Corey v. Bishop

48 N.H. 146
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedJuly 15, 1868
StatusPublished

This text of 48 N.H. 146 (Corey v. Bishop) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corey v. Bishop, 48 N.H. 146 (N.H. 1868).

Opinion

Sargent, J.

The occupancy by plaintiff of the premises of his mother-in-law, in this case, would hardly be that of an ordinary tenant; at most it could only be a tenancy at will, and the manure made by his stock from his own hay, brought there from his own farm, could not be said to be made in the ordinary course of husbandry.

Now it is well settled that if a farm is rented for agricultural purposes, and there is no particular agreement as to the manure that shall be made upon it during the tenancy, the manure does not belong to the tenant but to the farm, and must be used on the farm, and the tenant has no more right to remove it before or after the expiration of his term, or to dispose of it to others, than he has to remove or dispose of any fixture belonging to the farm. And that all manure thus made in the ordinary course of husbandry, which may be upon the farm at the time of sale, whether spread upon the land, or lying in the yard, or in heaps in the yards or around the stables, or even in the barns or out-buildings, as between the grantor and grantee, if no other rights intervene, will pass to the grantee as an incident to the land, unless there be some reservation in the deed ; a parol reservation being insufficient.

But it is equally well settled that this rule does not apply to manure made in a livery stable, or in any manner not connected with agriculture, or in a course of husbandry, and that in such case the tenant of the livery stable, or the person thus making the manure upon land of another, owns the manure entirely distinct from the real estate, and has the right to remove it or dispose of it as he pleases, by parol or bill of sale,, as of any other chattel or personal property. Plummer v. Plummer, 30 N. H. 558; Daniels v. Pond, 21 Pick. 367; Taylor’s Land. & Ten. sec. 541; Perry v. Carr, 44 N. H. 118; Goddard v. Gould, 14 Barb. 662, and cases; Wing v. Gray, 36 Vt. 261; Ford v. Cobb, (6 Smith) 20 N. Y. 344; Noble v. Bosworth, 19 Pick. 314; Austin v. Sawyer, 9 Cow. 39; Conner v. Coffin, 22 N. H. 538.

This case stands very much like that of Needham v. Allison, 24 N. H. 355, where the defendant conveyed his farm to the plaintiff on the 13th of September, reserving the right to occupy the buildings till the first of the next April. During the winter, defendant fed out his own hay to his own stock in the barn upon the premises, where it was held [149]*149that the rights of the parties were rather like those of lessor and lessee of livery stables or the like than those of farming tenants, and that in such a case the owner of the land could have no pretence to claim the manure unless by some special contract, in the absence of which it would be and remain the property of the defendant.

So, here the manure in question was made from plaintiff’s cattle, fed on his own hay, which was removed from his farm for that purpose, but in the barn of Mrs. Bishop, which he was occupying for the time being* as a tenant at will merely ; and we think that, as between the plaintiff and Mrs. Bishop, the manure (aside from the commingling* with her’s,) was the personal property of the plaintiff, and that he had the right to remove or sell the same either before or after he ceased to occupy the barn.

It would not stand upon the ground of an article of property affixed to the freehold by the tenant during his term, which he might remove before the term expired if he could without injury to the freehold, but not afterwards, but would more nearly resemble the building built on land of another, with the consent of the owner of the land, and to be removed at the pleasure of the owner of the building. It being the plaintiff’s chattel on the land of another with his permission, plaintiff might enter at any time and remove it. If, after he should benotified to remove it, he did not do so in reasonable time he might be liable for trespass for the entry to remove it, otherwise he would not be. Dame v. Dame, 38 N. H. 429. There would seem to be no doubt that this was the understanding between plaintiff and Mrs. Bishop from the facts stated in the case.

The next question is as to the effect of the deed and lease from Mrs. Bishop to defendant, of the premises on which the manure was lying.

It has been held in New York and some other States, that in case a chattel is so annexed to the freehold as that it would pass as real estate between grantor and grantee, yet if the chattel so annexed be the separate property of a third person, who has the right to remove it, and the chattel has never in fact become a part of the realty, it would not pass by a deed of the real estate, even to a grantee who had no notice of the existing state of things. Dubois v. Kelley, 10 Barb. 496; Smith v. Benson, 1 Hill 176; Mott v. Palmer, 1 Comstock 564, where it is held that in such case, if the grantor is wronged in that way, his remedy is upon the covenants of his deed; see, also, Russell v. Richards, 1 Fairfield 429. In other jurisdictions it has been held that personal property thus annexed to the freehold, though thus owned by a third person, would pass by a deed of the real estate to the grantee without notice of the facts, and that in such case the owner of the chattel must look to the grantor who had thus conveyed away his property for its value, but that the chattel thus annexed would pass as a part of the real estate by the deed to a bona fide purchaser without notice. Powers v. Dennison, 30 Vt. 752. But in no case is it held that the grantee who had notice of all the facts could hold the chattel.

In this State the question has not been settled by any express' decision that we are aware of. In Dame v. Dame, before cited, Bell, J. seems [150]*150to favor the doctrine as held in New York, (38 N. H. 433.) But in that case there was full notice to the purchaser of all the existing facts as to the ownership of the house by the third person, and the conclusion was that the grantee having notice of the facts when he took his deed, could not hold the building which stood upon the land conveyed, but which belonged to another. ■

In Haven v. Emery, 33 N. H. 66, the C. & P. Railroad having agreed with the plaintiffs that plaintiffs should deliver to the road a certain quantity of iron rails, that the road should lay them upon a designated part of their track, and that upon the payment by the road of a specified price the rails should become the property, of the road, and that until such payment they should remain the property of the plaintiffs ; and the rails having been laid upon the track according to the terms of that contract, it was held that the rails did not become the property of the road until they were paid for; and the rails not having been paid for, the plaintiffs were entitled to hold against subsequent mortgagees of the road who had notice of the plaintiffs’ interest when they took their mortgage. Parley, O. J., in the opinion, in speaking of the doctrine of Mott v. Palmer, 1 Comstock, supra, says : "We are not yet prepared to acquiesce in such a doctrine.

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Related

Ford v. . Cobb
20 N.Y. 344 (New York Court of Appeals, 1859)
Dubois v. Kelly
10 Barb. 496 (New York Supreme Court, 1851)
Godard v. Gould
14 Barb. 662 (New York Supreme Court, 1853)
Powers v. Dennison
30 Vt. 752 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1858)
Wing v. Gray
36 Vt. 261 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1863)

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Bluebook (online)
48 N.H. 146, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corey-v-bishop-nh-1868.