Chicago, Wilmington & Franklin Coal Co. v. Menhall

LINDLEY, District Judge.

Plaintiffs sue to enjoin defendants from interfering with their right to drill for oil and gas upon forty acres of land located in Franklin County, Illinois. Their chain of title discloses conveyances of the coal, oil and gas. Defendants, owners of the surface, have attempted to establish title by adverse possession. But there has been a severance of the two estates since 1918. Since that time the owners of the surface have paid the taxes upon their estate and plaintiff coal company has paid the taxes upon the severed mineral estate. Consequently under the well…