Hardin v. Jordan

• Decision Date: 04 June 1883
• Citation: 16 F. 823
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois
• Parties: HARDIN v. JORDAN.

16 F. 823

HARDIN v. JORDAN.

United States Circuit Court, N.D. Illinois.

June 4, 1883

Barton & Chamberlain, for plaintiff.

J. I Bennett and Edsall & Hawley, for defendant.

BLODGETT J.

This is an action of ejectment by which plaintiff seeks to recover from the defendant the fractional S.E. 1/4 of section 19, the fractional N.E. 1/4 of section 30, and the E. fraction of the S.E. 1/4 of section 30, all in township 37 N., range 15 E. of the Third P.M., situate in the county of Cook and state of Illinois, together with the accretions and relictions forming a part thereof. The proof shows that on the twentieth day of December, 1841, a patent was duly issued from the general land-office of the United States, conveying in fee to John Holbrook the parcels of land in question, 'according to the official plat of the survey of said land returned to the general land-office by the surveyor general. ' From copies of the original plat and field-notes in evidence in this case, it appears that the east side of the two first-named parcels of land in question, and the west side of the last-named parcel, abutted upon a body of water designated upon the plat as a 'navigable lake,' and that meander lines were run along what purported to be this water boundary, and the plaintiff's proof shows that she is now seized by a series of mesne conveyances of this Holbrook title. In 1874, by an order of the commissioner of the general land-office, a survey was made of this so-called navigable lake by extending the original survey lines into and across the same, and what purported by said original plat to be the bed of this navigable lake was, by this last-mentioned survey, cut up into the usual subdivisions of government surveys, and patents were issued therefor to the purchasers, whose titles under said patent have, by mesne conveyances, become vested in the defendant.

The proof shows that the land in question is but a short distance from the southern rim or shore of Lake Michigan, and east of the Calumet river: that the surface of even the highest portions is but a few feet above the water of Lake Michigan and the river; that for some causes, not explained by the proof, the height of the water of Lake Michigan varies or fluctuates about four or five feet,-- that is, the extreme high-water mark is about four feet above the extreme low-water mark,-- this fluctuation not occuring at stated intervals like a tide, but several years sometimes elapses between those extremes of high and low water; that there is no appreciable difference between the height or the water in the Calumet and that of Lake Michigan, and that the waters of the river rise and fall with those of the lake; and that the water of this so-called navigable lake being connected with Lake Michigan, and Calumet and Wolf rivers, is affected by this rise and fall of Lake Michigan. It also appears that the height of the water in this navigable lake is also affected, to some extent, by the spring and fall freshets and summer droughts; that in times of high water in Lake Michigan, and in the spring and fall freshets, the water-line of this navigable lake indicated on the plat, is at or near the meander lines of the original survey, so that the meander lines indicate, with substantial certainty, the high-water line, while in times of low water the water-line recedes from the meander lines so as to leave a wide margin of grassy meadow land between the meander line and the low-water line. There is, therefore between this meander line and the low-water line a belt of grassy meadow land from 40 to 80 rods wide, which, in an ordinarily dry season, can be used for hay, meadow, or pasturage. The center line of section 19, and the center line of section 30, if produced eastward from this meander line, will strike into the body of permanent water, while the south line of section 30, if produced west from the meander line of the east fraction of the S.E. fractional quarter of section 30, will strike the body of permanent water. I say permanent water, because the proof shows that the bottom or lowest part of the bed of this lake is from two to three feet below the surface of Lake Michigan when at its lowest point.

The proof in this case satisfies me that there has been no marked change in the character of this land, in the height to which the water rises and falls, since the original government survey in 1835. The construction of the harbor at the mouth of the Calumet river may have slightly modified the effect which the rise and fall of the water in Lake Michigan has upon the water in this meandered lake; but Lake Michigan and the Calumet are so close to and connected with this meandered lake that the variation in the height of the water in Lake Michigan must affect the height of this adjacent meandered pond or lake. This body of water, called on the original plat 'Navigable Lake,' in fact is, and at the time of the first survey undoubtedly was, divided by a low ridge running nearly north and south, into two lakes or ponds, such ridge being nearly in the same line and direction as would be shown by the east line of sections 19 and 30, if produced from the north meander line of said lake; the western of these two lakes...