Smith v. Beck
Smith v. Beck
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
A title by settlement differs in many essential particulars from one acquired under the Statute of Limitations. The first is by right, the last by wrong. The occupier in the first case is a purchaser, in the last a disseisor. The first exists only where the land is vacant, the last where it has been previously appropriated. In the first an actual residence is absolutely indispensable ; in the last possession alone, without residence, is sufficient. In the first the residence must be continued until the title is taken out of the land office; in the last the continuance of the possession for twenty-one years completes the title without more. In the first case the claimant purchases and pays the price agreed upon; in the last his title is perfected without purchase or payment. So imperative is the requisition for actual residence, as the foundation of title by settlement, that if the dwelling-house, even by mistake, is located on an adjoining appropriated tract, the pre-emption right fails, although the principal part of the improvements be on the vacant land. Porter v. McGinnis, 1 Barr 413, recognises the distinction indicated .in what has been said; but as that was the case of a title, under the Statute of Limitations, a residence was not required.
One man cannot be a settler on two tracts: 4 Yeates 537; but he may hold the pre-emption right of several, if actual residence be'kept up and continued on each by his tenants : 8 Watts 430. Where the residence has been discontinued for the period of five years, and the discontinuance is not accounted for, it is an abandonment of the pre-emption right, and should be so pronounced by the Court as matter of law. This has been more than once determined by this Court. Whether absence for a shorter period will' produce the same effect, has not yet been decided. If the claimant
We see no error except those already indicated.
Judgment reversed and venire facias de novo awarded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.