Willcox v. Stroup
467 F.3d 409 (2006)
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Rule of Law:
Long-standing and continuous possession of personal property creates a strong, rebuttable presumption of ownership. The burden rests on the non-possessing party to overcome this presumption by proving superior title under the law as it existed at the time of the property's creation or acquisition.
Facts:
- The property in dispute consists of approximately 444 documents from the administrations of South Carolina Governors Francis Pickens (1860-62) and Milledge Bonham (1862-64), concerning official Confederate military and governmental matters.
- The papers likely came into the possession of plaintiff Thomas Law Willcox's great-great-uncle, Confederate Major General Evander Mclver Law, around February 1865 during the Union army's attack on Columbia, South Carolina.
- There is no direct evidence explaining how General Law acquired the papers, and no suggestion that he did so illegally.
- By 1896, General Law was attempting to sell some of the papers to a book dealer.
- In the 1940s, General Law's granddaughter, Mrs. Annie J. Storm, was in possession of the papers and attempted to sell them, describing them as 'original State House papers entrusted to [her] grandfather.'
- During the 1940s, the papers were placed on microfilm at the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina.
- In 1999 or 2000, Thomas Law Willcox discovered the papers in a shopping bag in a closet at his late stepmother’s home.
- In 2004, prior to a planned auction, Willcox granted the State of South Carolina permission to microfilm the papers for its archives.
Procedural Posture:
- The State of South Carolina obtained a temporary restraining order in state court to enjoin Willcox's planned auction of the papers.
- Thomas Law Willcox filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of South Carolina.
- Willcox, as debtor, filed a complaint in the bankruptcy court seeking a declaratory judgment that the papers were property of the bankruptcy estate.
- After a bench trial, the bankruptcy court held for the State, finding the papers were public property.
- Willcox appealed to the U.S. District Court, which reversed the bankruptcy court's judgment.
- The State of South Carolina, as appellant, appealed the district court's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
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Issue:
Does a family's continuous possession of historical gubernatorial papers for over 140 years create a presumption of ownership sufficient to defeat the state's claim of title, when the state fails to provide evidence that such papers were considered public property at the time of their creation?
Opinions:
Majority - Wilkinson, Circuit Judge
Yes. A party's long-standing possession of property creates a strong presumption of ownership that can only be defeated by the non-possessing party proving superior title. Here, the Willcox family's possession of the papers for over 140 years established a presumption of ownership. The State of South Carolina failed to rebut this presumption because it could not show that under the law of the 1860s, gubernatorial papers were considered public property. The court reasoned that the common law has long recognized that possession is prima facie evidence of title, a principle that serves to resolve otherwise 'impenetrable difficulties' and promote stability in property rights. The burden was on the State to prove its superior claim, not on Willcox to prove perfect title. The State's evidence, consisting of statutes and caselaw from the period, was insufficient to establish that a governor's papers were public property at the time; in fact, historical practice for both governors and U.S. presidents suggested such papers were treated as private property. The passage of a South Carolina law in December 1865 to regulate executive papers further suggests that no such regulation existed previously.
Analysis:
This decision solidifies the significant weight of the common law presumption of ownership arising from long-standing possession, especially in cases involving historical artifacts where a clear chain of title is unavailable. It establishes that a government's claim to historical documents must be evaluated based on the legal standards of the era in which the documents were created, not on modern public records laws. The ruling sets a high evidentiary bar for states attempting to reclaim historical papers from private collections, requiring them to affirmatively prove the documents were considered public property at the time, thereby protecting the settled expectations of long-term private possessors.
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