McMahon v. Thornton
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal, No. 127, April T., 1897, by plaintiffs, from judgment of C. P. No. '2, Allegheny County, Oct. Term, 1895, No. 757, on verdict for defendant. Trespass. Before Ewing, P. J. The facts sufficiently appear in the following charge of the court below: Timothy McMahon and Ann, his wife, have brought suit against James Thornton, Jr., to recover damages for injuries to their house.
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Appeal, No. 127, April T., 1897, by plaintiffs, from judgment of C. P. No. '2, Allegheny County, Oct. Term, 1895, No. 757, on verdict for defendant. Trespass. Before Ewing, P. J. The facts sufficiently appear in the following charge of the court below: Timothy McMahon and Ann, his wife, have brought suit against James Thornton, Jr., to recover damages for injuries to their house. The plaintiffs and the defendant own lots adjoining each other, over in the hill district of Allegheny. The McMahon lot fronts twenty-two feet on Carrie street; the Thornton lots fifty feet on Carrie street, and they…
1Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Reeder, J.,
As early as Bentz v. Armstrong, 8 W. & S. 40, it was held that the agricultural rule of drainage as between servient and dominant tenements cannot apply in cities and towns. There can be no question that it is the well-settled principle of law in this state that in agricultural land, the natural flow of water from lands of a higher upon those of a lower level cannot be made the subject of an action for damage._ But a different rule applies in towns and cities, for if the agricultural rule were to be applied to building lots, there could be no adapting the surface of…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Bentz v. ArmstrongSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1844
- Davidson v. SandersSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1896
3Cited by2 opinions
- Rielly v. StephensonSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1908
- Wilson v. McCluskeySuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1911