Blodgett & Davis Lumber Co. v. Peters

• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: [87 Mich. 501] CHAMPLIN, C.J.
• Citation: Blodgett & Davis Lumber Co. v. Peters, 87 Mich. 498, 49 N.W. 917 (Mich. 1891)
• Decision Date: 09 October 1891
• Parties: BLODGETT & DAVIS LUMBER CO. v. PETERS et al.

49 N.W. 917

87 Mich. 498

BLODGETT & DAVIS LUMBER CO. v. PETERS et al.

Supreme Court of Michigan

October 9, 1891

Appeal from circuit court, Menominee county, in chancery; JOHN W STONE, Judge.

Suit by the Blodgett & Davis Lumber Company against Richard G. Peters and others to prevent the construction of certain docks, and to determine the boundary line between the possession of the parties in the waters of a navigable lake. Decree for defendants, and complainant appeals. Reversed.

Sawyer & Waite, (Uhl & Crane of counsel,) for appellant, cited as to the rule for determining the division lines between separate holdings in the shallow waters of a navigable bay where the shore is curved, Gould, Waters, �� 162-165;

B. J. Brown, for appellees, cited on the same point,

CHAMPLIN, C.J.

The complainant is the owner of the following described parcel of land situated in the county of Menominee, in the state of Michigan, viz.: "Commencing at a point on the section line between sections thirty-four (34) and thirty-five, (35,) in township thirty-two (32) north, of range number twenty-seven (27) west, sixty-four (64) rods north of the quarter section corner on said line; runing thence east, to the bay shore; thence northerly, along the line of said bay shore, to the section line between said sections thirty-five (35) and twenty-six, (26;) thence west, along said section line, to the north-west corner of said section thirty-five (35;) thence south, along the section line between said sections thirty-four (34) and thirty-five, (35,) to the place of beginning; together with all the riparian rights thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining." The defendants in the suit are the owners and in possession of the following described lands and premises adjoining those of the complainant on the south, viz.: "Commencing at a point on the line between sections thirty-four (34) and thirty-five, (35,) in township thirty-two (32) north, of range twenty-seven (27) west, 208 86-100 feet south of the quarter section corner on said line; thence north, along said line, to a point sixty-four (64) rods north of said quarter section corner; thence east to the bay shore; thence south along the line of said bay shore, to the north line of the property conveyed to A. Spies by the Coleman Lumber Company, by deed dated May 15, 1885; thence north, eighty-four degrees and thirty-two minutes west, about four chains, to the place of beginning; together with all the riparian rights thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining." These lands border upon the water of Green bay, and the question in dispute relates to the division line of the respective holdings under the waters of the bay. Green bay is part of the waters of Lake Michigan, and is navigable for all classes of vessels. The general course of the center line of the bay is, according to the United States survey, north, 31 deg. 30 min. east. The shore of the bay consists alternately of headlands and bays or coves of greater and lesser dimensions. The accompanying map shows the original shore of the bay according to the United States government survey. The land of complainant is shaded with horizontal lines, and the land of defendants with diagonal lines. There is a headland jutting out into the bay marked on the map as "Point 2." Both parties own and are operating saw-mills, and have constructed wharves to the deep water of the bay, upon which to pile, and from which to ship, their lumber. The saw-mill of complainant is built about 500 feet easterly from point 2, and they have constructed docks from this in a southeasterly direction a distance of nearly 700 feet, and at the end of such docks the water is from 12 to 15 feet in depth. The defendants have also erected a mill in the bay in front of their premises 500 feet from the shore-line, and have constructed docks which extend in an easterly direction about 1,000 feet from the shore-line, where the depth of water is from 12 to 15 feet. They have driven piles with the intention of still further extending their docks and for booming logs, and, if permitted to do so, the lines of their docks will cross those of complainant, and prevent access to the south side of complainant's docks, and cut off the land lying between such docks and the land of complainant from the privileges of navigable water. This bill is filed to prevent the execution of such work, and to settle the boundaries between the parties.

The defendants claim in their answer that the boundary line between the respective parties extends into the waters of Green bay at right angles to the section line between sections 34 and 35 to the center of the most usual ship canal of the Green bay. The cause was heard upon the pleadings and proofs, and the court decreed as follows: "The common boundary between the said lands and premises of the complainant and the said lands and premises of the defendants, in the waters and land lying under the waters of the Green bay of Lake Michigan, within the limits of this decree mentioned, to be as follows: Commencing at a point where a line extended east from a point on the section line between sections thirty-four and thirty-five, (34 and 35,) in township thirty-two (32) north, of range twenty-seven (27) west, sixty-four (64) rods north of the quarter section corner on said line, intersects said shore; running thence north, seventy-nine (79) degrees and eight (8) minutes east one hundred and nineteen feet, (119;) thence south, eighty-eight degrees (88) and forty-eight (48) minutes east, two hundred and twenty-nine and four-tenths (229 4-10) feet; thence south, eighty-two (82) degrees and three (3) minutes east, two hundred and twenty-nine and four-tenths (229 4-10) feet; thence south, seventy-six (76) degrees and fifty-two (52) minutes east, three hundred and forty (340) feet; thence south, eighty-two degrees and twenty-nine (29) minutes east, seven hundred and thirty-six and eight tenths (736 8-10) feet; and it is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that said complainant, within six months from and after the date of this decree, do remove all piles, pilings, docks, and all other obstructions whatever by it erected or maintained on the said lands and premises of the defendants in...