City of Noblesville v. Lake Erie And Western Railroad Company

• Decision Date: 10 December 1891
• Docket Number: 15,262
• Citation: 29 N.E. 484,130 Ind. 1
• Parties: The City of Noblesville v. The Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

29 N.E. 484

130 Ind. 1

The City of Noblesville v. The Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company

No. 15,262

Supreme Court of Indiana

December 10, 1891

From the Hamilton Circuit Court.

Judgment affirmed.

A. F Shirts, M. Vestal and J. Stafford, for appellant.

R. R Stephenson, W. R. Fertig, W. E. Hackedorn and F. S. Foster for appellee.

OPINION

Elliott, C. J.

The city of Noblesville prosecutes this suit upon the theory that the railroad company is asserting an unfounded claim to construct and maintain an additional track upon and along certain streets of the city. The company claims the right to construct and maintain the track under a grant from William Conner.

In 1849 William Conner, then the owner of the land which this controversy concerns, made a plat of an addition to the town of Noblesville, and caused it to be recorded. The plat is thus entitled: "Donation by William Conner for depot at Noblesville. Addition to Noblesville." Spaces are given on the plat representing streets and alleys, and a space is designated for a "depot building." The designation is made by enclosing a space within lines, and by writing in the space so enclosed the words, "Lot for depot building." Red lines appear on the plat, running along and across the spaces marked out and designated as streets. These red lines are five in number, and they lead to and pass the lot designated on the plat as "Lot for depot building." A short time after the plat was executed and recorded Conner executed a deed to a predecessor of the appellee, in which he conveyed the lot above mentioned to that company, and that deed also conveyed the "free use and occupancy of the streets in said addition for such railroad tracks, side tracks, switches and turns as said company by its directors may think proper." Possession was taken by the grantee. The main line of road was constructed as early as 1851. A side track was soon after constructed, and the station erected. The tracks originally constructed have been continuously in use since they were laid down.

It is not necessary to decide whether the dedication made by William Conner is valid as a statutory dedication, for, if it was effective, either as a statutory or common law dedication, the municipal corporation acquired a public easement in the land dedicated. After the acquisition of the easement the dedication became irrevocable, for a valid dedication can not be revoked. See authorities collected in Elliott Roads and Streets, pp. 89, 92, 112. If, therefore, there was an effective dedication, and one of an absolute nature, the deed made by Conner, after the execution of the plat, could not divest the public rights vested by the dedication. But the question of difficulty in this instance is, what was the nature and effect of the dedication evidenced by the plat? Our conclusion is that the dedication was not an absolute or unrestricted one, but was, on the contrary, limited and restricted by the donor at the time he made it. See authorities referred to in Elliott Roads and Streets, pp. 91, n. 2, 110. Miller v. City of Indianapolis, 123 Ind. 196, 24 N.E. 228.

The red lines on the plat can not be regarded as meaningless, for the plat is a written instrument, and no part of a written instrument can be regarded as superfluous or meaningless if such a result can be reasonably avoided. The lines run to and from a lot which the plat designates as a place for a railroad station, and the fair implication is that they were intended to designate railroad tracks. They can, indeed, have no meaning at all, unless they do designate tracks leading to and from a railroad station. The statement on the plat "Donation for depot at Noblesville," indicates the main purpose of the donor, and by assigning to the red lines the meaning designated by us that intention is given effect, and the entire instrument made operative. If, however, we are in error in affirming that the plat on its face shows that the railroad company was given a right to lay tracks on the streets laid out by Conner, the ultimate result would not be affected, for the long-continued use and the continuous acts of the parties have construed the plat to mean what we have asserted, namely, that, while the streets are dedicated to the municipality, the dedication is limited by the donation made to the company of the right to use and...