Kingman v. Williams
Kingman v. Williams
Opinion of the Court
One of the grounds upon which the plaintiff in error contested the right of his opponent to compel him to contribute towards the cost of the fence in dis-'
The record discloses that at the point in dispute the lands of the plaintiff in error lie between those of the defendant in error on the east and lands of Daniel Warner on the west, and that the fences of Warner, those of the plaintiff in error, and the fence, the subject of contention, when taken together, will enclose a body of land, part of which, belongs to Warner and part to plaintiff in error.
This is more clearly shown by the following plat of the premises:
“1st. That at the time the trustees—in September, 1887 —made the assignment of the fence to be constructed or repaired, said fence in dispute must have made a complete enclosure of the wood-lot or lands of the defendant, King-man, and that an enclosure of said defendant, Kingman’s wood-lot or lands, with lands of an adjoining owner would not in law make an enclosure of the wood-lot or lands of the defendant, Kingman.”
The court refused to give this proposition to the jury, to which refusal the plaintiff in error excepted. This request and refusal raises the only question we find necessary to consider.
This proposition, we think, contained a correct exposition of the law in this connection, and, as the general charge of the court contains no substitute for it, to refuse to give it to‘the jury was error. An examination of sections 4239, 4240, 4241 and 4242, Revised Statutes, discloses a legislative purpose to impose a duty to build and maintain partition fences upon such land-owners only as have adjoining lands that will be inclosed by the partition fence, separate from those of other proprietors. The word “inclosure” in those sections should be held to mean inclosures that include only land of the party upon whom the duty to build the partition fences is enjoined. If the land of some other proprietor should be included in the inclosure there would be no equity in enforcing contribution against one thus situated, for he could not use the enclosure for his own animals, because they would tresspass upon the lands ■of the other proprietor within the enclosure. The present
The judgment of the cb'cuit and court of common pleas reversed, and the catise remanded to the court of common pleas for further Proceedings,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.