Macallister v. DeStefano
Macallister v. DeStefano
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiffs (Macallisters) brought a petition in the Land Court under G. L. c. 185, § 1, seeking to register and confirm title to a 4.6 acre parcel of land bordering Nye Road and Ames Way in the Centerville section of Barnstable. (A sketch of the parcel appears in an addendum to this opinion.) The defendants objected, disputing the Macallisters’ claim of ownership to the northeast half of the parcel. The Land Court examiner reported that the Macallisters did not have a “good title as alleged and proper for registration” because of his inability to determine the location of the boundary line between
1. Chain of Title.
The Macallisters trace their title to the locus to a deed of September 22, 1883 (hereafter referred to as the source deed), from John B. Cornish to George F. Meiggs. According to this deed, the locus consists of “two and one half acres, the same more or less.” The first course in the description, which is the subject of the present dispute, reads: “Beginning at a certain stake and stone on the road running to Lumbert’s Mill thence running a westerly course by Woodland belonging to John B. Cornish to a stake and stone and land of Isaac Crocker, Jr.” (emphasis supplied). This first course description was carried over by reference in deeds from Meiggs to Russell Marston, who then conveyed the locus to Sarah C. Meiggs, both deeds dated August 12, 1899.
There is no dispute as to the starting point (see sketch, at A) of the first course, and there is no dispute that were the first course description in these deeds literally followed, there would be no closure of the description of the parcel.
On August 30, 1911, Sarah C. Meiggs conveyed the land to Alfred A. Rosengren by a deed different from the source deed in two respects. First, although the land was still described as containing “two and one half acres, be the same more or less,” the locus was described for the first time as “a certain piece of Cranberry Bog land and Woodland.”
With the course description change first made in 1911, there is enlargement of the locus to 4.46 acres with closure of ownership to the northeast portion (see sketch, area of triangle ABC) of the parcel.
In concluding that the Macallisters had proved good record title suitable for registration, the trial judge rejected the defendants’ “northwesterly” reading of the source deed for the reasons, among others, that the disparity in acreage (two and one half acres and 4.46 acres) is “not so unusual in Cape descriptions”
2. Adverse Possession of the Northeast Portion.
The trial judge found that the cranberry bog was in full operation from “the conveyance in to Victor F. Adams from Alfred A. Rosengren on December 16, 1941,” until 1978, when the Macallisters stopped their cultivation of the bog. In 1972, they built a house on the northeast comer of the locus, using it for their residence until 1979, from which time on they have rented it.
The trial judge concluded, based upon his findings (that have ample record support) concerning the cultivation and use of the bog by the Macallisters and their predecessors in title, see G. L. c. 260, § 22, that the bog and the surrounding area belonged to the Macallisters by adverse possession. See Ryan v. Stavros, 348 Mass. 251 (1964). He concluded that the Macallisters were, therefore, entitled to the entire locus by reason of the doctrine of color of title. As stated in Dow v. Dow, 243 Mass. 587, 590 (1923): “[W]here a person enters upon a parcel of land under a color of title and actually occupies a part of the premises described in the deed, his possession is not considered as limited to that part so actually occupied but gives him constructive possession of the entire parcel. The entry is deemed to be coextensive with the grant upon the ground that it is the intention of the grantee to assert such possession.” See also Norton v. West, 8 Mass. App. Ct. 348, 351 (1979).
It appears from the trial judge’s decision that he gave the Macallisters the benefit of the doctrine because “they have in fact shown record title to at least a portion” of the locus. The trial judge’s conclusion as to the Macallisters’ record title, however, involves, in part, the 1883 description, which could be viewed as insufficient in its description of the first course as it results in nonclosure of the description. In their brief, the defendants cite the title examiner to support their claim of an uncertain and indefinite boundary: “[Yjour examiner is unable to determine the location of the boundary line of this land described in this petition.” The defendants, however, have overlooked the introductory phrase of the examiner’s statement, “By the terms of the description contained in this deed ...” (emphasis supplied). A reading of the examiner’s narrative summary as a whole reveals that the deed to which he refers is the source deed of 1883, Cornish to Meiggs.
Reliance on the 1883 deed, however, is misplaced. Application of the doctrine of color of title rests upon the deed to the claimants, the Macallisters. See Dow v. Dow, 243 Mass. at 590; Norton v. West, 8 Mass. App. Ct. at 351. See also Park, Real Estate Law § 711 (2d ed. 1981). Hence, the question is whether the description set out in the 1911 deed and carried forward in the Macallisters’ deed is sufficiently certain for application of the doctrine of color of title.
The plan recorded by the Macallisters shows that the boundary in dispute closes the description at the only point to the east of the line claimed by the defendants, skirts the bog referred to in the 1911 deed, and meets monuments matching those described in that deed.
Decision affirmed.
There was no evidence presented from which it could be ascertained when, between 1883 and 1911, the cranberry bog came into existence.
Rosengren to Victor Adams on September 16, 1941; Adams to John S. Harmon, et ux., April 15, 1968; the Harmons to the Macallisters on March 12, 1971. All the instruments of conveyance referred to in this opinion were recorded in the Barnstable County registry of deeds.
The defendants filed a complaint to register and confirm title to the northeast portion of the locus. That case has not been tried and, even though not before us, it will of necessity be affected by our decision in the instant matter.
In a conveyance by deed in which the land is bounded with certainty, the quantity expressed in the deed is immaterial, the boundaries set by description being regarded as conclusive. See Powell v. Clark, 5 Mass. 355, 356 (1809). See generally 4 Tiffany, Law of Real Property § 994 (3d ed. 1975); Park, Real Estate Law § 246 (2d ed. 1981).
But as earlier noted, see note 3, supra, it is not known when, prior to 1911, the cranberry bog was cultivated. The owner of the land from 1941 to 1968, Victor Adams, see note 5, supra, testified that after World War n, he dug the “pond” which had been the “sand hole from which the original bog, I assume, was built and from which the three or four-year period sandings were done.”
The defendants argue that the absence of woodland from their plan is not an appropriate fact for consideration as their plan was prepared almost a century after the source deed.
The plan refers to a disk in a concrete bound, whereas the deed reference is to “a stake and stones.” However, William C. Nye, a registered land surveyor, testified that during preparation of the plan in question, stones were found at the point of closure.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.