John H. Heald Co. v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co.

In 1840 the James River and Kanawha Company, pursuant to authority previously granted to it by the General Assembly of Virginia, completed its canal along James River from Richmond to Lynchburg as a means of public transportation.

But the development of the railroad as a superior method of transportation and the severe flood damage suffered by the canal and its locks in 1877 practically put an end to the undertaking. Consequently, by an act approved February 27, 1879 (Acts of 1878-79, ch. 139, p. 118), the General Assembly authorized the sale of all of the properties, rights, franchises, etc.,…