Wooldridge v. Smith
Supreme Court of Missouri
Appeal from Pettis Circuit Court. — Hon. Louis Hoffman, Judge. No particular form or ceremony is necessary to dedicate land for the purpose of a cemetery. An express setting apart of land for such, a purpose by tbe owner may constitute a dedication of tbe land as a. burial ground and where there was evidence of an intent to dedicate, no particular form is necessary.
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Appeal from Pettis Circuit Court. — Hon. Louis Hoffman, Judge. No particular form or ceremony is necessary to dedicate land for the purpose of a cemetery. An express setting apart of land for such, a purpose by tbe owner may constitute a dedication of tbe land as a. burial ground and where there was evidence of an intent to dedicate, no particular form is necessary. Property which has been notoriously used for upwards of twenty years as a burial place will be presumed to have been dedicated as such and one asserting legal title to the land will be estopped from claiming it, by his own…
1Opinion of the CourtLeaves, P. J.
Bill in equity seeking injunctive relief. Plaintiffs are lineal descendants of Powhatan Wooldridge who died in the year 1862. The bone of contention is the right to a tract of ground ten by thirty feet on which are the graves of the said Powhatan Wooldridge, his wife, and several of his relatives.
■The petition charges that the plaintiffs “are and have been for more than twenty years the owners and in possession of” the tract of land in dispute. The petition further avers “that said tract of land has been for more than twenty years used exclusively as a family burying ground by the plaintiffs…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Tracy v. BittleSupreme Court of Missouri · 1908
3Cited by23 opinions
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- Three-O-Three Investments, Inc. v. MoffittMissouri Court of Appeals · 1981
- Billings v. PaineSupreme Court of Missouri · 1959
- Schlafly v. BaumannSupreme Court of Missouri · 1937
- Morgan v. Collins School HouseMississippi Supreme Court · 1931
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