Barrows v. McDermott
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
On report. Trespass qu. cl. submitted to the court upon agreed statement of facts which are substantially stated in the opinion. The fact that the public had, for many years, to wit, thirty-five years, had access to the pond on said close, for the purpose of fishing, conferred no right upon defendant to enter plaintiff’s close for any purpose. The public cannot acquire an easement by prescription in land for the purpose of taking fish.
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On report. Trespass qu. cl. submitted to the court upon agreed statement of facts which are substantially stated in the opinion. The fact that the public had, for many years, to wit, thirty-five years, had access to the pond on said close, for the purpose of fishing, conferred no right upon defendant to enter plaintiff’s close for any purpose. The public cannot acquire an easement by prescription in land for the purpose of taking fish. A custom by the public, to take a profit from the land of another, is bad. Waters v. Lilley, 4 Pick. 145; Littlefield v. Maxwell, 31 Maine, 134. The defendant…
1Opinion of the CourtBarrows, J.
The substance of the admitted facts upon which this case is presented for decision is as follows : In the summer of 1880, the plaintiff held as proprietor a tract of land in the township of Howard, containing a natural pond covering about twenty acres called Grindstone Pond, surrounded by wild and uncultivated land with the exception of a single piece of about two acres which had been cleared and cultivated, adjacent to the pond, but upon which no crops were raised or grass cut in 1880. To protect and increase the propagation of fish in this pond the plaintiff had forbidden all persons from…
2Cases cited5 opinions
- Storer v. FreemanMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1810
- Burnham v. WebsterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1809
- Codman v. WinslowMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1813
- Nickerson v. BrackettMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1813
- Commonwealth v. TiffanyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1876
3Cited by15 opinions
- Bell v. Town of WellsSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1989
- Bossmiller v. StateWisconsin Supreme Court · 1902
- Bogle Farms, Inc. v. BacaNew Mexico Supreme Court · 1996
- Opinion of the JusticesSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1981
- Bell v. Town of WellsSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1986
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