Rogers v. Elliott
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort for a nuisance, namely, the ringing of a church bell. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Staples, J., there was evidence tending to prove that the plaintiff, who lived with his father in a thickly settled portion of Provineetown, had received a sun-stroke, and was carried home and a physician called to attend him; that directly opposite his father’s house across a street but twenty feet in width was a Roman Catholic Church, of which the defendant was the…
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Tort for a nuisance, namely, the ringing of a church bell. At the trial in the Superior Court, before Staples, J., there was evidence tending to prove that the plaintiff, who lived with his father in a thickly settled portion of Provineetown, had received a sun-stroke, and was carried home and a physician called to attend him; that directly opposite his father’s house across a street but twenty feet in width was a Roman Catholic Church, of which the defendant was the clergyman in charge; that one of the incidents of the plaintiff’s illness was that loud noises might throw him into…
1Opinion of the CourtKnowlton, J.
The defendant was the custodian and authorized manager of property of the Roman Catholic Church used for religious worship. The acts for which the plaintiff seeks to hold him responsible were done in the use of this property, and the sole question before us is whether or not that use was unlawful. The plaintiff’s case rests upon the proposition that the ringing of the bell was a nuisance. The consideration of this proposition involves an inquiry into what the defendant could properly do in the use of the real estate which he had in charge, and what was the standard by which his rights were to…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Davis v. SawyerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1882
- Fay v. WhitmanMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1868
3Cited by16 opinions
- Stevens v. Rockport Granite Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1914
- Wheeling & Elm Grove R. R. v. Town of TriadelphiaWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1905
- Strachan v. Beacon Oil Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1925
- Tortorella v. H. Traiser & Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1933
- Wade v. MillerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1905
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