Kansas City & N. Connecting R. Co. v. Baker

• Decision Date: 20 June 1904
• Citation: 82 S.W. 85,183 Mo. 312
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court
• Parties: KANSAS CITY & N. CONNECTING R. CO. v. BAKER et al.

82 S.W. 85

183 Mo. 312

KANSAS CITY & N. CONNECTING R. CO. v. BAKER et al.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

June 20, 1904.

DEDICATION—FILING OF PLAT—RAILWAYS— PUBLIC PURPOSE—ADVERSE POSSESSION —LIMITATION OF ACTIONS.

1. Where persons authorized to select town sites and depot grounds along the line of a railroad executed and recorded a plat for a certain town, in which a space was marked "Reserved for Depot Grounds," the use of such lands for the purposes indicated was an appropriation to a public use, within the meaning of Const. art. 12, § 14, declaring railways constructed within the state public highways.

2. Such designation constituted a dedication under the express terms of Rev. St. 1855, c. 158, § 8, providing that such plats deposited with the recorder shall be a sufficient conveyance to vest the fee of such parcels of land as are therein expressed, named, or intended for public uses.

3. Land having been appropriated to such use, a person entering thereon could not acquire title by adverse possession, as Rev. St. 1899, § 4270, declares that nothing contained in any statute of limitation shall extend to any lands given, granted, sequestered, or appropriated to a public use.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Dekalb County; A. D. Burnes, Judge.

Condemnation proceedings by the Kansas City & Northern Connecting Railroad Company against Henry Baker and the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company. From a judgment in favor of the defendant Baker, defendant Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company appeals. Reversed.

Mosman & Ryan, for appellant. Brown & Dolman, for respondents.

MARSHALL, J.

This is a proceeding, under article 7, c. 12, Rev. St. 1899, to condemn for railroad purposes a certain parcel of land lying in the town of Osborn, in Dekalb county, and bounded on the north by Baker street, on the south by the 100-foot right of way of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, on the east by Clinton street, and on the west by Hunt street. The property has a front of 325 feet on the south line of Baker street, and substantially the same frontage on the south line of said railroad right of way, a front of 62 feet on the east line of Hunt street, and a front of about 83 feet on west line of Clinton street. The plaintiff is a railroad corporation, duly organized under the laws of this state. The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company is a railroad corporation organized under special acts of the General Assembly of this state approved January 27, 1837 (Laws 1836-37, p. 247), and February 16, 1847 (Laws 1846-47, p. 156). The defendant Baker is a civil engineer, and in 1858 had charge of the Western Division of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. At that time John Duff and William Osborn were members of the firm of Duff & Co., who were the contractors for the construction of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad. J. T. K. Hayward was the land agent of said railroad. Baker, Duff, Osborn, and Hayward were authorized by the railroad to select town sites and station grounds along the line of railroad. By an act of Congress the railroad had been granted a right of way, 100 feet wide, running nearly east and west through the S. E. ¼ of section 15, and the S. W. ¼ of section 14, of township 57, range 31, in Dekalb county. By an act of Congress approved June 10, 1852, the government donated to the railroad, to aid in its construction, every alternate section of land, designated by even numbers, for six sections on each side of the railroad, and under this grant the railroad acquired section 14 of township 57, range 31, in Dekalb county, and section 22 of township 57, range 31, in Clinton county. Charles Burch became the patentee, after the railroad right of way had been donated, of the S. E. ¼ of section 15 aforesaid, and some time prior to 1858 he conveyed the same to the defendant Baker. It appears, however, that Duff & Co. had furnished one-half of the money to buy said quarter section from Burch; so by deed dated October 6, 1857, Baker conveyed a half interest in said quarter section to John Duff. Thereafter Duff conveyed the same to John L. Lathrop, in trust for John M. Forbes, John Duff, and John W. Brooks, or the survivor of them, by deed dated September 14, 1859. Thereafter, Brooks and Duff having died, Forbes, by virtue of the power conferred upon him by the deed, appointed J. Henry Brooks and Nathaniel H. Stone as their successors in said trust estate, and the three, on April 16, 1895, gave a power of attorney to H. B. Scott to sell the land, and on April 18, 1898, said attorney in fact conveyed the same to the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company. Thus the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad acquired title to an undivided one-half interest in the S. W. ¼ of said section 15.

To revert now to 1858. In June and July, 1858, Henry Baker and John Duff owned each an undivided one-half of the S. E. ¼ of section 15. William Osborn owned the N. W. ¼ of section 23, and the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company owned the S. W. ¼ of section 14 and the N. E. ¼ of section 22, all in township 57, range 31, and lying, as aforesaid, partly in Dekalb and partly in Clinton counties. Baker, Duff, Osborn, and Hayward, being authorized to select town sites and depot grounds along the line of the railroad as aforesaid, determined to lay out the town of Osborn, which would be located partly in each of said quarter sections of sections 15, 14, 23, and 22 aforesaid. They accordingly laid out the town by making, executing and recording a plat thereof, showing the blocks, lots, streets, and the ground reserved for other public purposes. On that plat there appeared a parallelogram 750 feet long by about 265 feet wide, lying between Baker street on the north and Platte street on the south, Carpenter street on the east and Hunt street on the west, with Clinton street running north and south through the center thereof, and the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company's right of way running substantially through the center thereof from east to west. This parallelogram was marked on the plat of the town of Osborn, "Reserved for Depot Grounds." A plat of that portion of the town is here reproduced, and is as follows:

NOTE: OPINION CONTAINING TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE

The part so reserved for depot grounds lies in equal portions in the S. E. ¼ of section 15, owned by Baker and Duff, and in the S. W. ¼ of section 14, owned by the railroad, and is therefore wholly within the part of the town of Osborn that lies in Dekalb county. The depot of the railroad was built on its right of way within said parallelogram, and the portion thereof which lies in section 14 was used as a stockyard. The portion of the parallelogram, so marked on the plat, "Reserved for Depot Grounds," that lies north of the railroad right of way, south of Baker street, and between Clinton street and Hunt street, in said S. E. ¼ of section 15, and which is the property sought to be condemned in this action, has been indicated on said plat by red¹ lines written by this court on the plat. A portion thereof, to wit, 50 feet by 70 feet, at the southwest corner of Clinton and Baker streets, is claimed by the defendant Morse as lessee of defendant Baker.

The petition alleges that Baker and the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company each own an undivided one-half of said property. Baker and said Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company each claim to own the whole of it. The commissioners assessed the value of the property at $600, but reported that they could not ascertain who was the owner of it between the conflicting claims of Baker and the railroad. The railroad filed a motion expressing satisfaction with the amount of damage assessed, and asking that the same be ordered paid to it, claiming to be the sole owner of the land. Baker filed exceptions to the report of the commissioners, claiming to be the sole owner of the land, that the damages were inadequate, and setting up other grounds. Morse, the lessee of Baker, also filed exceptions. The court overruled the motion of the railroad, and sustained the exceptions of Baker and Morse, and upon their demand ordered a jury trial. At that time Baker claimed title solely by limitation. Morse claimed as lessee under Baker. The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad Company claimed title by virtue of the dedication in the plat of the town and as grantee of Duff's undivided half interest.

The evidence adduced showed that in 1857 or 1858 Baker erected an office building, an outbuilding, and dug a well on the premises; that in 1858 he moved a log stable from Grindstone onto the premises; that from 1858 to 1868 Baker was not in Osborn, and did not have possession of the land, and did nothing with it. During the war he was in the army. In 1868 he returned to Osborn, and took possession of the land, and used part of it for a lumber yard, and leased the east end of it to one Austin for a lumber yard. When he returned in 1868 he found a large iron wheel on the ground, which had been placed there by the railroad company. In 1870 Baker rented the land to Daniels, and he put up a cold storage plant on it. In 1873 Baker leased the west end of it to Harvey for the erection of corncribs and a grainhouse on it. In 1874 or 1875 he leased a portion of it, 50 by 70 feet, at the southwest corner of Clinton and Baker streets, to the defendant Morse, and he put up a store on it and occupied it for two terms of 10 years each. From about 1870 or 1871, the defendant Baker and the railroad officials have had many negotiations and controversies about the land. The railroad leased a portion of it to one Hitt in 1871 or 1872. In 1874, when Morse began to build, the railroad officials notified him not to do so, and threatened to enjoin him, and thereupon some correspondence between Baker and the general manager of the railroad ensued, each claiming to own the land. The portion of the parallelogram, marked on the plat, "Reserved for Depot Grounds," that lies in...