Drake v. Hamilton Woolen Co.
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Complaint under the mill act, Gen. Sts. c. 149; referred in the superior court, by agreement of the parties and under a rule of the court, to arbitrators, who returned an award in favor of the complainant, of which the following are the material parts: “ The complainant’s land, for the injury to which he seeks compensation by this proceeding, is situated on the banks of a natural pond in the town of Holland, commonly known as Holland Pond.
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Complaint under the mill act, Gen. Sts. c. 149; referred in the superior court, by agreement of the parties and under a rule of the court, to arbitrators, who returned an award in favor of the complainant, of which the following are the material parts: “ The complainant’s land, for the injury to which he seeks compensation by this proceeding, is situated on the banks of a natural pond in the town of Holland, commonly known as Holland Pond. The Quinebaug River flows through this land, and empties into and passes through said pond. In the year 1865 the respondents erected a dam across said…
1Opinion of the CourtChapman, C. J.
This case depends principally upon the rights of the parties at common law. The rights of riparian proprietors to vary the natural flow of a stream in order to use it most advantageously for the working of mills was thoroughly considered in the case of Gould v. Boston Duck Co. 13 Gray, 449. In that case the plaintiff was proprietor of an ancient mill. The defendants had, within twenty years, built a factory a short distance above the plaintiff’s mill, and erected a dam across the stream, by means of which they raised a large pond. Their works did not, in ordinary stages of the water, affect…
2Cited by8 opinions
- Whitney v. Wheeler Cotton MillsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1890
- Duncan v. New England Power Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1924
- Duncan v. New England Power Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1916
- Baldwin v. Ohio TownshipSupreme Court of Kansas · 1904
- Brown v. DeNormandieSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1924
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