Indiana, Illinois & Iowa Railroad v. Conness

Appellant filed its petition in the county court of LaSalle county to ascertain the compensation to be paid to appellee, John W. Conness, for a strip of land, containing about five acres, taken from the north side of the south-west quarter of section 24, township 31, range 2, in said county. The defendant filed his cross-petition, which, as amended, alleged that he was the owner of said south-west quarter; that his mother, Mary Conness, owned a life estate in the adjoining north-west quarter of said section, and that he and his brother, Benjamin F. Conness, were the owners, in equal shares,…