Whyte v. City of St. Louis

54 S.W. 478, 153 Mo. 80, 1899 Mo. LEXIS 274
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedDecember 19, 1899
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 54 S.W. 478 (Whyte v. City of St. Louis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whyte v. City of St. Louis, 54 S.W. 478, 153 Mo. 80, 1899 Mo. LEXIS 274 (Mo. 1899).

Opinion

BURGESS, J.

This is ejectment to recover possession of a.small tract of land in the city of St. Louis, described as follows:

“That parcel of land situate in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, in Duchoquette’s Addition thereto, lying contiguous to 'the Mississippi river and opposite City Block 870 of said city, containing three hundred and ninety-eight feet and two inches along the Mississippi river, and running back therefrom three hundred and seven feet; bounded north by land [83]*83opposite.City Block 869; east by the Mississippi river at low water mark and west by said City Block 870.”

The suit was instituted on tbe seventeenth day of September, 1880, in the name of Joseph T. Tatum, trustee of Virginia Lynch, and Virginia Lynch, plaintiffs, v. The City of St. Louis, defeildant. Subsequently to the commencement of the action the interest of Mrs. Lynch was assigned to 'the present plaintiff, Victoria D. Whyte, who was substituted as plaintiff.

The case was before this court on a former occasion under the style of Tatum v. St. Louis, 125 Mo. 647, when the judgment was reversed and the cause remanded. After the cause was remanded defendant filed an amended answer, in which it denied all allegations in. the petition, pleaded the ten year statute of limitations, alleged that it had been in the open, notorious, adverse, continuous and exclusive possession of the land since 1851, claiming to be the owner thereof, and averring that plaintiff and those «under whom she claims title were estopped by their acts and admissions from claiming the land.

-The facts disclosed upon the last trial except as before stated were not materially different from the first, except there was some evidence tending to sustain the defense of estoppel,, and are fully stated in that case.

The case was tried by the court, a jury being waived. At the request of plaintiff the court over the objection and exception of defendant declared the law to be as follows:

1. If the court shall find, and believe from the evidence that the property sued for is west of the center thread of the slough that once existed between Duncan’s island and the Missouri shore, provided that the court find that such slough existed, and that the same was formed by gradual accretions caused by natural or artificial means, against lot 4 of the Brazeau tract, then said property is a part of said lot 4.

2. If the court shall find and«believe from the evidence that no filling was done in-the river in front of lot 4 by the [84]*84Iron Mountain Railroad Company, then the operations of said company in no manner affect the issues in this case.

5. If the court shall find and believe from the evidence that the Sectional Dock Company did not occupy any part of the property sued for prior to 1876, then the plaintiff’s action is not barred by limitation.

6. If the court shall find and believe from the evidence that in the partition proceedings of 1855, in evidence, between Mr. and Mrs. Lynch, and Victoria Duchouquette, it is expressly stated in the commissioner’s report, and on the plat, that Eront street and the wharf are not dedicated nor set apart as public highways or for public use, but are open for the sole and especial use and benefit of the owners of the several lots fronting thereon, then this constituted no transfer of the interests of the parties to said partition in said property to the public.

7. The court declares the law to be that, under the conveyances in evidence on the part of the plaintiff, if the court believe the same to be genuine, and the proof of heirships, if the court believe the same to be true, the title to the shore lands to which it is claimed the premises sued for are an accretion, was fully vested in those under whom plaintiff claims 'title.

8. The court declares the law to be that the deeds,.read in evidence by the defendant, relating to property in block 870, do not constitute, nor does any of them, a defense of this action.

9. The court declares the law to be that, under the evidence in this case, the plaintiff’s action is not barred by limitation.

10. The court declares the law to be that the title, under the Brazeau concession, extended to 'the Mississippi river on the east, and covered all the land and the accretions thereto to the water’s edge, and the city -could not, nor could any person, by filling up the river front, or by building dykes in the river,. [85]*85deprive 'the plaintiff or her predecessors in the title of their riparian rights.

And over the objection and exception of plaintiff the court refused the following instructions:

3. If the court shall find and believe from the evidence that the defendant has not used 'the property in front of block 870 as a wharf, and has not built a wharf there, then it took nothing under the so-called license of 1851 signed by Mrs. Lynch and others, in evidence in this case.

4. If the court shall find and believe from the evidence that a bridge company occupied the premises sued for from 1871 to 1874, as tenant of Mrs. Lynch, and paid rent therefor, and used the same for storing stones, then this operated as a revocation of the so-called license of 1851 signed by Mr*. Lynch and others in evidence in this case.

11. The court declares the law to be that, under the pleadings and evidence, the plaintiff is entitled to judgment for the possession of the following described premises, namely: A lot of ground in Duchouquette’s Addition to the city of S'fc. Louis, bounded on the north by a line coincident with the north line of Douchouquette street, produced eastwardly to the Missisippi river, on the east by the Mississippi river; on the south by a line 398 feet two inches south of and parallel with the north line above mentioned, and on the west by the east line of block 870, and the plaintiff is further entitled to a judgment for such damage as the court may believe from the evidence she is entitled to, for the detention of said property from September 17,1880,to the present time; and the monthly rents shall be established in said judgment at such sum as the court shall find and believe from 'the evidence the same are worth.

12. The court declares the law to be, that the acts and conduct of Henry O. Lynch, as shown by the testimony, during the time he was the owner of the premises in controversy, or any part thereof, from 1854 to 1870, both inclusive, do not [86]*86establish, an estoppel against said Lynch, or against plaintiff claiming under him, or deprive plaintiff of any rights she may otherwise have to maintain this action.

Defendant asked the court to declare the law to be, “That upon the evidence adduced the plaintiff is not entitled to recover, and the judgment must be for defendant.” The court refused to so declare the law, and the defendant duly excepted.

The court then found, that at the commencement of this suit Virginia Lynch, the original plaintiff herein, was the owner in fee and entitled to the possession of all that part of the land sued for which lies west of the west line of Front street and the wharf as established, and, defined by ordinance 2596 of the city of St.

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Bluebook (online)
54 S.W. 478, 153 Mo. 80, 1899 Mo. LEXIS 274, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whyte-v-city-of-st-louis-mo-1899.