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Crismon - Suit of
Partition
Submitted by Judy Germann
Osage Co MO, Circuit
Court Records. Suit of Partition (The initial
filing is dated 24 Feb 1853, with a variety of
filings going thru 1853, 54, 55 and 56,
culminating with two papers indicating they refer
to the Estate of Frankey Crismon. One is undated,
the second is also undated says William Crismon,
admr of the estate of Franke Crismon, deceased,
the plaintiff in this cause, (two words here
smudged) the suit at the May Term 1858, of Osage
Co Court. This was a settling up of official fees,
showing how much was paid for filings, sheriffs
service, subphoening (sic) witnesses, etc. It
shows dates of 1853, 54, & 55. The stack of
papers is between 1 & 2 inches high, and
probably has over 100 sheets.
The original filing was Franky
Chrisman, plaintiff -- against: John Crisman,
Nathan Harlin, Mahala Harlin, his wife, Elizabeth
Capehart, John Capehart, her husband, Isaac
Chrisman, William Chrisman, Archibald Chrisman,
Reubin Branson and Sarah Branson, his wife, James
Chrisman, Fleming Thompson and Cumile Thompson,
his wife, Emily Chrisman, Lewis Chrisman,
Elizabeth Rigsby, Haight Rigsby, Polly Joyce,
Sarah Capehart and Francis Capehart, her husband,
defendants.
Frankey gave information on the
amount of real estate and goods she believed
Gilbert died 'seized of', that Gilbert died on or
about 21 Apr 1851. The real estate involved is: SE
qtr of NE qtr of section 13, Twp 40, Range 10W,
containing 40 acres, also SW qtr of SE qtr of
section 13, Twp 40, Range 10 containing 40 acres.
Also the east half of the SE qtr of section 7, Twp
39, Range 10, containing 80 acres. She said she
thought there were other lands, and asked the
court to make John tell the amount, description
and locality of the other lands. (All the land
described in this is in present day Maries
County.)
She then listed all the heirs, (the
same as I posted on Gilbert's FGS from his will).
She said John, Isaac & William Chrisman are
the administrators on Gilbert's estate, and then
asked for a guardian at-litem be appointed for all
of the minor heirs. She asked that her dower be
assigned to her, and also that "her interest in
the estate as heir and legal representative of
Moses and Stephen Chrisman may also be partitioned
and assigned to her." She stated that on or about
15 Jun 1852 while she was lawfully possessed of
and entitled to the mansion house, the messages,
and plantation, that John entered upon and took
possession of the mansion house, the messages, and
plantation against her will, and kept them. She
claimed to be "deforced of her dower, and ousted
of her possessions in the plantation mansion
house" by John Chrisman. She asked for judgment of
possession for the plantation and mansion houses,
and against John, and also for damages against him
at the rate of six dollars per month from the time
of said ouster and deforcement down to the day of
the judgment.
She claimed that at the time of
ouster, she had as her absolute property on the
plantation, sixty-three bushels of corn worth
sixty-three dollars and forty-four bushels of oats
worth twenty-nine dollars, that John then and
there, without permission, consumed the corn and
oats. She asks for judgment for damages against
John for the ninety-two dollars on that account.
Defendants answer: John and William
answered. They attest there is a tract of land
belonging to said estate not included in the
petition lying in Section 14, Twp 40, Range 9,
containing about 84 acres. There is also 80 acres
in Section 18, Twp 40, Range 10 not included in
plaintiffs petition as they have reason to
believe.
They admit that Moses and Stephen
have departed this life since the death of
Gilbert, but deny Frankey is entitled to any part
of their estates.
They detailed how the land has been
transferred. Isaac sold his to James, and James
then sold his entire interest to John. John
Capehart and wife sold their interest to William.
Nathan Harlan and Mahala sold their to Pleasant
and Pleasant sold his entire interest to William.
Archibald sold his interest to William. Fleming
Thompson and 'Camille' Thompson sold their
interest to John Crisman. They stated that Moses
and Stephen sold all their interest in the land to
John and William. They also purchased Polly
Joyce's interest in the land. Lewis and Emily
Chrisman have no interest because of Pleasant's
prior sale to William.
John denied taking forcible
possession, and said he moved at her urgent
request and repeated solicitation that he went to
live with her against his own inclination, to take
care of her. He denies being liable for damages,
and says on the contrary, he may be entitled to
damages to pay for his inconvenience at moving
from his own home to hers.
He claims the right to use the oats,
corn, etc, as he was keeping up the stock, and
working in her crops.
Witnesses called were: Thos.
Anderson, Nathan Harlin and James Helton Jr in Apr
1853 for the plaintiff; James Helton Jr, James
Crisman, Thomas Shockley and Barnet Finn Oct 1853,
for the defendant. Again in Oct 1853 Thomas
Anderson, William Simpson, James Helton Jr, Mahala
Harlan and William Shockley for the plaintiff.
Also in Oct 1853, Polly Grady, A.E. Rowden,
Stephen C. Atkinson and Thomas Shockley for the
defendant. In Oct 1854, James Helton Jr, Thomas
Anderson and William Simpson for the plaintiff.
In April 1856, Thomas Anderson,
James Helton Jr, and Gilbert Crismon were called
as witnesses for the plaintiff. Oct 1856, James
Helton Jr was called as witness for Plaintiff. His
summons notes: "son of Isaac Helton."
It appears to me that Frankey's
death caused the suit to be dropped as nothing
final is in the papers.
NOTE: I recently got a note
indicating that they believe Frankey's maiden name
to be Grady. Was she related to Polly Grady, the
witness, and if so how? There is a Grady family in
Miller county MO that has a daughter named
Frances, but she is a generation or so younger
than ours.
