Mcwilliams v. Morgan

Citation1871 WL 8205,61 Ill. 89
PartiesDAVID MCWILLIAMS et al.v.RICHARD P. MORGAN, JR.
Decision Date30 September 1871
CourtSupreme Court of Illinois

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

APPEAL from the Circuit Court of Livingston county; the Hon. CHARLES H. WOOD, Judge, presiding.

Mr. L. E. PAYSON, for the appellants.

Mr. HAMILTON SPENCER, for the appellee.

Mr. JUSTICE SHELDON delivered the opinion of the Court:

The only question presented by this record is, was there a dedication of the strip of land in question, fifty feet in width, to the public use, by Morgan, the defendant?

August 6th, 1853, Morgan conveyed to the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad Co. a right of way, one hundred feet wide, through the tract of land on which the strip of land is situated, and in the deed made provision for the erection and maintenance of a depot thereon, in case a town should afterwards be located on the tract.

About January 30, 1854, Morgan did lay out at that point the town of Dwight, and a plat thereof was recorded in the proper office.

In the center of the town plat there was designated a hexagonal piece of ground, bounded on the east and west by streets named East and West streets, respectively. This piece of ground included within its limits the ground upon which was the right of way, one hundred feet wide, theretofore granted by Morgan to the C. & M. R. R. Co., but not shown by any lines upon the plat, and fifty feet in addition on each side of the right of way ground, making, in all, an irregularly shaped piece of ground, for the most part about two hundred feet wide and about one thousand feet long, the main track of the C. & M. R. R. Co. marked as running directly through the center. This tract was marked upon the plat as a single parcel, and recorded with the word “depot” upon it.

The strip of land in question is the east fifty feet, lying between the right of way ground and East street. At that time the whole of the land upon which the village stands was vacant and uninclosed, having recently been purchased from the Government.

This piece of ground, so marked upon the plat, has remained uninclosed since, and has been used by the public for years for purposes connected with the business of the railway without objection on the part of Morgan, and no taxes have ever been paid on it.

There being no express grant, the evidence of a dedication, if any, must be found in the acts and declarations of the defendant.

There are none such tending to show a dedication to be found since the making of the map, except acquiescence in the use by the public of the vacant and uninclosed portion of the ground, which Morgan had not occasion to make use of himself, which is far from being any satisfactory evidence of an intention to dedicate. Warren v. The President, etc. of the Town of Jacksonville, 15 Ill. 236; Kelly v. City of Chicago, 48 Ill. 389.

Indeed, the manner in which the land has been used since the making of the map, disproves the idea of a dedication.

In 1857, the defendant himself erected a corn crib across the entire width of the strip in question, and has since been in the occupation of portions of both strips, both personally and by his tenants, to the exclusion of the public, and claiming to be the owner of the portions so occupied, as also of the residue of the ground. Since that time, a large...

To continue reading

Request your trial
7 cases
  • Campbell v. City of Kansas
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • June 30, 1890
    ...3 Barr. (Pa.) 206; Still v. Trustees, 16 Barb. 107; Cincinnati v. White's Lessees, 6 Pet. 187; Wash. on Eas. [2 Ed.] 178; McWilliams v. Morgan, 61 Ill. 89; Trustees Council, 33 N. J. L. 19; Board v. Edson, 18 Oh. St. 226; Carter v. City, 4 Or. 348. (4) Referring to claim of defendant that l......
  • Sweet Berry Café, Inc. v. Soc'y Ins., Inc.
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • March 15, 2022
    ...Court ( Manella, Pujals & Co. v. Barry , 7 U.S. (3 Cranch) 415, 430, 2 L.Ed. 484 (1806) ) and 1891 by our supreme court ( McWilliams v. Morgan , 61 Ill. 89, 93 (1871) ). It applies to the interpretation of statutes (see, e.g. , Schultz v. Performance Lighting, Inc. , 2013 IL 115738, ¶ 17, 3......
  • Hicklin v. McClear
    • United States
    • Oregon Supreme Court
    • December 21, 1889
    ... ... 94; Hamilton v. Railroad Co., ... (Ill.) 15 N.E. 854; City of Belleville v ... Stookey, 23 Ill. 441; McWilliams v. Morgan, 61 ... Ill. 89; Wayne Co. v. Miller, 31 Mich. 447; ... Field v. Village of Manchester, 32 Mich. 279; ... White v ... ...
  • Brown v. Luehrs
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • October 31, 1877
    ...Fay, 37 Barb. 64; Henderson v. Hayne, 2 Met. 342. That a new trial will not be granted for the purpose of impeaching a witness, McWilliams v. Morgan, 61 Ill. 89; Martin v. Ehrenfels, 24 Ill. 187; O'Reiley v. Fitzgerald, 40 Ill. 310; Seward v. Cease, 50 Ill. 228. PLEASANTS, J. Appellee broug......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT