This is a suit in equity brought in the circuit court of the United States for the Northern district of California by Jane M. Teall, Timothy H. Teall, and Harvey Benedict, residents and citizens of the state of New York, against A. Schroder and 334 other defendants, residents and citizens of the state of California, to enforce the transfer by them to the complainants of certain lands described in the bill of complaint, situated in the city of San Jos e, in that state, and represented as covering a large part of the city. There are various charges made as to the manner in which the defendants came into possession of the property, imputing fraudulent conduct on their part, and invoking the interposition of the equity powers of the court for its correction.
The bill was filed on the 1st of June, 1889, and represents that the complainants are residents and citizens of the state of New York, and have never been in California, and that the defendants are residents and citizens of California; that one Oliver Teall, stated to be the ancestor of the complainants, was on the 1st day of August, 1857, the owner and in possession of certain real property, situated in the city of San Jos e, county of Santa Clara, in the latter state, more particularly described as certain pieces or parcels of land and town lots, designated by certain numbers in blocks, on the official map or plat of the city; and alleges that on the 2d day of February, 1852, he executed and delivered to one Davis Devine an instrument of writing appointing him his attorney in fact, and authorizing him in his, Teall's, name, and to his use, to enter upon and take possession of all lands, tenements, and hereditaments in the state of California to which he then was or might thereafter become entitled, or in which he was or might become interested, and in his name to grant, bargain, and sell, or to lease and demise, the same, or any parcel thereof, for such sum or price as to him, Devine, might seem meet, and to execute good and sufficient deeds of conveyance by quitclaim for the same.
That power of attorney was duly acknowledged and filed for record in the office of the recorder of the county of Santa Clara on the 16th day of March, 1852, and has ever since remained on the records of the county, and was unrevoked and in full force until the death of Teall on the 12th day of August, 1857.
The bill further alleges that prior to the 1st day of August, 1857, Devine, as attorney in fact of Teall, and pursuant to the authority thus vested in him, took possession of all the premises mentioe d, and continued in possession thereof until his death; that, in violation of the trust reposed in him, on a day and date unknown to the complainants, but while in possession of the premises as the attorney in fact of Teall, he caused the whole of the premises to be conveyed to himself in the following manner, to wit: 'Pretending to act as attorney in fact of Teall, he executed and delivered to one A. L. Rhodes a deed of release and quitclaim of all of the premises, bearing date as of the 1st day of August, 1857, and reciting a consideration of $5,000, and that on the same day said A. L. Rhodes, by a similar deed, with a similar consideration recited, reconveyed all of the premises to Devine; that the conveyances were acknowledged on the 17th day of September, 1857, and were recorded on the 8th day of October thereafter, and have ever since remained on the records of the county of Santa Clara.'
The bill further alleges that the alleged conveyances, and each of them, were fraudulent and void as to Oliver Teall and those claiming under him; that no consideration passed from Rhodes to Devine, or from Devine to Rhodes, therefor; that the same were not authorized by Teall, nor was any consideration paid to him therefor, nor was any ratification thereof ever made by him, but that the deeds were made solely for the purpose of enabling Devine to deal with and dispose of the property as his own, and to defraud Teall and those claiming under him out of the property.