Lease v. Vance
Supreme Court of Iowa
Appeal from General Term, Sixth District ( Washington Gountg). Action to recover for half the value of a partition fence and for its use. The facts found by the court below, stated in a condensed form, are as follows : The fence is of hedge, entirely on plaintiff’s land, and from five to ten feet from the division line between the parties. It was put there twenty years since by plaintiff’s grantor.
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Appeal from General Term, Sixth District ( Washington Gountg). Action to recover for half the value of a partition fence and for its use. The facts found by the court below, stated in a condensed form, are as follows : The fence is of hedge, entirely on plaintiff’s land, and from five to ten feet from the division line between the parties. It was put there twenty years since by plaintiff’s grantor. Plaintiff occupied and owned the land for four years before commencing this action, and defendant has owned and occupied his land for about the same time. The fence was erected wholly at the…
1Opinion of the Court
"Wright, J.
In our opinion, the application of one plain principle to the facts of this case must result in its reversal. And that is, that when a statute creates a liability and gives a right not known to the common law, — such statute at the same time giving a specific mode for the assertion of the right — that mode and that alone must be pursued.
Now, defendant’s obligation to erect, maintain or contribute to this partition fence, in the absence of prescription or agreement, rests entirely on statute, and is unknown to the common law. Chapter 61 of the Eevision, on the subject of fences,…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Cole v. City of MuscatineSupreme Court of Iowa · 1862
- Schnare v. GehmanSupreme Court of Iowa · 1859
3Cited by11 opinions
- Casey v. St. Louis Transit Co.Missouri Court of Appeals · 1905
- Ross v. JonesSupreme Court of the United States · 1875
- Snyder v. DavenportSupreme Court of Iowa · 1982
- Jefferson County Farm Bureau v. ShermanSupreme Court of Iowa · 1929
- Hawkeye Life Insurance v. Valley-Des Moines Co.Supreme Court of Iowa · 1935
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