Wilson v. Lane

144 P. 230, 93 Kan. 178, 1914 Kan. LEXIS 405
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedNovember 14, 1914
DocketNo. 18,031
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 144 P. 230 (Wilson v. Lane) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. Lane, 144 P. 230, 93 Kan. 178, 1914 Kan. LEXIS 405 (kan 1914).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Benson, J.:

This is an appeal from a judgment refusing an injunction to restrain the construction of a sidewalk along the south side of plaintiff’s lot in the defendant city, upon a line designated for that purpose by municipal authority.

The controlling fact to be determined was the location of the true boundary of the plaintiff’s lot.

The plat of the town site of Neosho Falls was recorded in 1860. The stakes of the original survey have long since disappeared. Trees were set out by early settlers, supposed to be in the streets outside of the lines of the contemplated sidewalks. Some of the witnesses testified to an understanding that a city ordinance authorized the erection of fences in the streets to protect the trees so planted. It appears that fences have long been maintained for- that purpose. An old resident testified:

“The council gave us outside of our line, six feet outside of that for our fence to protect the trees, until almost, we thought that was the line of the street; in fact, some of them thought they did.”

A witness who had lived in .Neosho Falls since 1857 testified:

“They did n’t have any sidewalks there in the early days. When the people set out trees, they generally built a fence far enough out to protect them. When there was ever a sidewalk built they aimed to have the [180]*180trees all on the outside of the walk. When the trees were set out I put fences on the outside of the trees to protect them, and most did. When they set the trees out it was intended if they ever did build a sidewalk they could put the sidewalk on the inside of the trees.”

Another witness who had lived in the city forty years testified:

“I remember the early practice in the city of putting out trees and then building a fence clear outside of the trees; I have known.that to be done, to quite a considerable extent; you might say the habit.”

There was further testimony to the same effect.

Sidewalks were not built upon residence streets until within the past two or three years. In laying these walks it was found that some of the trees were not in straight rows, and to avoid their destruction walks have been laid in irregular lines in some places..

The walk in question was ordered to be built along the north side of Eighth street, between Oak street and Main street. Eighth street extends east and west, and Oak and Main streets extend north and south. Blocks 27, 28, and 29 are situated between these two streets. The lots front east and west: Lot 5 in block 27, owned by the plaintiff, extends from Pecan street, which is next east of Oak street,- along the north side of Eighth street, east 130 feet to an alley. There is a row of large-trees along the Eighth street frontage of this lot, and a fence built by a former owner of the lot, outside of the trees, has stood there for twenty years. The plaintiff contends that this fence is on the south boundary of his lot. The city contends that the lot line is inside the row of trees far enough to allow room in the street for the proposed walk.

To fix the location of the walk in question, the mayor and council caused a survey to be made and -the line to be marked by stakes. The survey was begun at the intersection of Main and Fifth streets, supposed by [181]*181the surveyor and generally understood by the citizens to be a section corner. The surveyor testified:

“Started at the section corner in .the center of Main street and Fifth. Found the section corner there; it was the section corner that folks said had been.there all the time. ... I did not find on the stone where I started at the supposed corner of the sections in Main street a stone with the government markings on it. I don’t know whether it is a government stone or not; we did n’t dig it up; we dug down to it and seen it was a line stone; I did n’t dig clear to it to examine it. I based my survey on the theory that that was a government or section corner. ... I found this stone to be in the center of Fifth street, or nearly so, as compared with the improvements made on both sides of the street.”

There was other testimony to the effect that the center of Fifth and Main streets had long been recognized as a section corner. A witness who had lived in the city since 1868 testified:

“There used to be a stone up there in Main Street; intersection of Main and Fifth' Street, commonly referred to as a section corner; I have n’t noticed it for some years, but in there, no doubt; used to be right there in the center of the street; as far back as I know anything about the town. It stood there until just a few years ago, but has n’t been there very many years ago. It was in the center of Main Street and Fifth. I have not seen it recently. Not since this controversy came on. The stone in the center of Main and Fifth Street has been recognized as a regular government stone ever since I’ve been there, as long as it stood there.”

Another witness who had lived in Neosho Falls before the plat of the town site was made and is now a councilman, testified:

“I have a corner down there in the center of Main and Fifth Streets.- I have known of its being there ever since I have known the town; practically so. I might have noticed it along the first of the years, but ever since I became acquainted with Neosho Falls I have known that there was a corner stone. . . . [182]*182I can’t say I have ever heard the location of that stone in the center of Main and Fifth Streets questioned until this controversy came up.”

From this point so designated as a section corner the survey was made west to a stone in the west line of Oak street, which was found to be in the center of Fifth street by measuring 30 feet north and south respectively to the line of improvements. The surveyor testified that the stone last referred to was recognized by all “as the comer that had always been there.” •Without following the survey further in detail, it is sufficient to say that, based upon the starting point at the section-line corner and the stone so found in Fifth street at the west line of Oak street, the surveyor located the north line of Eighth street on the west side of Oak street, and from that point east past the plain* tiff’s lot to the west line of Main street at a point designated as Bishop’s corner. Outside of this line and within the line of the plaintiff’s fence' referred to, stakes were set for the walk in question.

. The line of this walk from Oak street to Main street, including three blocks and crossings of two intervening streets, was thus established’inside, that is, north of the row of trees before referred to. Along the plaintiff’s property the trees are over fifteen inches in diameter. No notice was given of the survey. Other lot owners were present when it was made, and it does not appear that objections were made to the location of the walk except by the plaintiff. Beginning at Oak street the owner of the first lot built his part of the walk on the designated line. A part of the walk was also built east of the plaintiff’s property. The walk is not in an entirely straight line from Main street to Oak street, but is deflected somewhat in places to avoid injury to the trees.

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

Related

City of Hutchinson v. White
233 P. 508 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1925)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
144 P. 230, 93 Kan. 178, 1914 Kan. LEXIS 405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-lane-kan-1914.