Smith v. Cassidy

Decided March 15, 1898

Mississippi Supreme Court · decided 1898-03-15

From the chancery court of Lincoln county. Hon. H. C. Conn, Chancellor. The land in controversy belonged to the United States until 1890. It was, however, assessed to an unknown owner on the assessment roll in 1887, and was sold for taxes in 1888, and Cassidy, appellee, became the purchaser.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1898-03-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 3 later decisions — most recently June 1955

3 state decisions

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Whitfield, J.,

¶1delivered the opinion of the court.

¶2It is true that taxes are a- charge in rem; that the ownership of the land is immaterial to the right and power of the state to sell for taxes. But it does not at all follow from this that a particular person may not sustain such relation to the land, and may not so conduct himself with respect to it, as to be estopped to buy at a tax sale. The state, in such case, will get its taxes, but he will not get the land. We think it clear that appellee’s relation to this land, and his dealing with respect to it, have been such that he acquired no title at the sale for taxes, in *919Match, 1892, if any such sale there ivas. The appellant is entitled to the relief prayed in her cross bill.

¶3Decree reversed and cause remanded, to Toe proceeded with in accordance with this opinion.