Chapin v. Lake
Chapin v. Lake
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
During the progress of the suit, upon motion of Simpson and Iden, two of the persons named as complainants, the bill was dismissed as to them. Throckmorton did not appeal from the decree rendered in the cause, granting the relief prayed for, so that the only parties to the controversy here are the appellants, Chapin and wife, and the appellee, E. E. Lake.
The appellants assign four grounds of error, but in the view we take of the case it is only necessary to consider that one of them which goes to the merits of the case.
It appears that in the year 1900 the Southern Railway Company, desiring to extend its road from Round Hill to Bluemont, acquired a parcel of land owned by infants to the suit of Turner v. Turner, &c., for terminal purposes adjacent to the town of Bluemont. In that cause, in addition to the land sold and conveyed to the Southern Railway Company, another portion of the Stephenson farm from which the railroad parcel was taken was laid off into lots and streets by direction of the guardian of the infant owners, and a plat thereof made, which was recorded in the county court of that county. By direction of, or confirmation by, tire court in that cause, lots were sold and conveyed as laid down on the plat. Some of the lots so sold are now owned by the appellant, Mrs. Chapin, and others by the appellee, Lake, and are situated upon or near streets designated on the
Under the facts and circumstances of the case, we do not think that the appellee, Lake, is entitled to have the obstructions placed upon the streets by the appellants removed, or to the relief sought; and that as between
The decree complained of must be reversed, and this court will enter such decree as the’ circuit court ought to have entered dismissing the bill.
Reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Chapin and Others v. Lake and Others
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Streets—Obstructions—Removal—Abandonment of Street.—Under the tacts and circumstances of this case the appellee is not entitled to have the obstructions put upon streets by appellants removed, nor to enjoin them from further obstructing the streets. The land on which the streets were laid out was not in an incorporated town, the streets were platted on the land, the plat recorded and the streets were dedicated to public use, but the dedication was never accepted by the public, the streets were never opened or used as such, obstructions were placed upon them indiscriminately by the parties to this litigation, each with the acquiescence of the others, and the land was used for grazing and agricultural purposes. Furthermore, the obstructions sought to be removed are substantially the same now as when appellee acquired title to his land. Under these circumstances, that portion of the streets involved in the litigation in this suit must, as between the parties to this suit, be treated as abandoned by them.