Smith v. Beck
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Common Pleas of Venango county. This was an ejectment brought by Beck against Smith for 100 acres of land in the purchase of 1784. Both parties claimed by actual settlement. The land in dispute is part of a larger tract settled by one Moorhead in 1833, who excluded it from his claim by an official survey made that year; after this, Kennedy commenced a settlement on the land, but did not pursue it.
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Error to the Common Pleas of Venango county. This was an ejectment brought by Beck against Smith for 100 acres of land in the purchase of 1784. Both parties claimed by actual settlement. The land in dispute is part of a larger tract settled by one Moorhead in 1833, who excluded it from his claim by an official survey made that year; after this, Kennedy commenced a settlement on the land, but did not pursue it. Moorhead then having sold his other land, commenced a clearing on this, and gave it up or sold it to one Shannon, who, after deadening some trees, left without doing more. Early in 1839…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Lewis, C. J.
A title by settlement differs in many essential particulars from one acquired under the Statute of Limitations. The first is by right, the last by wrong. The occupier in the first case is a purchaser, in the last a disseisor. The first exists only where the land is vacant, the last where it has been previously appropriated. In the first an actual residence is absolutely indispensable ; in the last possession alone, without residence, is sufficient. In the first the residence must be continued until the title is taken out of the land office;…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Lessee of M'Laughlin v. MayburySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1808
- Myers v. MyersSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1839