E. L. Cord v. Rogers C. B. Morton, Secretary of the Interior

Appellant Cord brought suit to overturn a decision of the Secretary of the Interior refusing to certify as valid, under 43 U.S.C. § 276 , certificates for Soldier’s Additional Homestead Rights that Cord, as ultimate assignee, now holds. The District Court entered judgment for the Secretary and this appeal followed. We affirm.

The Secretary issued the certificates on May 29, 1896, pursuant to the Act of June 8, 1872, Rev.Stats. 2306, 2307, as amended 43 U.S.C. §§ 274 , 278. The 1872 Act provided that qualified Civil War veterans who had made homestead entries of less than 160 acres could increase their homestead holdings to 160 acres. The certificates were erroneously issued to two veterans who, by the date of issuance, had already obtained their additional land and thus had exhausted their rights. When appellant submitted the certificates for validation, the Secretary rejected them on the ground that they were invalid at the time they were first issued. The Secretary’s decision was in accord with well-settled principles of contract law that an assignee, even though he is a purchaser for value and without notice, takes subject to defenses that were available to the obligor against…