Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority

This is an ancillary proceeding to determine the distribution to be made of the sum of $43,500 paid into court as compensation for the taking by condemnation of the land and improvements numbered 2312-14-16 Market Street in the City of St. Louis. The condemnation action proper has been concluded at least as far as this particular property is concerned. The defendant St. Louis Argus Publishing Company, a corporation, claims the entire fund as sole owner at the time the real estate was taken by the plaintiff Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority as a part of the Mill Creek redevelopment project. The intervening defendant Edwina W. Mitchell claims 4/9ths of the fund. She claims 2/9ths as a former shareholder of Mitchell Realty and Investment Company, a corporation, now defunct by reason of the forfeiture of its charter. She claims an additional 2/9ths of the fund as the residuary legatee under the will of her husband who was also a shareholder of the Mitchell Company. The defendant Nannie Mitchell Turner, also a shareholder in the Mitchell Company, disclaims any interest in the Fund and supports the claim and contentions of defendant St. Louis Argus Publishing Company. The trial court heard the case without a jury, found the issues against the intervenor Edwina W. Mitchell, and held that St. Louis Argus Publishing Company was entitled to the entire fund. The intervenor has appealed. The cause was heard on the first amended intervening petition of Edwina W. Mitchell and the second amended cross-complaint of the St. Louis Argus Publishing Company, a corporation, and responsive pleadings. For convenient reference and ease of distinction, the land and improvements condemned will sometimes be referred to as the Argus property or building; the St. Louis Argus Publishing Company will sometimes be referred to as Argus or the Argus Company; the Mitchell Realty and Investment Company as Mitchell Company; Mrs. Edwina W. Mitchell as Mrs. Edwina or the intervenor; and Mrs. Nannie Mitchell Turner as Mrs. Nannie.