LeFevers v. City of Lenoir
LeFevers v. City of Lenoir
Opinion of the Court
Having made claim that the City has taken her land, Mrs. LeFevers has the burden of establishing its location, Hill v. Dalton, 140 N.C. 9, 52 S.E. 273, but it is apparent that she has been unable to do so. From the description given above it will be noted that her land begins on an iron stake, formerly A. A. Craig’s corner on the east edge of Spainhour Street. She frankly confesses
Mrs. LeFevers testified in her own behalf that there were two iron posts which had been there for as long as she could remember, some twenty-five or thirty years; that she did not know who put them there and that she had claimed one of them as her corner. In response to questions as to where she claimed in the street, she replied she didn’t measure it and couldn’t say where she claimed. On cross examination she said she did not know where her Southwest corner is and that the only corner she knew about are the two pipe stakes about 202 feet back from the street; that no one ever pointed out the pin to her and said she could not point out Clarence Setzer’s Southwest corner and did not know of her own knowledge which it is. Her son also testified that the stake Mrs. LeFevers claimed had been there since he could remember but could not otherwise identify it. The remainder of Mrs. LeFevers’ evidence dealt with the value of the land allegedly taken.
The office of the description in a deed is to furnish means of identifying the land intended to be conveyed. “ ‘Where a party introduces a deed in evidence, * * * he must prove that its boundaries cover the land in dispute, to give legal efficacy to his possession.’ In other words, the plaintiff must not only offer the deed upon which he relies, he must by proof fit the description in the deed to the land it covers * * Powell v. Mills, 237 N.C. 582, 75 S.E. 2d 759, citing Smith v. Fite, 92 N.C. 319. “The general rule as to this is that in order to locate a boundary of land, the lines should be run with the calls in the regular order from a known beginning,” Powell v. Mills, supra, and here the plaintiff starts at the 6th call of her deed which she says was her corner but has offered no evidence to support this claim. “It is error to allow a jury on no evidence, or on only hypothetical evidence, to locate the land described in a deed.” Skipper v. Yow, 238 N.C. 659, 78 S.E. 2d 600.
The City offered evidence to the effect that J. H. Beall and G. F. Harper owned a considerable boundary of land in this vicinity,
The burden is upon Mrs. LeFevers but her evidence is so vague and uncertain that it will not support a finding in her favor. None of the corners or points in her deed refer to any natural object and since she confesses that she does not know where they are, it is ordered that the judgment in her favor be, and it is hereby
Reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MRS. MAE LeFEVERS v. CITY OF LENOIR, NORTH CAROLINA, a Municipal Corporation
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published