Thompson v. Maloney

65 N.E. 236, 199 Ill. 276
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 25, 1902
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 65 N.E. 236 (Thompson v. Maloney) 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
Thompson v. Maloney, 65 N.E. 236, 199 Ill. 276 (Ill. 1902).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Boggs

delivered the opinion of the court:

John H. Thompson, of Cook county, Illinois, died May 16, 1891, leaving as his only heirs-at-law Payson Thompson and Victoria C. Thompson, the plaintiffs in error, and the defendant in error Watts C. Thompson, (an insane person,) and Benjamin P. C. Thompson, now deceased. This is a bill in chancery filed during the lifetime of said Benjamin P. C. Thompson by himself and the other heirs of the said John H. Thompson, deceased, (except said Watts C. Thompson, who, being insane, was made defendant,) against the defendant in error Patrick J. Maloney. The bill alleg'ed that said John H. Thompson died seized of the title to lot No. 32 in block 1, in Blair’s subdivision of part of the south-west quarter of section 10, town 38, north, range 14, east of the third principal meridian, in Cook county, and also of an easement in that certain strip, piece or parcel of ground thirty-three feet in width adjoining said lot 32 on the north, and running westward from Indiana avenue to the alley west of Michigan avenue, (describing the same by metes and bounds,) for the purpose of a private street or alleyway and of furnishing light, air and access to the said lot; that the title to the said lot and to the easement aforesaid descended to the persons hereinbefore named as the heirs of said deceased. The bill further alleged that the defendant in error Maloney had built, or partially built, a fence, and also a cement sidewalk, across the east end of said thirty-three foot strip, and threatens to build said .fence completely around said strip and entirely enclose the same, and prayed for a decree enjoining and restraining the said Maloney from in any way interfering with the free and uninterrupted use and enjoyment of the said easement by said heirs of the said John H. Thompson, deceased. The defendant in error Mary D. Abel, by leave of the court, filed an answer to the bill and also filed a cross-bill. The cross-bill and answer alleged, in substance, that said Mrs. Abel was the owner of lot No. 1 in block 1, in said Blair’s subdivision, and also of a like interest in the said easement in said thirty-three foot strip, and asked the same relief prayed in the original bill. The defendant in error Maloney answered the bill and the cross-bill, and replication was filed thereto. The cause was heard in open court, submitted to the chancellor, and a decree was entered dismissing the bill and cross-bill for want of equity, and dissolving the temporary injunction and awarding the defendant in error Maloney a decree for damages in the sum of §300. This is a writ of error sued out to reverse the decree.

On October 14, 1859, a map or plat entitled “Blair’s subdivision of a part of the west half of the south-west quarter of section 10, T. 38 N., R 14 E.,” was recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of Cook county, on page 60 of book 160 of maps. The plat is as follows:

The lots belonging to plaintiffs in error and to Mrs. Abel, and the strip or street here involved, are marked with an X.

The plat was executed by Johnson M. Welch, as attorney in fact for the said James G-. Blair. The power of attorney so authorizing said Welch to sign, certify, execute and cause to be recorded said plat was proven to have been executed by the said Blair on the 10th day of October, 1859, and to have been recorded in the office of the recorder of Cook county on the 14th day of October, 1859, being the same day that the plat was filed for record. The plat not having been executed and acknowledged by Blair, but by Welch, as attorney in fact, did not constitute a statutory dedication of the streets and alleys to the city of Chicago. (Gosselin v. City of Chicago, 103 Ill. 623.) In such cases the title to the streets, alleys, etc., is in the owner of the tract platted, and there remains so long as he retains the ownership of all the lots shown on the plc/t. If, however, he sells a lot, describing it in the deed by reference to the plat, the title to the soil of the street in front of the lot, to the center of the street, by operation of law attaches to the fee of the lot, and the proprietor of the plat ceases to be the owner in fee of such portion of the street.

In Clark v. McCormick, 174 Ill. 164, speaking of a plat which failed to accomplish a statutory dedication of the streets and alleys, we said (p. 174): “Bach purchaser of a block in the subdivision is presumed to have bought in view of the system of streets and ways designed by the proprietor of the plat to provide means of ingress and egress to and from all parts of the platted ground, not only for the use of the owners and occupants of the lots or blocks, but all who might desire to pass along such streets and ways. The arrangement of streets and ways formed a part of the consideration of the purchase of each block or part thereof, not only as between the original proprietor of the plat and those who purchase from him, but also as between all subsequent vendors and vendees. The original proprietor sold to his vendee the rights and privileges of the streets, and each subsequent vendor passed such rights to his vendee. The law implies mutual agreements between all such parties that the streets shall always remain open for use as platted. * * * The fee to the strips in question is attached to the fee in the blocks upon which the streets abut, and rests in the owners of such blocks. It is not a title vesting in the owners of the blocks the ownership of the strips as separate, independent property, which may be detached from and sold distinct from the blocks, but it passes to any subsequent holder of the blocks.”

In Hamilton v. Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Co. 124 Ill. 235, we said (p. 248): “The doctrine is, that a conveyance of a lot abutting on a highway or street, where there has been no statutory dedication, conveys the grantor’s interest in the street to the center. * * * We hold, in accordance with the doctrine of the Littler case, 106 Ill. 353, that an acceptance is necessary to make a complete dedication under the statute; that until acceptance the fee does not vest in the municipality, but remains in the original proprietor. Hence a conveyance of the lots before acceptance carries the title to the center of the street.”

In Davenport Bridge Co. v. Johnson, 188 Ill. 472, the plat of the town of Stephenson was not authenticated as required by law, and we held the fee to the streets did not pass to the municipality, but that the execution and recording of the plat operated as a conveyance to the abutting lot owners of the fee of the streets to the center thereof. This fee attaches to the ownership of lots and passes with each conveyance of the lots, and is burdened with the easement of use in the public. Thomsen v. McCormick, 136 Ill. 135, and Henderson v. Hattermav, 146 id. 555, affirm the doctrine that the grantees in the deeds for lots in a plat that does not fulfill statutory requirements take title to the center of the street on which such lots abut.

It will be observed the strip of ground in controversy is not given the name of a street on the plat. The plat shows a space north of and adjoining lots Nos. 32 and 1 in block 1, and lot 1 in block 2, in which are found the figures “33” at the easterly and westerly end's thereof. It is urged there is nothing upon the plat to indicate that it was the intention of the proprietor of the.

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Bluebook (online)
65 N.E. 236, 199 Ill. 276, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-maloney-ill-1902.