Colburn v. Richards
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Trespass for breaking and entering the close of the plaintiffs, and destroying a certain water-gate, &c. The parties submitted the action to the determination of the Court upon the following case, namely ; — The plaintiffs are seized and possessed of the meadow described in their declaration, through which runs an ancient watercourse ; and about seven years since, for the purpose of irrigating and fertilizing their said meadow, they erected a dam, and placed a gate, at a…
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Trespass for breaking and entering the close of the plaintiffs, and destroying a certain water-gate, &c. The parties submitted the action to the determination of the Court upon the following case, namely ; — The plaintiffs are seized and possessed of the meadow described in their declaration, through which runs an ancient watercourse ; and about seven years since, for the purpose of irrigating and fertilizing their said meadow, they erected a dam, and placed a gate, at a place in the said meadow where were the remains of an old dam, but where there had been no dam, within the memory of man,…
1Opinion of the CourtParker, C. J.
In the case of Hodges vs. Raymond & al., cited from 9 Mass. Rep. 316, the common law doctrine is recognized ; one, having a right to a watercourse to carry his mill, may justify entering upon the land of one who has erected any obstruction, to remove it. That is precisely the case of the defendant in this action ; unless the purpose for which the dam was erected by the plaintiff, namely, to irrigate and fertilize his meadow, forms an exception to the general rule of law.
*338According to the case cited from 1 Wils. 175, the plaintiffs had no right to adopt any new measure to irrigate *their land,…
2Cited by21 opinions
- Lux v. HagginCalifornia Supreme Court · 1886
- Lux v. HagginCalifornia Supreme Court · 1886
- McBRYDE SUGAR COMPANY, LIMITED v. RobinsonHawaii Supreme Court · 1973
- Brown v. ChadbourneSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1849
- Stein v. BurdenSupreme Court of Alabama · 1856
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