Vaccaro v. Pigniolo
Vaccaro v. Pigniolo
Opinion of the Court
John B. Pigniolo and Marco Popovich purchased from the city of New Orleans certain tracts of land in the parish of Plaquemines, which they divided between them; Popovich taking, among others, a tract measuring 1,117 feet 6 inches front on the Mississippi river, and Pigniolo taking an adjoining tract, lower down, measuring about 2 arpents front on the river. On September 3, 1881, Popovich sold to Dr. Rabasse a portion of the tract so acquired by him, by the following description:
“A certain tract of land * * * measuring 982 feet 6 inches front on the Mississippi river, * * * bounded above by the land of J. Johnson and below by the land of M. Popovich (the present vendor), and being 135 feet from the tract of land purchased by J. B. Pigniolo from the city of New Orleans. * * * The said tract of land is comprised w’ithin the lines E, F, G, G, H, and H, E, and, the side lines bearing S. 72° W.; -the whole, according to a sketch, paraphed ne varietur by the par*163 ties to this act, and by me, notary, to identify same with present act, and hereto annexed for future reference.”
John B. Pigniolo died, and his son, Joseph R. Pigniolo (defendant herein), acquired the two-arpent tract above referred to; and Dr. Rabasse died, and Vaccaro acquired the tract that he had bought from Popovich, and which, in the sale to him (Vaccaro), is described as “measuring 982 feet 6 inches front on the Mississippi river, * * * bounded above by the lands of J. Johnson and below by the lands of Popovich;” etc. Thereafter, in 1908, Joseph R. Pigniolo bought from Popovich the tract having 135 feet front, referred to in the sale from Popovich to Rabasse, and a few months later brought an action in boundary against Vaccaro, who answered, in effect, as follows:
“Defendant admits the purchase of Joseph Pigniolo from Marco Popovich, and joins plaintiff in the allegation that said purchase was made as per plot or plan annexed to an act of sale No. 68, dated September 3, 1881, and which plot or plan is annexed to plaintiff’s petition and made part thereof. Defendant, further answering, alleges that the boundary line between the land of defendant and Marco Popovich, the vendor from whom plaintiff purchased the land in question, has been established and still exists, and plaintiff is now aware of their [its] existence and was aware of their [its] existence at the time that he purchased the land in question from Marco Popovich. Defendant specially denies that he is in possession of any land formerly belonging to Marco Popovich and now belonging to plaintiff, Joseph Pigniolo, by virtue of his (plaintiff’s) one dollár purchase.”
Upon the issues thus presented, the case was tried, and a judicial survey having been ordered and made in the presence of the litigants, and it having been thereby .ascertained that Vaccaro was occupying a strip of land having some 26 feet of the' 135 feet front, constituting the tract that Pigniolo had purchased, there was judgment for Pigniolo, from which Vaccaro failed to prosecute an appeal. He, however, brought this suit, in which he alleges that, by the judgment referred to, the boundary between his lánd and that of Pigniolo
—“was declared to be about 26 feet inside petitioners’ former boundary line; * * * that said parcel of land was a part of a certain tract of land acquired by petitioner by purchase from the succession of * * * Rabasse; * * * that said * * * Rabasse acquired * * * by purchase from * * * Popovich and * * * Pigniolo, who acquired from the city of New Orleans; * * • that, at the time of the purchase by * * * Raba'sse, his vendors were residing in the parish of Plaquemines, on land adjoining the property in question, which was acquired and taken possession of by said Rabasse; that during its occupancy by said Rabasse a fence existed dividing the property taken possession of by Rabasse, under his purchase from Popovich and Pigniolo, from the property occupied by his said vendors; that some orange trees were on the division line betwen the said pieces of property, and it is of record that said Rabasse and his said vendors were dividing the fruits of the trees; * * * that petitioner bought s= * * jn pursuance of an order * * * in the succession of * * * Rabasse, and, upon taking possession * * * found the division line between his property and that of Popovich and Pigniolo consisted of a fence and said orange trees; that he took possession of said property with the full knowledge of his aforesaid neighbors, who at no time attacked, by word of mouth or otherwise, his right to do so.”
And be further alleges that he thereafter constructed and improved a canal on the 26-foot strip of land in question at a cost of $500, and planted other orange trees thereon and on said line, and that he is entitled to reimbursement on those accounts in the sum of $1,325, and to an injunction restraining Pigniolo from going into possession of said strip until said amount is paid, as, also, to a recognition of his lien upon the land therefor and an order for its sale in satisfaction thereof. And a preliminary injunction was issued accordingly.
The petition does not correctly state the facts. The 26-foot tract, of which the judgment in the boundary suit decreed Pigniolo to be the owner, .was never part of the tract acquired by Vaccaro from the succession of Rabasse, and Dr. Rabasse did not acquire
It is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the judgment of the Court of Appeal here made the subject of review be annulled, avoided, and reversed, and that the judgment of the district court be affirmed. All at the cost of the plaintiff.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.