Swinney v. Ft. Wayne, Muncie & Cincinnati R. R.

59 Ind. 205
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1877
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 59 Ind. 205 (Swinney v. Ft. Wayne, Muncie & Cincinnati R. R.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Swinney v. Ft. Wayne, Muncie & Cincinnati R. R., 59 Ind. 205 (Ind. 1877).

Opinion

Biddle, C. J.

— Proceedings commenced in the Allen Circuit Court, hy the appellee, to appropriate certain lands belonging to the appellant, for railroad purposes, under An act to provide for the incorporation of railroad companies,” approved May 11th, 1852. 1 R. S. 1876, p. 696.

Sections 14 and 15 of the act are as follows:

“ Sec. 14. In case any company formed under this act, is unable to agree for the purchase of any real estate, in any county, required for the construction of the track, turn-outs, and water stations, it shall have the right to acquire the title to the same in the manner and by the special proceedings prescribed in this act.
“ Sec. 15. Such company is hereby authorized to enter upon any land for the purpose of examining and surveying its railroad line, and may appropriate so much thereof as may be deemed necessary for its railroad, including necessary side-tracks and water stations, materials for constructing, except timber, a right of way over adjacent lands, sufficient to enable such company to construct and repair its road, and a right to conduct water by aqueducts, and the right of making proper drains. The corporation shall forthwith deposit with the clerk of the circuit or other court of record of the county where the land lies, [208]*208a description of the rights and interests intended to be appropriated, and such land, rights and interests shall belong to such company, to use for the purpose specified, by making or tendering payment as hereinafter provided. The corporation may, by its directors, purchase any such lands, materials, right of way, or interest of the owner of said land; or, in case the same is owned by a person insane or an infant, at a price to be agreed upon by the regularly constituted guardian or parent of said insane person or infant, if the same shall be appraised by the court in which the description aforesaid shall be filed, and on such agreement and approval, the owner, guardian, or parent, as the case may be, shall convey the said premises, so purchased, in fee simple or otherwise, as the parties may agree, to such railroad company; and the deed, when made, shall be deemed valid in law. If the corporation shall not agree with the owner of the land, or with his guardian, if the owner is incapable of contracting touching the damages sustained by such' appropriation, such corporation shall deliver to such owner or guardian, if within the county, a copy of such instrument of appropriation. If the owner or his guardian, in case such owner is incapable of contracting, be unknown or do not reside within the county, such corporation shall publish, in some newspaper of general circulation in the county, for the term, of three weeks, an advertisement, reciting the substance of such instrument of appropriation. Upon fixing [filing ?] such act of appropriation and delivery of such copy, on making such publication, the circuit court or other court of record in the county where the land lies, or any judge thereof in vacation, upon the application of either party, shall appoint by warrant, three disinterested freeholders of such county to appraise the damages which the owner of the land may sustain by such appropriation; such appraisers shall be duly sworn; they shall consider the injury which such owner may sustain by reason of such railroad, and shall forthwith return their assessment of damages [209]*209to the clerk of such court, setting forth the value of the property taken, or injury done to the property, which they assess to the owner, or owners, separately, to be by him filed and recorded; and thereupon such corporation shall pay to said clerk the amount thus assessed, or teuder the same to the party in whose favor the damages are awarded or assessed; and on making payment of [or] tender thereof, in the manner herein required, it shall be lawful for such corporation to hold the interests in such lands or materials so appropriated, and the privilege of using any materials on said roadway within fifty feet on each side of the centre of such roadway, for the uses aforesaid. The cost of such award shall be paid by such company ; and on notice by any party interested and showing said proceedings, the court may order payment thereof, and enforce such payment by execution. The award of said arbitrators may be reviewed by the circuit court or other court in which such proceedings may be had, on written exceptions filed by either party in the clerk’s office, within ten days .after the filing of such award, and the court shall take such order therein as right and justice may require, by ordering a new appraisement, on good cause shown. Provided, That notwithstanding such appeal, such company may take possession of the property therein described, as aforesaid, and the Subsequent proceedings'' on the appeal shall only affect the amount of compensation to be allowed; if, prior to the assessment, the corpo-ration shall tender to such owner, or his guardian, if he be unable to contract, an amount equal to the award afterwards made, exclusive of costs, the costs of arbitration shall be paid equally, by such company and such owner or guardian.”

The instrument of appropriation is as follows :

“ TheEort "Wayne, Muncie & Cincinnati Railway Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Indiana, do hereby signify the desi-re and intention of [210]*210said company to enter upon, use, hold and appropriate so much of the west half of section ten (10), township thirty (30) north, of range twelve (12) east, situated in Allen county, Indiana, and as is deemed necessary for said railroad for its roadway, side-tracks and water stations and connections, described as follows, to wit: ”

Here the tract of land intended to be appropriated is particularly described, and said to contain twelve acres and twenty-eight hundredths of an acre.

At what date the instrument of appropriation was filed with the clerk does not appear, hut it was filed before the appointment of the appraisers. On the presentation to the Allen Circuit Court of the instrument of appropriation and affidavit of service, that court, on the 23d day of June, 1870, in open court, appointed three appraisers as contemplated by section 15 of the act. On the 29th day of the same month, the appraisers returned into court their award, assessing the damages at two thousand dollars. On the 16th day of July, 1870, the railroad company paid into court the amount of the damages assessed.

Without showing the previous filing of any exceptions, the record shows, that on the 23d day of November, 1870j the parties appeared, and the plaintiff moved to strike out the exceptions of the defendant to the award.

On the 1st day of February, 1871, this motion was sustained in part and overruled in part, and the defendant filed his amended exceptions, as the record states.

We find in the record, first, an amended second exception, and then a series of exceptions numbered from one to ten, inclusive. Then follow a third and fourth amended exceptions.

The defendant then withdrew the ninth and tenth exceptions, and the plaintiff* filed an answer to the third exception.

A demurrer was filed to the answer, which was sustained.

[211]*211The plaintiff then filed a general denial of all the exceptions remaining in the record.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 Ind. 205, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/swinney-v-ft-wayne-muncie-cincinnati-r-r-ind-1877.