Garza County v. Lynn County

42 S.W.2d 627
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 2, 1931
DocketNo. 889
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 42 S.W.2d 627 (Garza County v. Lynn County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garza County v. Lynn County, 42 S.W.2d 627 (Tex. Ct. App. 1931).

Opinion

FUNDERBURK, J.

This suit was originally instituted to locate and define the common boundary line between Lynn and Garza counties, which theretofore had never been located or defined or marked upon the ground. Because of the effect of the establishment of such line upon other interested counties, the counties of Lubbock, Yoakum, Cochran, Hockley, Crosby, Terry, and Kent in one way or another became parties. The case was tried before the judge without a jury. At a time when the only parties to the suit were Garza, Lynn, Terry, Lubbock, Crosby, and Hockley counties, an application- was made by Garza, Lynn, and Crosby counties to have the court appoint a disinterested competent surveyor “to run out, mark and define the corners and lines in litigation, as shown by the pleadings.” The court appointed W. J. Williams to do the surveying. Williams, in company with and assisted by W. D. Twichell, a surveyor representing Garza county, and R. E. Estes, a surveyor representing Lynn county, made an extensive survey and filed a report which was admitted in evidence. The three surveyors were witnesses at the trial. We interpret their testimony as showing that they agreed upon all the material facts which, independently of the questions of law involved, are deemed determinative of the issues in the case. They agreed that the S. E. corner of lower Brazos Indian Reserve was a recognized and marked corner upon the ground; that beginning 6 miles east of said marked corner, and funning thence north 30 miles and thence west 30 miles, as called for in the Act of the Legislature of 1858, defining the boundaries of Young county (Acts 1856, 4 Gammel’s Laws, p. 459), a point would be reached, the location of which is 691.1 varas east and 1,078.5 varas south of a well-marked corner, being the N. W. corner of Young county, as established and marked by Swindell in 1859 and herein designated as Swindell’s N. W. corner of Young county. The said point, 691.1 varas east and 1,078.5 varas south of Swindell’s N. W. corner of Young county, will be referred to as the Statutory- N. W. corner of Young county. The testimony of the surveyors agreed, and the trial judge found that a line run west from either the Swindell’s N. W. corner or the Statutory N. W. corner of Young county for a distance of 150 miles— thereby allowing 30 miles for the north line of each of the counties of Throckmorton, Has-kell, Stonewall, Kent, and Garza- — would end at a point east and south of the S. E. corner of Lubbock County, as established and marked by Jones in 1892, and herein designated as the J. B. Jones S. E. corner of Lubbock county. The Act of the Legislature of 1876, dividing Young and Bexar territories into counties and defining the boundaries thereof (8 Gammel’s Laws, p. 1070), required the location of the N. W. corner of Floyd county at a point which can be definitely located with reference to the N. W. corner of Young county, as follows: Beginning at the N. W. corner of Young county; thence north 30 miles; thence west 60 miles; thence north 30 miles: thence west 90 miles. It was undisputed that if the N. W. corner of Floyd county be located as above provided, by beginning at the Statutory N. W. corner of Young county, the par[629]*629allel of latitude passing through said Statutory N. W. corner of Young county and the meridian of longitude passing through the N. W. corner of Floyd county would intersect at a point 758.4 raras south and 846.3 varas west of said J. B. Jones S. E. corner of Lubbock county, said point being also 956.3 varas south, and 101.6 varas east of a concrete monument set around an iron pipe, referred to in Williams’ report as the west S. E. corner of Lubbock county, and also sometimes designated as Harris’ S. E. corner of Lubbock county, and which will hereinafter be referred to as the concrete monument. It was also undisputed that, if the N. W. corner of Floyd county be located as above stated, except to begin at Swindell’s N. W. corner of Young county instead of the Statutory N. W. corner of Young county, the parallel of latitude passing through said Swindell’s N. W. corner of Young county, and the meridian of longitude passing through the N. W. corner of Floyd county as so located, would intersect at a point 317.6 varas north and 1,54S.9 varas west of said J. B. Jones S. E. corner of Lubbock county, said point being also 601 varas west and 122 varas north of said concrete monument.

The trial court found, and the finding appears to be unchallenged, “that Lubbock County and Crosby County have, for many years, recognized the east boundary line of Lubbock County, as established by J. B. Jones in 1S92, as the dividing line between said Lubbock and Crosby County.” The court also found that the south boundary lines of'Baylor, Lamb, Terry. Floyd, and Motley counties were well established lines upon the ground, and had been for many year’s recognized as established lines. ' While the last-mentioned finding was challenged by proper assignment, the assignment has not been briefed. We therefore take it to be correct.

Upon these facts the surveyors testified that they would locate the N. W. corner of Garza county each at a different place. Estes would locate it at a point 758.4 varas south and 1,-588.9 varas east of said J. B. Jones S. E. corner of Lubbock county. Estes and Williams regarded the Statutory N. W. corner of Young county as the proper beginning point to make such location, and Twichell was of opinion that Swindell’s N. W. corner of Young county was the proper point to begin. Estes believed that the N. W. corner of Garza county should be located by a measurement due west from the Statutory N. W. corner of Young county for a distance of 150 miles. Twichell would locate said corner at the point 317.6 varas north and 1,548.9 varas west of the J. B. Jones S. E. corner of Lubbock county, and Williams at the point 75S.4 varas south and 846.3 varas west of said J. B. Jones S. E. corner of Lubbock county. The difference of opinion between Williams and Twich-ell as to the point at which the N. W. corner of Garza county should be located was solely the result of their difference of opinion as to whether the Statutory N. W. corner of Young-county or Swindell’s N. W. corner of Young county should be the beginning place for locating the N. W. corner of Floyd county. It therefore appears that the only material difference of opinion of any of the surveyors was the result of their different interpretations of the law creating the counties involved in the controversy, and other counties.

The material provisions of the trial court’s judgment were as follows: The J. B. Jones S. E. corner of Lubbock county was decreed to be the N. W. corner of Garza and N. E. corner of Lynn counties, as well as the S. W. corner of Crosby county. The N. E. corner of Garza, the N. W. corner of Kent, and S. E. corner of Crosby counties was decreed to be a point to be fixed by measuring due east from the J. B. Jones S. E. corner of Lubbock county for a distance of thirty miles. The extension west to the New Mexico state line of the J. B. Jones south line of Lubbock county, as marked upon the ground, was decreed to constitute the dividing line between the counties of Lubbock, Hockley, and Cochran on the north, and Lynn, Terry, and Yoakum on the south. The S. W. corner of Lubbock, N. W. corner of Lynn, N. E. corner of Terry, and S. E. corner of Hockley counties was decreed to be a point 30 miles west of the J. B. Jones S. E. corner of Lubbock county, being the J. B. Jones S. W. corner of Lubbock county as marked on the ground. The N. W. corner of Terry, S. W. corner of Hockley, N. E. corner of Yoakum, and S. E. corner of Cochran was decreed to be a point 30 miles west of the, said J. B. Jones S. W. corner of Lubbock county.

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

Related

In Re Tarrant County
16 S.W.3d 914 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2000)
Cochran County v. Hockley County
158 S.W.2d 102 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1941)
Lynn County v. Garza County
58 S.W.2d 24 (Texas Commission of Appeals, 1933)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
42 S.W.2d 627, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garza-county-v-lynn-county-texapp-1931.