Putnam v. Bond
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort for trespassing on land in Shirley, along the line oetween that town and Lunenburg, as established by the St. of 1848, c. 194. The answer denied the trespass, and set up title in the defendant’s wife.
Read the full summary
Tort for trespassing on land in Shirley, along the line oetween that town and Lunenburg, as established by the St. of 1848, c. 194. The answer denied the trespass, and set up title in the defendant’s wife. At the trial in the superior court, before Morton, J., the plaintiff introduced a deed from Richard Francis to Simon Francis in 1795 of a lot of land described as in Lunenburg, with the eastern boundary “ to a stake and stones at Shirley line, thence northwardly on said line to land belonging to Jonathan Gowen ; ” also several deeds from Simon Francis’s heirs to the plaintiff, one in 1837,…
1Opinion of the CourtGray, J.
The boundary called for in the deeds of the plaintiff was “ Shirley line,” and in the deed on which the defendant relied, “ Lunenburg line.” These words urould be equally satisfied by the line which was in law the boundary between the two towns, or by a line which was universally considered and reputed to be such boundary at the time of the making of the deeds in question. Evidence was introduced at the trial that the legal line between the towns differed from what it was universally supposed to be, and thus disclosed a latent ambiguity, which could only be cleared up by oral evidence. The…
2Cited by14 opinions
- Mead v. ParkerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1874
- Nickerson v. WeldMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1910
- Commonwealth v. HeffronMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1869
- Aldrich v. GriffithSupreme Court of Vermont · 1893
- Chester Emery Co. v. LucasMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
9 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.