New Canaan Country School v. Rayward
| Decision Date | 26 November 1957 |
| Citation | 144 Conn. 637,136 A.2d 742 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | The NEW CANAAN COUNTRY SCHOOL, Inc. v. John L. RAYWARD et al. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut |
Morgan P. Ames, Stamford, with whom, on the brief, were Edward R. McPherson, Jr., and Raymond T. Benedict, Stamford, for appellant (plaintiff).
William R. Curtis, Norwalk, with whom was Dale Van Winkle, Norwalk, for appellees (named defendant et al.).
Before WYNNE, C. J., and BALDWIN, DALY, KING and MURPHY, JJ.
The plaintiff has appealed from a judgment declaring that the defendant Rayward has a right of way by grant and prescription across the plaintiff's property for any purpose which is reasonably connected with the reasonable use of his residential property and that the right of way is to be found on a certain map recorded in the office of the town clerk in New Canaan in 1941.
The facts found by the trial court which are material to the determination of this appeal in the limited aspect in which we treat it are as follows: The plaintiff is the owner of about 172 acres on Ponus Street and Frogtwon Road upon which it operates a school. Ten acres adjoin Frogtown Road. The defendant Rayward, hereinafter called the defendant, owns ten acres which do not abut on any highway. Three and fourtenths acres of his property, called the Taub tract, are adjacent to the plaintiff's ten-acre tract. Over the latter, the defendant claims a right of way having its origin in a distribution by distributors in the estate of Gideon Leeds in 1794. The distribution set out to Leeds's daughter, Lydia, seven acres, 'reserving liberty for * * * [his son] Gideon to pass and repass through * * * Lydia's land to the highway in some convenient place.' Seven acres and one rood were set out to the son Gideon, 'with liberty to pass and repass through * * * Lydia's land to the highway in some convenient place.' The Taub tract was part of the land set out to the son Gideon, and it devolved to the defendant by mesne conveyances and descent. The property set out to Lydia was situated between that set out to Gideon and the highway, which is now known as Frogtown Road. The portion of the plaintiff's property across which the defendant claims a right of way came out of the land set out to Lydia. The right of way created in the distribution of the estate of the elder Gideon Leeds was appurtenant to the Taub tract and runs across the plaintiff's land to Frogtown Road.
In proof of his claimed right of way, the defendant relied upon the testimony of Frank Deschene, a title searcher of long experience. On the voir dire, the witness stated that he was not an attorney but was employed as a title searcher by Lovejoy and Cuneo, attorneys for the defendant. The plaintiff objected to the witness' testifying on the ground that canon 19 of the canons of professional ethics would be violated. The court correctly overruled the objection. Deschene was not an attorney nor a member of the firm handling the litigation. See Erwin M. Jennings Co. v. DiGenova, 107 Conn. 491, 497, 141 A. 866.
Deschene was asked to trace the chain of title from the time of the distribution of the estate of Gideon Leeds in 1794 to the time of the conveyance to the defendant. The plaintiff objected to the testimony unless it was to be based upon a series of certified copies of deeds offered in evidence. After the objection was overruled and an...
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McCullough v. Waterfront Park Ass'n, Inc.
...decreed by the trial court is impermissibly expanded beyond that acquired by prescription. See New Canaan Country School, Inc. v. Rayward, 144 Conn. 637, 641, 136 A.2d 742 (1957). We conclude, therefore, that the placement of the docks off the plaintiff's property is an unreasonable increas......
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Kuras v. Kope
...the right also limits and qualifies it." Hawley v. McCabe, 117 Conn. 558, 560, 169 A. 192 (1933); see New Canaan Country School, Inc. v. Rayward, 144 Conn. 637, 640-41, 136 A.2d 742 (1957); Aksomitas v. South End Realty Co., 136 Conn. 277, 281, 70 A.2d 552 (1949); L. Jones, Easements § 415;......
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Gager v. Carlson
...of the pond, the furnishing of water to the sawmill for power purposes. Birdsey v. Kosienski, supra; New Canaan Country School, Inc. v. Rayward, 144 Conn. 637, 641, 136 A.2d 742. This interpretation is fortified by the rule that in the construction of an instrument creating an easement, amb......
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Loewenberg v. Wallace
...317; O'Sullivan v. Overton, 56 Conn. 102, 105, 14 A. 300; Pepe v. Aceto, 119 Conn. 282, 287, 175 A. 775; New Canaan Country School, Inc. v. Rayward, 144 Conn. 637, 640, 136 A.2d 742. Under our recording acts, deeds in a chain of title prior to the deed of acquisition may be proved by certif......
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The Highway and the Right of Way: an Analysis of the Decisional Law in Connecticut Concerning Public, Private and Proposed Roads from Establishment to Abandonment
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