Board of Supervisors of Greene County v. Snellgrove

• Decision Date: 24 February 1913
• Docket Number: 16,440
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
• Parties: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF GREENE COUNTY v. J. N. SNELLGROVE

60 So. 1023

103 Miss. 898

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF GREENE COUNTY v. J. N. SNELLGROVE

No. 16,440

Supreme Court of Mississippi

February 24, 1913

APPEAL from the chancery court of Greene county, HON. J. M. STEVENS Chancellor.

Suit by J. N. Snellgrove against the board of supervisors of Greene county. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendant appeals.

The facts are fully stated in the opinion of the court.

Affirmed.

J. W Backstrom, attorney for appellant.

Heidelberg & Heidelberg, attorneys for appellee.

No brief of counsel on either side found in the record.

OPINION

COOK J.

The boards of supervisors of Greene and Wayne counties, believing the convenience and general welfare of the inhabitants of both counties would be promoted by the erection of a bridge across the Chickasaha river, entered into an agreement by which each county was obligated to contribute to the cost of construction. Appellee, a taxpayer of Greene county, exhibited his bill of complaint against the board of supervisors of that county, praying for an injunction restraining the board of supervisors from carrying out its portion of the agreement. To this bill a demurrer was interposed and overruled, and an appeal was granted by the chancellor to settle the principles of law.

The first paragraph of the bill of complaint describes the situation fully, and, in order that this opinion may be intelligible, we quote this paragraph, which is as follows "Complainant, J. N. Snellgrove, respectfully shows to the court that he is a resident and taxpayer of Greene county, Miss.; that Greene county, Miss., is situated just south of Wayne county, Miss., which latter county bounds said county of Greene on the north; that the Chickasaha river flows in a southern direction from said county of Wayne into said county of Greene about six miles west of the eastern boundary line of both of said counties, and about four miles west of the town of State Line, which is located partly in Wayne and partly in Greene counties; that the said town of State Line is the principal market place of many of the citizens of both of said counties; that a public highway crosses said Chickasaha river about one and one-half miles north of the line dividing Wayne and Greene counties and in Wayne county, which said highway extends eastward into the said town of State Line; that the public in crossing said highway do so by means of a ferry, which is a slow and inconvenient way of crossing said river; that said highway is used by some of the citizens of both said Green county and Wayne county in going to and from the town of State Line to do their trading; that it is admitted that a bridge would be a more convenient and speedy way of crossing said river, and that at a late meeting of the board of supervisors of Wayne county an order was made by said board of supervisors providing for the construction of an iron bridge across said Chickasaha river about one and one-half miles south of where said ferry is now located and where said highway crosses said river and about one hundred and sixty-six yards north of the line dividing the said Wayne and Greene counties and wholly in said Wayne county, said order being conditioned on the board of supervisors of Greene county co-operating with the board of supervisors of Wayne county in the construction of said bridge and paying one-half of the cost of the construction thereof; that said bridge when constructed would benefit some of the citizens of both Wayne and Greene counties, and the...