Cavanagh v. City of Boston
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort for injuries occasioned by the construction of a dam. across South Bay, in Boston. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Staples, J., the plaintiffs’ evidence tended to show the following facts: At the time of the acts complained of, the plaintiffs were, and have ever since been, the owners in fee of the northerly half of Wales Island and the flats adjacent thereto, situated in said South Bay.
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Tort for injuries occasioned by the construction of a dam. across South Bay, in Boston. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Staples, J., the plaintiffs’ evidence tended to show the following facts: At the time of the acts complained of, the plaintiffs were, and have ever since been, the owners in fee of the northerly half of Wales Island and the flats adjacent thereto, situated in said South Bay. At a meeting of the common council of the city of' Boston, held on June 3,1880, the following order was passed: “ Ordered, That the board of health be requested to cause to be abated the…
1Opinion of the CourtC. Allen, J.
The difficulty with the plaintiffs’ case is, that neither the board of health nor the city government had any authority to abate the nuisance in the manner which was adopted. That manner was by the erection of a dam, the easterly portion of which was built across the flats and upon the upland of the plaintiffs, for the purpose of raising the water so as to flow over other flats away from the flats of the plaintiffs ; the plaintiffs’ evidence tending to show that no nuisance existed on their own flats. This was an occupation of the plaintiffs’ land which the city had no power to make, without…
2Cases cited12 opinions
- Dingley v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1868
- Cobb v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
- Bancroft v. City of CambridgeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1879
- Cobb v. City of BostonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1872
- Lemon v. City of NewtonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1883
7 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by27 opinions
- City of Birmingham v. BrownSupreme Court of Alabama · 1941
- Causby v. United StatesUnited States Court of Claims · 1945
- Becker v. City of La CrosseWisconsin Supreme Court · 1898
- Sullivan v. CommonwealthMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1957
- Donable's Administrator v. Town of HarrisonburgSupreme Court of Virginia · 1905
22 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.