D. M. Goodwillie Co. v. Commonwealth Electric Co.

89 N.E. 272, 241 Ill. 42
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedJune 16, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 89 N.E. 272 (D. M. Goodwillie Co. v. Commonwealth Electric Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D. M. Goodwillie Co. v. Commonwealth Electric Co., 89 N.E. 272, 241 Ill. 42 (Ill. 1909).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Carter

delivered the opinion of the court:

Easements may be created by covenants or agreements as well as by grant. (Jones on Easements, secs. 104, 106.) Agreements imposing burdens upon one estate for the benefit of another must be strictly construed. (Eckhart v. Irons, 128 Ill. 568; Downen v. Rayburn, 214 id. 342.) Such agreements, however, creating easements must be so construed as to carry out the plain intent of the parties. (Field v. Leiter, 118 Ill. 17; Barber v. Allen, 212 id. 125.) In construing such instruments the court will look to the circumstances attending the transaction, the situation of the parties, the state of the thing granted and the object to be attained, to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the parties. (Kuecken v. Voltz, 110 Ill. 264.) Construing this contract in the light of these surroundings, it seems obvious that its object was to furnish an outlet for business to the Burlington road for the lots between Allen’s and Mason’s canals. Not only is this indicated by the agreement, but that conclusion is supported' by the terms of the contract entered into by the railroad company in 1864 with the owners of Greene’s South Branch addition as to the right of property holders in said addition to build switches for business purposes from said property to said railroad. The proposition that all the lots between said Mason’s and Allen’s canals south of Twenty-second street were to be permitted to use the curved switch track provided for in said agreement is further strengthened by the addenda made a part of the agreement, which provides that the owners of lots ioi, 102 and 103 may use said curved track under certain conditions different from the conditions provided for the other lots in the main part of the agreement. Moreover, if there is any ambiguity as to the meaning of this contract, the practical construction placed thereon by the acts of the parties can be resorted to to determine the meaning of the grant. (Jones on Easements, sec. 389; Walker v. Illinois Central Railroad Co. 215 Ill. 610; McLean County Coal Co. v. City of Bloomington, 234 id. 90.) Such construction by the Beidlers and Witbecks shows that appellant’s contention that only one track could be constructed south of the south line of lot 86 cannot be sustained, as several branch switches were constructed and in use south of that point for nearly forty years before these proceedings were started. It is obvious from the evidence in this record that the owners of lots 82 to 86 never claimed the right, under this agreement, to use the switches south of the south line of lot 86 from the time said agreement was executed until this controversy arose. Whatever doubt, therefore, there may have been under the original contract, this point must be held to be settled adversely to appellant’s contention as to its present rights in said tracks south of the south line of lot 86: The fact that John H. Witbeck, who was the owner of lots 82 to 86 when said Fisk and Lumber streets were vacated by the city of Chicago, signed a petition requesting such vacation, shows clearly the intention of the then owner that the property might be used for private purposes and that any interest he might have therein was abandoned. His acts in relation thereto are binding upon his successors in title. ( Vogler v. Geiss, 51 Md. 407; King v. Murphy, 140 Mass. 254.) We cannot see how the vacation of Fisk and Lumber streets and the building of the fence across Fisk street, as heretofore set forth in the statement of the case, injuriously, affected appellant’s rights. Since such vacation the Commonwealth Company has built extensive improvements in reliance thereon, and the property owners in the block who consented to the vacation, or their successors in title, are estopped from demanding that the original condition be restored. People v. Wieboldt, 233 Ill. 572.

Had the practice of doing all the switching on the said curved track during the night time, except Sundays, been followed from the time the contract was executed, or even for twenty years continuously, and been adverse, such practical construction of the agreement would have tended strongly to uphold appellant’s contention that the court below was wrong in deciding that the Commonwealth Company had unrestricted rights to the said easement day and night, but the facts as shown in this record indicate that the doing of such switching at night continued less than twenty years and was permissive rather than adverse. We are therefore disposed to agree with the holding of the trial court that the parties to said easement agreement, and their successors and assigns, have the right to use said switch track in common, for the purpose of transferring railroad cars at all times back and forth between said railroad track and the lots in question.

The contention is made that the easement created by said contract of February 28, 1865, was in gross and not appurtenant. This easement satisfies all the requirements of an appurtenant easement. The servient and dominant estates are clearly defined in the contract. An easement will not be held to be in gross if it can fairly be held to be appurtenant. (Louisville and Nashville Railroad Co. v. Koelle, 104 Ill. 455; Kuecken v. Voltz, supra.) If the dominant estate is clearly indicated and the easement is beneficial to such estate then it is appurtenant, and it is not necessary that the dominant and servient estates should be contiguous or that the right of way should terminate, as claimed by appellant, on the dominant estate. (Jones on Easements, sec. 5; Horner v. Keene, 177 Ill. 390; Cady v. Springfield Water-works Co. 134 N. Y. 118.) We do not think Garrison v. Rudd, 19 Ill. 558, holds to the contrary.

It is further contended that section 13 of chapter 30, (Hurd’s Stat. 1908, p. 491,) which provides that “every estate in lands which shall be granted, conveyed or devised, although other words heretofore necessary to transfer an estate of inheritance be not added, shall be deemed a fee simple estate of inheritance,” etc., has no application to easements. As we understand the argument, it is that if a perpetual easement is to be granted, the word “heirs,” or some other word that would convey a fee under the common law, must be inserted, and that the word “forever,” as used in this agreement, does not answer that purpose. We think this question has been settled adversely to appellant’s contention in Tinker v. Forbes, 136 Ill. 221, Horner v. Keene, supra, Oswald v. Wolf, 126 Ill. 542, and Barber v. Allen, supra. While the ruling of some courts is to the contrary, the weight of authority in this country agrees with the holdings of this court on this question. The dock company acquired a perpetual easement in the curved track across lots 82 to 86 as appurtenant to the lots owned by the dock company at the date of said easement contract,— that is, to lots 87, 88, 89, 90, 93 and the south half of lot 92. It is the settled law in this State that an easement created by a grantor in the lands of his grantee, in favor of the lands retained by the grantor and beneficial thereto, is appurtenant to the lands retained and binding on subsequent purchasers of the grantee’s land. (Jones on Easements, sec. 392; Kuecken v. Voltz, supra; Horner v. Keene, supra.) Without question the authorities support the finding of the chancellor that the easement in said curved track under said agreement is appurtenant to said last named lots for the benefit of the present owner, the Commonwealth Electric Company.

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Bluebook (online)
89 N.E. 272, 241 Ill. 42, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/d-m-goodwillie-co-v-commonwealth-electric-co-ill-1909.