Champagne v. La-Terre Co.

201 So. 2d 151, 1967 La. App. LEXIS 4949
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 30, 1967
DocketNo. 7088
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 201 So. 2d 151 (Champagne v. La-Terre Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Champagne v. La-Terre Co., 201 So. 2d 151, 1967 La. App. LEXIS 4949 (La. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

SARTAIN, Judge.

Plaintiff, Walton B. Champagne, hereinafter called appellant brought this possessory action, against defendant, La-Terre Co., Inc., hereinafter called appellee, alleging that the latter disturbed his possession of the following described property:

“A certain tract of land situated in the Parish of Terrebonne, State of Louisiana, ' at a distance of about seventeen (17) miles below the City of Houma, measuring a front of two (2) arpents, more or less, on the right descending bank of the Bayou Dularge, by such depth as the confirmation calls for; bounded above by land of Paul Theriot, now or formerly, and below by that of Emile Chauvin, now or formerly; together with all the buildings and improvements thereon and all rights, ways, privileges, servitudes and advantages thereto belonging or in anywise appertaining.” (Emphasis ours)

The disturbance complained of occurred on or about March 29, 1965, when appellee allegedly went upon portions of the above described property, cleared rights of way, dug boundary canals and posted signs and markers. The essential requirements for a possessory action are contained in appellant’s petition.

Appellee answered by way of general denial and in defense showed that the above acts of disturbances were performed by ap-pellee on its own lands and not those of appellant’s.

The trial judge held that appellee was successful in showing that the acts giving rise to this action were confined to lands owned by appellee. The trial judge further concluded that.appellant had failed to prove with sufficient certainty the location of his property and particularly the rear boundary thereof. Appellant appeals from this adverse judgment. As noted above, the principle issue of dispute between the parties involves the relative location of their respective properties. Appellant contends that the description of his property which contains the phrase “by such depth as the confirmation calls for” includes a depth sufficient to cover 12 acres. If this is true the rear portion of plaintiff’s property will in fact oyerlap lands claimed by appellee.

It is clear that appellant relies upon the rule of law that possession of a part of one’s property is possession of the whole. LSA-C.C. Arts 3437, 3498. Accordingly, we look to plaintiff’s description and title to determine the boundaries thereof.

Appellant acquired the above described property by deed from John Theriot on February 1, 1926. A study of his chain of title reveals that his property is a portion of Lot 2, Section 26, T 19 S-R 16 E, Terre-bonne Parish. On December 31, 1845, Lot 2 was severed from the public domain by sale from the United States to Elisha Stevens and was therein described according to the official plat of the survey of said lands. Said Lot 2 was not subdivided until August 4, 1875 when Mrs. Louisa Champagne acquired a portion thereof from William H. Buford in a deed which reads as follows:

“A certain tract of land, situated in this Parish, on the right descending bank, of the Bayou Dularge, measuring two (2) arpents front on the said Bayou, by the depth of survey or confirmation, bounded above by other lands of vendor, and below by land of Leon Roger; said tract being situated at a distance of about seventeen (17) miles below the Town of Houma.” (Emphasis ours)

The phrase “by depth of survey or confirmation” was used to describe the above property until an act of sale by Albert Porche to Mrs. Mathilde Duplantis Champagne on November 8, 1919, when the phrase “depth of confirmation” was substituted in place of “depth of survey or confirmation”. There was never a con[153]*153firmation of plaintiff’s chain of title to accurately determine for the public records the fullest extent of the depth of said property.

Appellee is the record owner of a 40 acre quarter section located to the immediate rear or west of plaintiff’s property and described as the NEJ4 of the NWJ4 of Section 26, T 19 S-R 16 E, Terrebonne Parish. Said quarter section was acquired by ap-pellee from Earle L. Peters, as Trustee, on February 4, 1927 and has continued to remain the property of appellee.

A review of the maps, surveys, and aerial photograph introduced in evidence and forming a part of this record show that plaintiff’s property fronts on the west bank of Bayou duLarge. There is a ridge paralleling Bayou duLarge varying in width from 200 to 400 feet. Plaintiff’s house is located on the ridge facing said bayou. This ridge is habitable. Behind the ridge and parallel thereto is marshland which is not habitable. Behind the marshland and paralleling the ridge and the bayou is a second ridge along which there is a dirt road. This dirt road is approximately 2800 feet to the rear of appellant’s home. The quarter section claimed by appellee lies almost entirely in the marshland between the two aforementioned ridges.

Plaintiff in attempting to show that his deed calls for 12 acres sought the testimony of his vendor, John Theriot, and endeavored to elicit evidence from this witness relative to the depth to which his property extended. The trial judge refused to admit oral testimony to this end and limited the testimony to this witness’s act of possession. Plaintiff also endeavored to show that he had for years trapped the marshland, cut and sold timber from the second ridge and that either he or his son traversed the marshland at regular intervals throughout the entire period of his ownership.

Appellee in support of its assertion of ownership and possession showed that in 1958 it caused a survey to be made of the quarter section. Concrete posts, six inches square and six and one half feet in height were placed at each corner. No trespassing signs bearing appellee’s name were placed at 330 feet intervals along the four boundaries. These signs were one foot square and placed on cypress posts four feet above the ground. In 1964 considerable seismic exploration was conducted on the property. The four concrete posts and some of the no trespassing signs were observed. Exploration on this occasion lasted some eight days. In March of 1965 appellant elected to further mark the boundaries of its quarter section by the construction of canals. This they did which precipitated the present litigation.

These were the facts that were presented to the trial judge in determination of the issues.

In a possessory action title is not at issue. However, title may be relied upon to show the confines of one’s possession. If appellant’s property does in fact extend to a depth sufficient to give him 12 acres of land there is a definite overlapping of title between the two litigants for according to our calculations appellant’s rear boundary would extend to the middle of appellee’s quarter section.

The trial judge held that the terminology in appellant’s deed “by such depth as the confirmation calls for” limits appellant’s property to such depth as his title calls for. The court noted that appellant made no attempt to introduce evidence to show what such terminology did in fact mean -and that this burden was that of appellant. The court further concluded that the evidence put on by appellee by introducing appellant’s chain of title was clear and uncontradicted in that such terminology identifies the rear or the western line of appellant’s property as being a portion of the eastern line of appellee’s quarter section.

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Bluebook (online)
201 So. 2d 151, 1967 La. App. LEXIS 4949, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/champagne-v-la-terre-co-lactapp-1967.