National Biscuit Co. v. Lawrence
National Biscuit Co. v. Lawrence
Opinion of the Court
This is a petition for the registration of title to upland and flats lying in that part of Boston known as Charles-town between Medford Street and the low water line of the Mystic River. The only question involved is the westerly boundary line of what is now the petitioner’s estate. The decision turns upon the interpretation to be given to a deed from one Hamblen to Waterman and another, made in 1847, of the central part out of a larger tract of land acquired by Hamblen, by deed of even date with the Waterman deed, from one Bigelow, under whom all the present parties take title. Bigelow owned a tract of land between Medford Street and the Mystic River, with the flats appurtenant. The material parts of the description in the deed of Hamblen to Waterman are as follows: “A tract of land and flats . . . bounded and described as follows, to wit beginning on Medford street at a point distant North Westerly from land of W. A. Rice formerly of Aij'ah Hovey deceased, two hundred feet and runs North Westerly on Medford street on a curve therewith one hundred and fifty feet, then turns and runs North Easterly bounding on my adjoining land and flats, this line running parallel with the dividing line between land of Benjamin Kimball, formerly the Welsh lot, and my adjoining land to Mystic River,” and thence easterly and southerly by lines not now material to the place of beginning. The precise point to be decided is whether the westerly boundary line of this deed (indicated for convenience of identification in italics) is a straight line from Medford Street to low water mark or whether it is a
The1 division of the flats between the parties hereto, proprietors of upland adjacent to the seashore, thus is affected by the terms of the grant from Hamblen to Waterman, and therefore the rights of the parties are controlled by it. Stone v. Boston Steel & Iron Co. 14 Allen, 230. Haskell v. Friend, 196 Mass. 198. These considerations overcome the force of the ingenious argument urged in behalf of the respondent.
Exceptions overruled.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.