Gunterman v. Bechdoldt
| Decision Date | 02 November 1891 |
| Citation | 138 Ill. 518,28 N.E. 1067 |
| Parties | GUNTERMAN et al. v. PEOPLE ex rel. BECHDOLDT. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from circuit court, Pike county; CHARLES J. SCOFIELD, Judge. Affirmed.
Quo warranto on the relation of Theodore W. Bechdoldt to James Gunterman and Elizabeth Mitchell to oust them from the exercise of a ferry franchise over the Illinois river. Judgment of ouster. Defendants appeal.
Orr & Crawford, for appellants.
Wike & Higbee and W. E. Williams, for appellees.
This is an appeal from a judgment of the court below ousting appellants from the exercise of a ferry franchise over the Illinois river. It appears by stipulation of parties that at the time the information was filed appellants were operating a ferry across said river from Florence, in Pike county, to Harris' Landing in Scott county, claiming to be the legal owners and holders of a certain charter, granted to one George W. Babbitt, by an act of the general assembly of the state of Illinois, entitled ‘An act to establish a ferry across said river at Florence,’ approved February 9, 1867; that Theodore W. Bechdoldt also claimed to be the legal owner of said charter, and was attempting to operate a ferry between said points. Said stipulation then proceeds: ‘And whereas, by reason of the conflicting claims of said parties and their efforts to operate two different ferries between the same points and under the same charter and franchise, numerous difficulties and disturbances have and are now continually taking place, and the proper operation of said ferry interrupted and interfered with, and thereby the rights and interests of the public greatly prejudiced, it is therefore hereby agreed that the state's attorney of said Pike county, Illinois, shall file an information in the nature of a quo warranto at the relation of the said Theodore W. Bechdoldt against the said James Gunterman and Elizabeth Mitchell for the purpose of determining the rights in the premises; and it is further agreed that the presentation of a petition for leave to file such information is hereby waived, and the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, may, without further or other proceedings, order the information to be filed, and process to issue.’ In pursuance of this stipulation an information was filed, charging appellant with usurping and unlawfully holding said ferry franchise, setting up the grant of the charter mentioned in the stipulation, and a conveyance of the same by Babbitt, through a regular chain of title, to the relator, Bechdoldt. Motion to quash the information and a demurrer thereto both being overruled, several pleas were filed by the defendants, all of which were disposed of on demurrer except the second and fifth. The second avers that the respondents are the legal owners of said ferry franchise, while the fifth makes the same claim, but sets up a transfer of the charter from Babbitt to them, through intervening parties, by a sale and delivery of possession; and the successive parties to whom the transfers were made operated said ferry for more than 20 years continuously prior to the filing of the information, claiming and holding themselves out to the public to be the absolute owners of the same. To these pleas general replications were filed, and a hearing had before the court without the intervention of a jury.
In our view of the law applicable to this case, there is no substantial conflict of the evidence as to controlling facts. It is admitted by...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
People ex rel. Mark v. Hartquist
...facts showing a de jure title. People v. Central Union Telephone Co., supra; Place v. People, 192 Ill. 160, 61 N. E. 354;Gunterman v. People, 138 Ill. 518, 28 N. E. 1067. Before the election of a board of education the proceedings for the organization of a school district may be attacked by......
-
People ex rel. Tilton v. MacKey
...with the statute. A defective or an equitable title will not avail against the public in a suit of this character. Gunterman v. People, 138 Ill. 518, 28 N. E. 1067;Place v. People, 192 Ill. 160, 61 N. E. 354. In Loverin v. McLaughlin, 161 Ill. 417, 44 N. E. 99, this court had occasion to ex......
-
State v. Allen
...is upon him to establish it," — citing State v. Gleason, 12 Fla. 265; People v. Cooper, 139 Ill. 461, 29 N. E. 872; Gunterman v. People, 138 Ill. 522, 28 N. E. 1067; People v. Ridgley, 21 Ill. 65; Clark v. People, 15 Ill. 217; Kamp v. People, 141 Ill. 16, 30 N. E. 680; Swarth v. People, 109......
-
Place v. People ex rel. Wilkinson
...to said office. He cannot avail himself of the defense that he is the de facto president of said corporation. As said in Gunterman v. People, 138 Ill. 518, 28 N. E. 1067, here the question is, has the defendant shown a valid title? A defective title will not do,-much less a mere equitable r......