Turner v. Holland

• Decision Date: 14 April 1887
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court
• Parties: TURNER and others v. HOLLAND and others.

33 N.W. 283

65 Mich. 453

TURNER and others v. HOLLAND and others.

Supreme Court of Michigan

April 14, 1887

Appeal from Saginaw county. In chancery.

Camp & Brooks, for complainants.

Wisner & Draper, for defendants and appellants.

CHAMPLIN J.

The complainants, nine in number, set forth in their bill of complaint that they are severally the owners in fee of certain lots in Hoyt's subdivision of the James Riley reservation; that the James Riley reservation is situated on the east bank of Saginaw river, having about a mile frontage on the river, and extending to the west to the thread of the main channel of the river; that, crossing said reserve extending the whole length thereof, and forming a part of said river, is a bayou called "Emerson Bayou," and between the bayou and the main channel of the Saginaw river is a middle ground, extending the whole length of said reserve, and for some considerable distance beyond on the bayou north and forming a part thereof; that this bayou was formerly connected with the main channel of the Saginaw river south as well as north of the reserve, but, owing to the gradual growth and increase of said middle ground, the construction of streets and docks across, near, and adjoining the south end, it is now connected with said river on the north only; that the bayou on the north empties into the Saginaw river at a point distant about 80 rods from complainants' lands, and, from that point to, in front of, and beyond said lands, such bayou is navigable for vessels drawing nine feet of water; and, prior to the acts complained of, was used for the purposes of navigation and commerce, and that the Saginaw river, from its mouth, to a point south of the boundary line of said reserve is a navigable river for vessels of like draught, and has been so used for the past 25 years and upwards; that said reserve, including the middle ground, was formerly owned by Jesse Hoyt, and that, while he was such owner, he caused said reserve, including the middle ground, to be duly platted into lots, and the plat thereof to be duly recorded in the office of the register of deeds for Saginaw county, and afterwards said Hoyt conveyed by deed, with the usual covenants of warranty, and with apt and proper descriptions, the several parcels of land in said bill particularly described to complainants severally, or to the persons through whom complainants claim title, and each and every of said parcels of land were by said plat bounded on the west by said Emerson bayou, and in truth and in fact extended to the center line thereof, and that said Hoyt, by the conveyances to complainants, or to the persons through whom they claim title to the same, conveyed all his right title, and interest in and to the whole of said lots, pieces, and parcels of said land, including the soil of said bayou, to the middle line thereof; that their riparian rights are valuable, and enhance the value of their respective lots $1,000 or more; that Hoyt, in disregard of complainants' rights, since he sold the parcels of land to complainants and their grantors, now claims to own the soil under the water in said Emerson bayou, in front of said lots, between the easterly bank of the bayou and the center line of the channel thereof, and under such claim has, by lease or otherwise, assumed to assign, convey, and transfer to defendant Nelson Holland the right to use said Emerson bayou, including that portion claimed by complainants, for the purpose of storing saw-logs; that, at the time such lease or conveyance to Holland was executed, complainants' deed had been duly recorded in the register's office of Saginaw county, and he had notice of the riparian rights of complainants in said bayou, and that said Hoyt had no interest or claim therein that he could lease, or otherwise sell or assign; they claim that the claim of Jesse Hoyt constitutes a cloud upon their title, and diminishes the market value of their land; that said Nelson Holland owns and operates a large saw-mill, situated on the bank of the Saginaw river, about 80 rods from the lands of complainants, and near the point where said bayou empties into the river, and that, acting with one Luther Holland, he has inclosed and converted the said Emerson bayou, in front of complainants' lands, into booming grounds, by driving piles in and across said bayou at suitable distances, and connecting the same with boom-sticks so that now there is no means of ingress or egress to and from said lands of complainants through the channel of said bayou, and they are severally wholly deprived, by the said wrongful acts of said Nelson and Luther Holland, of the use and enjoyment of their said riparian rights; and claim that said Nelson Holland has not the exclusive right to use and control said bayou; that Luther Holland is acting as the agent of Nelson, and, before he did said acts, had knowledge and notice of complainants' rights; that said Luther and Nelson Holland have, for several years past, operated said mill, and during such time claimed to have, and have exercised, exclusive control over said bayou, and have wholly excluded complainants therefrom, and the use and enjoyment thereof; that, during the milling season, they have frequently caused said bayou to be filled with saw-logs, and have held and retained them therein for long periods, and until such logs were wanted at the mill for sawing; that the bark has become loosened and detached from said logs, and has sunk to the bottom, whereby the waters of said bayou have been gradually filling up; that defendants, disregarding and ignoring the rights of complainants, threaten to continue the maintenance and use of said boom, and to store saw-logs in said bayou. Complainants pray that defendants may be decreed to remove all said obstructions, and for a perpetual injunction against their using said bayou for storing or booming logs therein in any manner which shall interfere with the rights and privileges of complainants as riparian owners. After the bill was filed, Jesse Hoyt died, and the suit was revived against William L. Webber as the executor of Hoyt's will.

The defendants answered, denying that complainants have any riparian rights in Emerson bayou by reason of their ownership of the land. Denying, also, that by the terms of the deeds or by the terms of the plat, the said lots, so conveyed to the said complainants, or any of them, or their grantors, extended into or embraced any portion of said bayou; and stating that, on such plat, each parcel was indicated by figures, giving the exact length from Washington street west of each side boundary line, and that such lines were parallel to each other, said lots being each 150 feet wide, and that the giving the distance in this way, and the number of the lot, was the same, in effect, as describing said lots by metes and bounds, giving the precise distance of each of the boundaries. Denying that said lots were bounded on the west by the Emerson bayou, excepting as the distance measured may bring them to or near to the edge of the water, or into the water. Denying that it was ever intended that the bayou should be treated as the western boundary of said lots. Denying that the claim made by defendants constitutes a cloud upon complainants' title, or in any way diminishes their market value. The defendants set up and claim that defendant Webber, as trustee under the will of said Jesse Hoyt, is the sole owner of so much of the James Riley reserve as is covered by the waters of the said Emerson bayou, except so far as the said Jesse Hoyt in his life-time had sold and conveyed the same; that the waters over the soil in the said Emerson bayou were private, and that the said soil was private property. And state that the said James Riley reservation became the property of the said James Riley by virtue of a certain treaty made between the United States and the Chippewa Nation of Indians in the year 1818, in which treaty this reservation of 640 acres of land was made for the use of the said James Riley, and that the said Jesse Hoyt afterwards became the owner of the title so granted by said treaty to the said James Riley, and that the said 640 acres of land included the land under water in the said Emerson bayou, and that it was so recognized by the government survey made in 1822 under the authority of the United States, and that the main channel of the Saginaw river was the western boundary of said reservation. That all points of land, marshy portions, and this bayou were private property, which passed from the United States to the said James Riley, and subsequently, through sundry conveyances, to the said Hoyt, that the said bayou is not a running stream; it is not a natural water-course. It is merely a low piece of ground, with one end open to the Saginaw river,...