Knight v. Heaton
Supreme Court of Vermont
Trespass guare clausum, fregit. The case was referred under a rule from the county court, and the referee reported the facts as follows.
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Trespass guare clausum, fregit. The case was referred under a rule from the county court, and the referee reported the facts as follows. The selectmen of Thetford, in 1819, laid out and surveyed a public highway in Thetford, three rods in width, which was opened for public travel in 1820, and has ever since continued to be an open public highway ; but the road was so fenced, as to leave less than three rods in width between the fences, and so continued most of the time until 1845, when the selectmen of Thetford directed the plaintiff, in writing, to remove his fence to the easterly line of…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Redfield, J.
Upon two grounds it seems to us, the plaintiff is entitled to be quieted in his possession of more than twenty years, against a re-survey of the adjoining highway, even against the rights of the public, notwithstanding nullum tempus occurrit regi.
1. Such along possession is the most conclusive evidence of what was, at the date of the survey, considered its true location, as a long possession under a deed is the most satisfactory evidence of the true location of the thing granted. 2. If it could now be shown, beyond all controversy, that the…
2Cited by13 opinions
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- Callaway County v. NolleySupreme Court of Missouri · 1861
- Dugan v. ZurmuehlenSupreme Court of Iowa · 1927
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