Carmichael v. McGillivray

Morrison, C. J. This is a suit in equity to foreclose a mortgage on three separate and distinct parcels of land, situate in the county of Placer; and the mortgaged premises are described in the complaint as follows : “ All those claims known as the Dardanelles claims, situate near Forest Hill, and bounded on the north by Devil’s Canon, east by the Oro claims, south by the slope of the hill to the middle fork of the American River, and on the [9]west by the Big Spring claims; also, the Oro mining claims, bounded on tbe north by Devil’s Canon, east by the Green Spring mining claims, south. by the slope of the hill to said middle fork of the American River, and on the west by the Dardanelles claims; also, that ditch known as the Miner’s Ditch, and conveying the water from Shirt Tail Canon and tributaries to Forest Hill, Todd’s Valley, and the miners in that vicinity.” The complaint was in the ordinary form, and the prayer was the following: “Therefore the plaintiff prays judgment, that the Court will take an account of the amount due the plaintiff on said note and mortgage, and that the usual decree may be made for tbe sale of said mortgaged premises,” etc.

Issue was taken on the facts alleged in the complaint; and after hearing the evidence, the following findings were filed by the Court:

“1. Jones and Dougherty owned the property described in the complaint, and borrowed $15,000 in gold coin from the plaintiff, and to secure the payment of the same, gave the plaintiff a mortgage on said property ; afterwards, Jones and Doughtery sold the property to McGillivray, one of the defendants, and as a part of the consideration of the purchase, McGillivray gave to the plaintiff the note and mortgage described in the complaint, and the old note and mortgage were canceled; and afterwards McGillivray sold the property to the defendant, the Dardanelles Consolidated Gravel Mining Company.

“ 2. There is due the plaintiff on the note described in the complaint the sum of $18,035 in gold coin of the United States.

“My conclusion is, that the plaintiff have judgment, as prayed for in tbe complaint.”

On these findings, a decree of foreclosure was entered on the 22nd day of November, 1878, which directed that the mortgaged premises should be sold in the following order: first, the ditch, then the Dardanelles claims, and lastly the Oro claims. The appeal is taken from the above-mentioned judgment; and the point made is, that the Court erred in directing and decreeing that tbe parcels of property mortgaged should be sold in the order stated.