Brown v. Heirs of Crow
Brown v. Heirs of Crow
Opinion of the Court
By consent of the parties, this cause was reheard, and the former decree of this court opened. And as Crow’s heirs were complainants in the court below, it is proper to examine into their claim to the land in contest.. Crow’s settlement is included in the bounds of his entry made with the surveyor upon his pre-emption warrant, and his claim is thereby reduced from 1,400 to 1,000 acres ; wherefore, it is deemed immaterial to examine into the location or situation of his settlement. And as his pre-emption does not refer to his entry upon his certificate for settlement, it can have no influence in determining the situation or form of his pre-emption ; neither is there any interference between Crow’s settlement and Brown’s settlement and pre-emption. Crow’s claim depends, in the first place, upon his pre-emption entry, which calls to lie on the waters of Dick’s, river, adjoining William Fields on the northwest, James Brown on the south, Henry Thomas on the north, John Gabriel Jones on the north-east, Stephen Fisher on the east, William Crow on the east, and to extend south for quantity. Brown, in his answer, admits that all of those claims called for lie around the claim of Crow; and it is further admitted by the parties, as appears from the record, that the improvements and springs, as represented by the surveyor in the last plat returned in the cause, are to be considered and taken as being truly represented, and as claimed by the different persons designated, and that no proof respecting them shall be required but what is already produced in the cause and is furnished by the said plat. It is a rule of evidence, applicable to courts of law and equity, that what is admitted by the parties in the pleadings need not be proved; therefore, it is deemed unnecessary to examine into the
Dividing lines between settlement and pre-emption claims were recognized and established by the court of commissioners, as well as by the courts of this country; therefore, Brown had no right to include any land beyond a line run half.way between his improvement and the spring and the cabin and Nourse’s spring. And although Crow, in running the lino between the town spring and Brown’s spring, has deviated from a half-way line, yet this was not done with a design to depart from the ancient agreement, but was done in consequence of a suggestion by the deputy, that the principal surveyor would not approve the survey if made agreeably to that agreement; nor does it appear that this trivial departure has been injurious to Brown, and, therefore, will not even excuse him in departing from that agreement.
Brown’s settlement, from its location, and from repeated decisions, ought to have been surveyed to include bis improvement in the center of a square, with lines to the cardinal points, and not in a parallelogram, as he has surveyed it. This would have left a space of about 250 poles between his claim and William Crow’s, and would be not only more consistent with his location, but would also be more correspondent with the ancient agreement, and have left room for the call in Crow’s pre-emption entry “'to extend south for quantity," and thereby have given him his quantity of land. Brown’s settlement was surveyed as aforesaid, on the 10th day of April, 1181, and on the 14th of August following, Brown located his pre-emption to adjoin it on the west, south, and east, and as it must be presumed that the settlement survey was then of record, the pre-emption should have been surveyed to adjoin the settlement as surveyed, and, therefore, the survey made, pendente lite, on part of the pre-emption warrant, can not cover any part of the land which lies within the bounds of the settlement as surveyed, and which wiJJ be excluded when the set
Wherefore, it is decreed and ordered, that the former opinion and decree of this court, as well as the decree of the general court, be annulled and set aside. And it is further ordered, that this suit be remanded to the said general court, which is hereby directed to enter up a decree in favor of Crow’s heirs, conformably to this opinion, and that they make such other and further decree as equity may require, and that the appellant do pay unto the appellees their costs by them about their suit in this behalf expended; which is ordered to he certified to the said court.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.