Bates v. Smith
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Tort against the members of the parish committee of the First Parish in Dedham, for trespassing on the plaintiff’s close adjoining the burial ground of the defendants’ parish, and digging away an embankment there built by the plaintiff to protect his land from the flow of surface water from lands adjoining.
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Tort against the members of the parish committee of the First Parish in Dedham, for trespassing on the plaintiff’s close adjoining the burial ground of the defendants’ parish, and digging away an embankment there built by the plaintiff to protect his land from the flow of surface water from lands adjoining. The defendants answered, admitting that they entered the plaintiff’s close and dug a small trench through his embankment; and alleged “ that there was a valley in the land of the burial ground, sloping down to the close of the plaintiff, which valley extended, still sloping, down through…
1Opinion of the CourtChapman, C. J.
A proprietor of land may erect structures upon it as solid and as high as he pleases, without regard to their effect upon surface water which would otherwise come from the adjoining lands upon his soil. Gannon v. Hargadon, 10 Allen, 107. Franklin v. Fisk, 13 Allen, 211. The fact that the adjoining land is occupied for a burial ground does not abridge his rights in this respect. The erection of a structure which prevents the surface water that gathers upon the burial ground from flowing off over his land is not a violation of Gen. Sts. c. 28, § 12, or c. 165, § 39; for the proprietors of the…
2Cited by15 opinions
- Taylor v. FickasIndiana Supreme Court · 1878
- Cass v. DicksWashington Supreme Court · 1896
- Bates v. Inhabitants of WestboroughMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1890
- Eaton v. B. C. & M. R. R.Supreme Court of New Hampshire · 1872
- Morrissey v. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RailroadNebraska Supreme Court · 1893
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