Derby v. Framingham & Lowell Railroad
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Petition in equity, under the Gen. Sts. c. 63, §§ 43, 44, to compel the respondent to erect suitable fences between its land and the land of the petitioner. The answer alleged that the land which the petitioner desired to have separated by a fence was owned by the respondent.
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Petition in equity, under the Gen. Sts. c. 63, §§ 43, 44, to compel the respondent to erect suitable fences between its land and the land of the petitioner. The answer alleged that the land which the petitioner desired to have separated by a fence was owned by the respondent. The case was submitted to the judgment of the court upon an agreed statement of facts, in substance as follows: On March 23, 1872, the petitioner was the owner of a certain tract of land in Concord, containing about ten acres. On that date, the respondent filed in the office of the clerk of the county commissioners of…
1Opinion of the CourtGray, C. J.
A railroad corporation has no right to take and appropriate to its own use lands of any person without a strict compliance with the provisions of the statutes which authorize it so to do. The Gen. Sts. c. 63, § 19, expressly provide that lands without the limits of its railroad shall not be taken without permission of the owner, unless the county commissioners “ first prescribe the limits within which the same may be taken.” As no such limits were prescribed by the commissioners before the respondent in this case filed its location over the land in question, it acquired no right, against the…
2Cited by4 opinions
- Byfield v. City of NewtonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1923
- Lajoie v. City of LowellMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1913
- Hampden Paint & Chemical Co. v. Springfield, Athol & Northeastern RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1878
- Harding v. BiggsMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1899