Bishop v. Babcock
Bishop v. Babcock
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This was an action of ejectment for a piece of land, being part of lot number one in the town of Readsboro. The case was referred, and the referee submitted a report detailing the facts found and the decisions by him made upon the facts. The county court having rendered judgment for the plaintiff upon the report, the case comes here for revision upon exceptions by the defendant. It appears, that the defendant was the owner of the west quarter of the north half of lot number one, and the plaintiff the owner of the remaining three quarters. The controversy between the parties was in relation to the division line between them. To ascertain where that was, it became necessary to ascertain the west line of the lot, which was also the west line of Readsboro. The south west corner of the town being ascertained, there is no difficulty in determining the correct line between the parties. The referee finds the south west corner of Readsboro to be twenty rods west of where it was supposed to be by Hall and Phillips, and consequently that the division line temporarily established by the parties is too far east by the same number of rods, and that the plaintiff is the owner of the land, for the recovery of which the suit is brought. These facts cannot be controverted here, but must be assumed to be correct.
It was insisted before the referee, and has been urged here, that the written agreement of the parties is void, inasmuch as it does not
The referee decided, that the defendant was not entitled to the usual notice to quit, and farther, that he was not entitled to any * notice.
The agreement of the parties was clearly sufficient authority to the defendant to occupy the premises. It was, at least, a license to him to occupy the land; and while it remained in force and unrevoked, he could not, for such occupancy, be regarded a trespasser. To hold him a trespasser under such circumstances would be most unreasonable and without precedent. The defendant, being in possession of the premises by the license and permission of the plaintiff, was at least entitled to reasonable notice of the plaintiff’s intention to institute a suit to settle the disputed line. We therefore think, the referee was wrong in holding that the defendant was not entitled to any notice to quit.
It has been urged, that the act of the plaintiff in turning his cattle upon the land, was a revocation of the license, and that from that
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Samuel Bishop v. Hugh Babcock
- Status
- Published