Dunham v. City of New Britain

11 A. 354, 55 Conn. 378, 1887 Conn. LEXIS 50
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedNovember 18, 1887
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 11 A. 354 (Dunham v. City of New Britain) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dunham v. City of New Britain, 11 A. 354, 55 Conn. 378, 1887 Conn. LEXIS 50 (Colo. 1887).

Opinion

Loomis, J.

The material facts found by the trial court in this case are in substance as follows: In 1857 the water commissioners of the then borough of New Britain, acting under an act of the legislature passed that 3'ear, purchased of the plaintiff, and of his father, Harvey Dunham, now deceased, and of some other parties, certain lands for the construction of a reservoir for supplying the borough with water for public and private purposes ; and sundry absolute warranty deeds were executed and delivered to the borougli of the lands so purchased, and possession was taken by the latter and a reservoir was constructed upon the land and filled with water and used by the borough until the present city of New Britain was chartered, which succeeded to all the rights, privileges and property of the borough, and ever since the reservoir has constituted the sole water supply of the city and is largely used for domestic purposes.

[382]*382It was agreed that the borough paid a money consideration for the lands bought of the plaintiff and his father, but there was no evidence of the amount paid, except the statement of the consideration in the several deeds. It is not found that the money consideration was in fact inadequate, but it' is found that the Dunhams so regarded it, and that they were induced to part with the title to the land referred to, in part because of an agreement in writing signed and delivered to them by two of the water commissioners, and in part because they thought that the establishment of the reservoir and the use of its waters for fishing and pleasure, would render their adjacent lands more valuable. The agreement referred to was as follows:

“ Whereas, the Warden, Burgesses and Freemen of the borough of New Britain are about to pond ‘Shuttle Meadow,’ on the mountains in the east part of Southington, for the purpose of supplying water to the inhabitants of New Britain under the charter granted to them by the last legislature, and a large portion of the land to be covered by the water of said pond has been sold and conveyed to said Warden, Burgesses and Freemen of the borough of New Britain by Harvey Dunham and Robert C. Dunham of Southington : Now, therefore, the said Warden, Burgesses and Freemen of the borough of New Britain, in consideration of the sale and conveyance aforesaid, do hereby, give and grant unto the said Harvey Dunham and R. C. Dunham the right to sail on said pond and take fish therefrom at all times ; said privilege not to be enjoyed by them exclusively, but to secure to them, in common with the grantors and such other persons as said grantors shall license during their natural lives. In witness whereof the grantors, by the hands of their water commissioners, duly appointed according to the provisions of said charter, have hereunto affixed their name and seal this 1st day of December, 1857.
(l. s.) The Warden, Burgesses and Freemen OE THE BOROUGH OE NEW BRITAIN.
F. T. Stanley, ) Water Gr. M. Landers, j Commissioners

[383]*383Soon after this the Dunhams established upon the shore of the reservoir, better known as “ Shuttle Meadow Lake,” upon land owned by them, or one of them, contiguous to the land conveyed to the borough, a pleasure resort, and the frequenters of the place have used the lake for boating, sailing and fishing in boats hired of the plaintiff or his father, and in this way a profitable business was established, which at the commencement of this suit belonged wholly to the plaintiff. A large number of other persons have also been in the habit of using the lake for boating, sailing and fishing. The use of the waters of the lake for boating, sailing and fishing is not in itself injurious, not a nuisance, and the agitation of the surface of the water is beneficial, but, as a necessary incident to of concomitant of such use, a considerable quantity of impure and objectionable and decayed and decomposing matter, filth and various excreta of the human body is, from day to day, deposited in the water of the lake. But such deposit has not been, and is not at present, in sufficient quantities to be appreciable in its effect upon the water, but the knowledge on the part of the public of such deposit produces disgust and tends to prevent the use of the water by the public for domestic purposes. If the germs of infectious or contagious diseases should be deposited at or near the entrance of the supply pipes, such diseases might be commuhicated to the people of the city using the water for domestic purposes. Under these circumstances the common council of the city of New Britain, acting pursuant to power given it by the legislature in 1885 to make such orders and ordinances as it should see fit for the better protection and preservation of the water of the lake, passed an ordinance prohibiting under a penalty, among other things, boating, sailing and fishing on the lake. The passage and enforcement of this ordinance is what has given rise to this suit. It has had the effect to keep the public away from the lake, and thus the plaintiff loses the profit of his pleasure resort, and in this manner only the acts of the defendants substantially impair the plaintiff’s business and depreciate the value of his property. That the ordinance is reasonable is found by the [384]*384court below as a matter of fact and so held by it as a matter of law. The plaintiff seeks in this suit to enjoin the city from enforcing the ordinance. He also claims damages for its enforcement; and further claims that the deeds of conveyance from him and his father, through whom he claims his present title, should be reformed so as to reserve to him the privilege of boating, sailing and fishing on the lake, or that the deeds should be set aside and declared void.

The decision of the court below was adverse to the plaintiff on all of his claims, and the only grounds of his appeal are: (1.) The exclusion of certain testimony by which the plaintiff claimed to be able to prove that in the negotiations for the sale of his and his father’s land to the borough for the purpose of a reservoir, it was agreed by certain members of the board of water commissioners that the Dunhams should have the privilege of boating and fishing on the lake forever, and that this privilege, instead of being reserved in the deeds, as the Dunhams Avished, should be secured to them by a separate agreement. (2.) The refusal of the court to hold as a matter of law upon the evidence that the plaintiff had acquired by prescription the right to fish and boat upon the lake.

The assignments of error restrict the questions for revierv to a very narrow compass. No complaint is made that the court upon the facts as found denied the injunction and the reformation of the deeds, or refused to set them aside, or to aAvard damages, nor is there any complaint because the court held the ordinance a valid one. To prevent the possible implication that it might haAre been better for the plaintiff had these matters been assigned for error, Ave will say in passing that in our opinion the decision of the court upon these points upon the facts as found Avas correct. The ordinance, having for its object the preservation of the public health and being adapted to that object, and hayang. been authorized by the legislature, was a proper and valid exercise of the police poAver of the state; and even if the ordinance were invalid, it is obvious that there Avould have been, an adequate remedy at larv, so that in either event no error could [385]*385have been predicated upon a denial of the injunction. Burnett v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Tazza v. Planning & Zoning Commission
319 A.2d 393 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1972)
City of West Frankfort v. Fullop
129 N.E.2d 682 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1955)
State v. Heller
196 A. 337 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1937)
National Transportation Co., Inc. v. Toquet
196 A. 344 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1937)
Wade v. City of Bridgeport
145 A. 644 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1929)
Newton v. City of Groesbeck
299 S.W. 518 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1927)
State v. Quattropani
133 A. 352 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1926)
Thraves v. Greenlees
1914 OK 411 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1914)
Lincoln v. Great Northern Railway Co.
144 N.W. 713 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1913)
State v. Morse
80 A. 189 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1911)
Ann Arbor Fruit & Vinegar Co. v. Ann Arbor Railroad
99 N.W. 869 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1904)
Smith v. Rust
112 Ill. App. 84 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1904)
Schrimper v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co.
115 Iowa 35 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1900)
Woodruff v. New York & New England Railroad
20 A. 17 (Supreme Court of Connecticut, 1890)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
11 A. 354, 55 Conn. 378, 1887 Conn. LEXIS 50, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dunham-v-city-of-new-britain-conn-1887.