Minneapolis, St. P. & S. Ste. M.R. Co. v. Marble

• Decision Date: 13 March 1897
• Citation: 112 Mich. 4,70 N.W. 319
• Parties: MINNEAPOLIS, ST. P. & S. STE. M. RY. CO. v. MARBLE ET AL.
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

70 N.W. 319

112 Mich. 4

MINNEAPOLIS, ST. P. & S. STE. M. RY. CO. v. MARBLE ET AL.

Supreme Court of Michigan

March 13, 1897

Appeal from circuit court, Delta county, in chancery; John W. Stone Judge.

Bill by the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company against Webster L. Marble and others. Bill dismissed, and complainant appeals. Affirmed.

E. C. Chapin, for appellant.

Ball &amp Ball, for appellees.

LONG C.J.

This bill was filed to restrain the defendants from prosecuting a certain ejectment suit against the complainant, and to recover possession of certain lands used for railway purposes, situated in the city of Gladstone, this state, and also to adjudge and decree that the making, approval, and filing of the plat of the Marble addition to Gladstone (being a subdivision of lot 2, section 21, township 40 N., of range 22 W., Delta county, Mich.) was a dedication to the public and to complainant of the premises described for railway purposes; and that the plaintiffs in the ejectment suit are not entitled to possession thereof; and that the court decree and adjudge that the complainant, as the successor of the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway Company acquired, and still has, equitable rights in and to the right of way over said premises; and that the defendants are estopped from ejecting complainant therefrom; and that the court adjudge and decree what damages, if any, shall be paid by the complainant to the defendants as compensation for the use of said right of way. There is also a general prayer for relief. An affidavit is attached to the bill, made by the chief engineer of complainant, which will be hereafter referred to. This bill was demurred to by the defendants, and the demurrer sustained in the court below.

It appears from the bill that the complainant is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of this state; that in the year 1888 articles of consolidation of four railway corporations, namely, the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie &amp Atlantic Railway Company, the Minneapolis & St. Croix Railway Company, the Minneapolis & Pacific Railway Company, and the Aberdeen, Bismarck & Northwestern Railway Company, were approved by the board of railway consolidations, and duly filed in the office of the secretary of state of this state, whereby the said four railway companies were consolidated, and became a single railroad corporation, being the complainant in this case. It also appears that in 1887, and before this consolidation, the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway Company was engaged in the construction of its railway through Delta county, and during that year entered upon and let its contracts over the lands described in the bill, such contracts being upon the lines shown on its profile connecting with its docks; that it thereafter used said railway and tracks continuously for general railway business until on or about the 13th of June, 1888, when the same passed into the possession and under the control of the complainant, by virtue of such consolidation; that at the time of the entry upon said lands by the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway Company, and when constructing said railway, a corporation known as the N. Ludington Company, organized and existing under the laws of Wisconsin, and doing business in Wisconsin, claimed to be the owner of said premises; that one Isaac Stephenson, of Marinette, Wis., was president of that company, and, it is alleged, had general management and supervision of its affairs in this state, and made agreements to sell and convey land and interests in said land of said company; that, as president, he granted license to use for right of way over certain real property of said company in this state; that he agreed with said Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway that the N. Ludington Company would convey to said railway company, for right of way and station grounds, a strip 200 feet wide over and upon the N.E. 1/4 of the S.W. 1/4 of section 12, town 39 N., of range 23 W., in Delta county, and made and dictated all the terms upon which said conveyance should be made, and that the said agreement was subsequently carried out by the N.

Ludington Company, and said right of way was duly conveyed by deed that about the date of the entry on said Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway on said lot 2, and the commencement of the construction of said railway, the attorney and right of way agent of said railway company, one E. C. Chapin, had an interview with said Isaac Stephenson, and attempted to purchase the right of way now occupied and used by the complainant on said lot 2, and through the lands in Michigan of which said N. Ludington Company then claimed to be the owner, and that he asked the said Isaac Stephenson to name a price for which said right of way in Michigan could be purchased, and that said Stephenson declined to name a price, but said, in substance, to said Chapin, "You go on and build your railway, and we will arrange the price some other time;" that, relying upon said consent for the occupation and use of said lot 2, the said Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway Company proceeded with the construction of its railway, and across said lot, and expended in said construction, for grading, ties, iron, and labor, about $7,000; that, during the years 1887, 1888, and 1889, said Chapin had several further interviews with said Stephenson, but was never able to secure any definite proposition from him as to the amount for which the N. Ludington Company would convey to the railway company the right of way; that in March, 1889, said Chapin again attempted, in a meeting with said Stephenson, to purchase said right of way, but was unsuccessful; that during the said years the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway Company was at all times ready and willing to pay, and would have paid, the said N. Ludington Company a reasonable compensation for said right of way, but could never secure a price for which the same could be purchased; that May 20, 1889, the N. Ludington Company conveyed all its interests in said lot 2 to the Isaac Stephenson Company, a corporation, and on May 21, 1889, the Isaac Stephenson Company conveyed its interests, by warranty deed, to Webster L. Marble, Peter Mathews, Carlton E. Rathfon, and Samuel B. Rathfon; that on the 15th day of June, 1889, Webster L. Marble, Rosa M. Marble (his wife), Carlton E. Rathfon, Samuel B. Rathfon and Allie B. Rathfon (his wife), Peter Mathews and Sarah Mathews (his wife), made and executed a plat of said lot 2, which was approved by the auditor general of the state of Michigan, and filed in the office of the register of deeds of Delta county on July 15, 1889; and that from and including the year 1891, and to the present...