Hummel v. McFadden

In 1910, a tract of land was conveyed to a family of sisters. After some of the sisters died, there were various conveyances of the interests in the land. In 1934, the remaining sisters entered into an agreement with Ralph McFadden (defendant) for the mining and removal of coal under a small portion of the land. The remaining sisters died, and their interest passed to their children. Under the 1934 agreement, McFadden had a right to remove the coal for an unstated term, and if McFadden did not remove a certain amount of coal per year, the lease, as the agreement called it, would become void. The agreement also stated that as long as McFadden operated a mine, the adjoining property would not be leased to others. In 1945, the parties with the remaining interest in the land conveyed the remaining larger coal interest to McFadden. Under the 1945 agreement, McFadden had a so-called lease to all the coal under the tract and an exclusive right to mine the coal. There was also a royalty requirement. Neither agreement, however, contained any time limitations on the mining, quantity requirements, or purpose requirements. McFadden was authorized to mine the land to exhaustion. Hummel (plaintiff) then obtained the remaining interest in the land from the sisters’ children. In 1951, Hummel sued McFadden for partition of the land. Hummel claimed to have an interest in the coal underneath the land because McFadden had claimed to mine it. McFadden claimed that he had a fee interest in the coal, not a lease interest, so his interest could not be abandoned. The trial court agreed with McFadden. Hummel appealed.