McCall's Heirs v. Anchors and Smith
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Common Pleas of Butler county. This was an ejectment for 100 acres of land, by McCall and others, heirs of Archibald McCall, vs. Anchors and Smith. Defendants claimed by possession, taken in 1840. Verdict for plaintiffs. The tract of land, of which the land in dispute is a part, was surveyed on 29th March, 1837, by Thos. H. Lyon, deputy surveyor, and contains 451 acres and 40 perches; which was given in evidence as the official survey of the whole tract.
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Error to the Common Pleas of Butler county. This was an ejectment for 100 acres of land, by McCall and others, heirs of Archibald McCall, vs. Anchors and Smith. Defendants claimed by possession, taken in 1840. Verdict for plaintiffs. The tract of land, of which the land in dispute is a part, was surveyed on 29th March, 1837, by Thos. H. Lyon, deputy surveyor, and contains 451 acres and 40 perches; which was given in evidence as the official survey of the whole tract. In the spring of 1799, Henry Murphy settled on the tract, but not on the part in dispute, and in July of the same year he left…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, by
Coulter, J.
— Black, having completed the residence and settlement of five years, under the act of 3d April, 1792, relative to the sale of lands north and west of the Allegheny river, had acquired a substantial equity in the land.
Whether that would be considered as abandoned by an absence short of twenty years, or not, it is not necessary to decide in this case; because, even if it might be so abandoned, the settler would have an undoubted right to return, and resume his equity before any other individual had settled on the land, or the commonwealth,…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Gibson v. RobbinsSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1839