Home/Supreme Court of Kansas/Corwin v. St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Co.

Corwin v. St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Co.

51 Kan. 451
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJanuary 15, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 51 Kan. 451 (Corwin v. St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corwin v. St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Co., 51 Kan. 451 (kan 1893).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Horton, C. J.:

Lots 17 and 19, on Cannon street, and lot 20, on St. John street, in Hilton’s second addition to the city of Wichita, is the property in controversy in this case. These lots were formerly owned by Mrs. Cornelia R. Sanders. The plaintiffs claim them, or a part thereof, by virtue of a conveyance from her and her husband, W. I). Sanders. The [456]*456railway company claims an easement over and upon the property by condemnation proceedings carried on by the St. Louis, Wichita & Western Railway Company, which were prior to the conveyance from Mrs. Cornelia R. Sanders and her husband. The principal questions in this case for determination are: First, was an easement over and upon the land in controversy ever obtained by the St. Louis, Wichita & Western Railway Company by virtue of the condemnation proceedings alleged in the defendant’s answer? Second, were the plaintiffs estopped from asserting any claim as against the easement of the railway company over and upon the property, by reason of the acceptance by Cornelia R. Sanders of the award made by the commissioners and the public records concerning the condemnation proceedings? The fee of the lots is not in dispute.

The contention is over the real estate condemned for side tracks, depots, workshops, water stations, and turntables, the claim of the plaintiffs being that the route laid off in the condemnation proceedings did not exceed 100 feet in width. We think that an easement over and upon all of the lots in dispute was appropriated for the route of the railroad, side tracks, depot grounds, etc. But little, if anything, need be added to the able opinion filed by the trial judge, embraced in the statement. The commissioners appointed by the district judge of Sedgwick county, in their written report, stated that they

“Proceeded to lay off such route, side tracks, etc,, for such distance through said county as was desired by the company, the width of the same being such as was desired by the company, and upon the location, all of which is more particularly described in the plat and profile of the route intended to be adopted by the company in said county, and on the 6th day of September, 1879, filed by the company in the office of the county clerk of Sedgwick county; that we had the same route carefully surveyed, and ascertained the quantity of land necessary for the purposes aforesaid out of each quarter section or other lot of land in said county, through which1 said route, and on which said side tracks, depots, workshops and [457]*457water stations were located, and appraised the value of such portion,” etc.

The lots belonging to Mrs. Sanders were specifically described in the report, and are stated to be valued at $25 each? and the appraisement of value and assessment of damages on each lot is of its full value — that is, $25. Therefore, Mrs. Sanders, or anyone else, examining the report, would clearly understand that all the lots named, for which the full value was allowed, were actually appropriated. The commissioners would not, in the nature of things, allow for an easement over and upon a part of a lot as much value or damage as if the whole lot were taken; but, as they allowed the whole value, this of itself shows that an easement over the whole was taken. Then, again, an examination of the report shows that, where only a part of a lot was taken, the part so taken is fully described therein. We copy from the report of the condemnation proceedings, filed in the office of the register of deeds of Sedgwick county, of December 20, 1877, the following:

“For an accurate description of each tract or lot of land reference is hereby made to the following table.

[See next page.]

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Bluebook (online)
51 Kan. 451, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corwin-v-st-louis-san-francisco-railway-co-kan-1893.