Alamo with Col. Travis, was entitled to that amount of donation land, in accordance with the act of congress of December 31, 1837; that Baker, his heirs, executors and administrators, or their assigns, were entitled to hold the land, but that it could not be sold, alienated, or mortgaged, during the life-time of the party to whom it was granted. In this suit, involving the ownership of land appropriated by that certificate, as between those claiming through deeds from the heirs and those claiming through an administrator’s sale made to pay debts of Wm. C. M. Baker, the following acts received construction: Act of December 21, 1837 (Pasch. Dig., 4059-4065); May 24, 1838 (Pasch. Dig., 4068); decree of November 24, 1835 (D. D., 4035); decree of December 5, 1835 (Pasch. Dig., 4037); decree of December 11, 1835 (Pasch. Dig., 4040); joint resolution of November 24, 1836; and the following conclusions were announced:</p> <p>(1) The right of Baker, unless forfeited by some act of his, to a bounty of at least six hundred and forty acres of land, was fixed by laws in force before the fall of the Alamo, and the object of the act of December 21, 1837, was to confer an additional right on some one after the soldier’s death, without reference to what he was entitled to under laws existing at the time of his'death.</p> <p>(2) The act of May 24, 1838, reconciled apparent confusion in former laws as to how certificates should be issued, by declaring, in effect, that certificates of the character being considered should thereafter issue “ to the legal representatives in the name of the heirs.”</p> <p>(3) The certificate was a mere gratuity, evidencing the gratitude of the republic for the soldier’s sacrifice, the right to which vested in his heirs; it for