Veghte v. Hoagland

29 N.J.L. 125
CourtSupreme Court of New Jersey
DecidedFebruary 15, 1861
StatusPublished

This text of 29 N.J.L. 125 (Veghte v. Hoagland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Veghte v. Hoagland, 29 N.J.L. 125 (N.J. 1861).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Whelpley, C. J.

This ease comes before the court by writ of error to the Somerest Circuit Court. The judgment was in favor of the defendant in error, for damages sustained by breach of an agreement .under seal, entered into between the parties on the 23d July, 1838, by which Hoagland, in consideration of one dollar, covenanted to allow Veghte full power, authority and permission to erect a mill-dam on the land of Hoagland, at Griggstown, in Somerset county, at a bend of the Millstone river, and full power, authority and permission to stop a large ditch that then led from above the dam of the mill, formerly in the possession of William C. Elmendorf, to a point below the dam; and Veghte agreed to stop up the said ditch, provided it should be fouud to his interest to do so; and that he should dig a ditch from the above-mentioned ditch, through the lowlands of the plaintiff, to fall into the river below the said new dam; and the plaintiff agreed to grant to defendant full power and authority and permission to dig the said last-mentioned ditch; and further, that defendant should have authority and permission to go upon the land of the plaintiff, with [127]*127wagons, horses, and workmen, as might be necessary to complete the said dam and the stopping up and digging of the said ditches, and such other work as might be necessary in the construction of his mill and the appurtenances thereunto; and it was agreed between the parties that all damages sustained by the said plaintiff, by reason of the privileges and authority therein granted to the defendant, should be paid by the defendant to the plaintiff’, which damages were to be appraised by two disinterested persons, one selected by each of the parties to the agreement; a third to be selected by the two, in case of their disagreement. The report of any two of them to be final and conclusive between the parties.

To this declaration the defendant filed six pleas, to the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth of which the plaintiff demurred. The demurrer was sustained as to all the pleas demurred to; and after a trial upon the issues joined upon the first and second pleas and verdict for the plaintiff, the case is brought here, and errors assigned upon the judgment on the issues of law and upon the charge of the court to the jury.

The declaration sets forth, as a breach of the agreement, that the plaintiff permitted the defendant to erect, and that he did erect the mill-dam as stipulated; and that the defendant stopped up the ditch, and dug the other ditch specified in the agreement; and that defendant went upon the lands of plaintiff’ with wagons, horses, and workmen, and completed the dam, and stopped up and dug the ditches, and did such other work as was necessary in the construction of the mill and its appurtenances; that by reason thereof, the waters of the Millstone were made to overflow the lands of the plaintiff, from the 22d November, 1849, to the commencement of the suit, whereby the lands of the plaintiff were greatly injured by water soaking and washing away, and the fences on the land were carried away, and the horses and cattle of plaintiff pasturing the lands were carried away, per quod the plaintiff sustained damages in manner afore[128]*128said, and the plaintiff was thereby deprived of the use of his land from the 25th of November, 1849, to the commencement of this suit; that the defendant, on the 28th May, 1855, was requested to pay the damages sustained, .and refused to do so; that on that day plaintiff selected, under the agreement, David Dunn to appraise the said damages, and requested the defendant to select another person to act with him, as specified in the agreement, and that the defendant neglected and refused, and still neglects and refuses to do so.

The third plea is in bar of the action, and sets up the appointment under the agreement, on the 1st of October, 1845, of persons to assess the damages, as in the agreement prescribed, and an award made by them on the 13th of October, 1845, in writing, of and concerning the premises, and that they awarded, of and concerning the damages referred to them, for damages and loss sustained by the plaintiff by the erection of the said mill-dam, up to the 13th October; 1845, as follows: two acres and a half of the said meadow lot washed away so as to be valueless, $150; one acre damaged in part, $25; other damages, $100.

The plea avers payment of this award to plaintiff.

Without stating in detail the allegations of the three other pleas demurred to, it.is sufficient here to say that the fourth and fifth pleas set up the making of two subsequent awards and the payment of the moneys awarded to the plaintiff by defendant.

The last plea sets up as a bar that the plaintiff refused, on request of the defendant, to limit the submission to damages not included in the former awards, and that for that reason defendant refused to appoint an arbitrator.

The main point relied upon for the reversal of the judgment goes to the merits of the plaintiff’s case, and will be first considered.

1. That the damages contemplated by the agreement were entire, the subject matter of one submission and one award, which should be final between the parties.

[129]*1292. That, although the award on its face was only for the damages sustained up to a certain time by reason of the acts dono under the agreement, yet it was final as to all damages submitted, or which might have been submitted to the arbitrament of the persons chosen to assess the damages.

The agreement was for the sale of certain privileges by the plaintiff to the defendant: the erection of a mill-dam on the lands of plaintiff; the stoppage of a certain ditch on the plaintiff’s land ; the cutting of a new ditch over the plaintiff’s lowlands ; the doing upon the plaintiff’s land of all work necessary to complete the dam, stop up and dig the ditches, and all other work necessary in the construction of defendant’s mill.

The parties were not able to agree as to the price to be paid for these privileges, and agreed to leave the assessment of the price to arbitrators, who were to appraise all damages sustained by the plaintiff by reason of the privileges and authority granted to the defendant: the award was to be final and eon-elusive between the parties.

The damages sustained by reason of the privileges granted was the extent to which the value of the plaintiff’s lands was impaired by having these burthens imposed on them by having them exposed to the damages incident to the exercise . and enjoyment of such privileges.

The plaintiff parted with the privileges, and the defendant acquired them irrevocably, as soon as the agreement was executed.

No time is fixed when the appraisement was to be made or the privileges exercised. As soon as the burthen was fastened upon the plaintiff’s lands, their value was injured- — he sustained damage. He could not sell them with this encumbrance upon them without a diminution of the price. No reason is perceived why he could not have immediately called for an appraisement of his damages sustained by the granting of the privileges. If the plaintiff’s right to the appraisement was not complete as soon [130]*130as the privilege passed, when did it arise ? Might he call for an appraisement, day by day, as the work progressed, or must he wait until all the work was done — all the privileges had been enjoyed ?

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
29 N.J.L. 125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/veghte-v-hoagland-nj-1861.