Davis

Suit to annul a lease from the defendant McGrew to the plaintiff, Davis.

Davis was the owner of an undivided interest in the San Pablo rancho, and was in possession of two parcels thereof, viz., one of 320 acres, called his “ home place,” and the other 45 acres, upon which latter he had growing crops of the value of one thousand dollars. McGrew claimed this latter piece, and applied to the superior court, in a case pending therein, for a writ of assistance to remove Davis from possession.

The court awarded the writ, for the purpose of placing McGrew in possession jointly with Davis. And the parties compromised the matter by Davis taking a lease from McGrew of the forty-five-acre tract for one year at an annual rent of five hundred dollars. This lease contained the following clause: “The lessee hereby expressly and absolutely waives and renounces any and all claim to title of any kind in himself in or to the premises herein described, other than the leasehold interest by this lease created.” As a part of the arrangement, it was agreed (although this latter part was not reduced to writing) that McGrew should waive all claim to the tract of 320 acres.

The suit was to have the…