Miller v. Graham
Miller v. Graham
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
This action of trespass is to be determined by the interpretation of a clause in the will of William H. Miller, under which both parties hereto claim title. After the case was at issue, it was agreed to dispense with a trial by a jury, and to submit its decision to the court of common pleas of Butler county, under the Act of April 22, 1874, P. L. 108.
The clause in the will which is the ground of this controversy is as follows: “ 1. I devise to my son William F. Miller, the wareroom and lot of ground covered by the same, situate on High or Main Street, fronting twenty feet on said street, bounded south by lot or house of Mrs. Hazlett, east by High or Main Street, north by lots hereinafter devised to my son Henry A. Miller, and west by an alley, and I charge on this devise to my son William F. Miller, the sum of five hundred dollars to be paid by him to my daughter Mary L. Miller, within five years after the death of my wife.
“ 2. I devise to my son Henry A. Miller all that certain lot or ground situate in the borough of Butler, bounded on the east by High or Main Street and situated between the lot devised to my son William F. Miller and lot of George W. Reed, being from thirty-five to forty-five feet front on High or Main Street, and bounded on the north by lot of George W. Reed and on the west by an alley.”
The appellant contends that the decedent used the words
When William H. Miller prepared his will he called before him his children, and explained by a sketch, the disposition he intended to make of his estate. His will was probated in 1878. He left to survive him his widow', two sons and a daughter. On December 13, 1900, Henry A. Miller sold the part of the lot devised to him to a party whose vendee is the present defendant. In the making of this conveyance the widow joined, and she subsequently died November 23, 1902. The two properties in dispute represent a single borough lot, fronting fifty-seven feet nine and one-fourth inches on Main street, bounded by said street on the east, and extending back of equal width 180 feet to Jackson alley. It is bounded by lot of George W. Reed on the north and on the south by lot of Mrs. Hazlett. There were two buildings erected on the lot at the time the will was made, and they have remained in the same condition continuously until the time of this trespass. On the lot devised to William F. Miller, the testator had erected a brick building, fronting eighteen feet one inch on Main street, and on the lot devised to Henry A. Miller, he had erected a frame building, occupying the space between the lot devised to William F. Miller on the south, and the property of Reed on the north. The brick building extended farther back to the west than did the frame building which was constructed afterward, and they were so joined as to leave a hallway or open space about four feet wide along the south side of the wooden building, which served also as a hallway along the north side of the brick building. From this hallway, doors opened into the wooden building on the north side, and extended the full length of that building to a porch in the rear end thereof, from which porch a doorway opened into the brick building, on the south side of the hallway. By this construction the hallway was used in connection with both the frame building and the brick building during the lifetime of the testator.
Where a devise contains a plain and certain description of the thing devised, any other description referring to the devise which might indicate less than what is embraced in the plain description, must be regarded as defective and will be rejected. The appellant’s case depends upon the interpretation of the description of the William F. Miller lot, “The wareroom and lot of ground covered by the same.” To hold that only the land covered by the building was intended, would leave undisposed of that part of the land between the building and Jackson alley in the rear, which was surely not intended. The word “covered” is not limited to a single and unmixed meaning, but is flexible in its application, and is applied in various ways.
This disposes of the principal question involved, and the other assignments are not considered. The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.