State v. Culver
Supreme Court of Missouri
Appeal from Andrew Circuit Court—Hon. H. S. Kelly, Judge. The non-user of an easement (a public road) will authorize the holder of the legal title to take possession of such-easement far short of ten years.
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Appeal from Andrew Circuit Court—Hon. H. S. Kelly, Judge. The non-user of an easement (a public road) will authorize the holder of the legal title to take possession of such-easement far short of ten years. The easement is only to the use of the public so long as the public choose to use and enjoy it, and when the public cease to use it, and fail to keep it up as a road, the easement, by operation of law, reverts to the owner of the fee, and the public ought not to be permitted to prosecute him for fencing it up. When the existence of a highway is once established, it continues to be such…
1Opinion of the CourtNorton, J.
Defendant was indicted at the August term, 1874, of the Andrew circuit court, for obstructing a public road by building a fence across it so as to obstruct and injure the passage of the same. He was put upon his trial, *608found guilty, and his fine assessed at $20. TIis motion for new trial having been overruled, he brings the cause here by appeal. The court gave, among others, the following instruction on the part of the State, to which defendant excepted, viz:
3rd. But if you find that the defendant, or those under whom he claims title to bis land, fenced in or across the road, and kept and…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Missouri Institute for the Education of the Blind v. HowSupreme Court of Missouri · 1858
- State v. YoungSupreme Court of Missouri · 1858
3Cited by15 opinions
- Neil v. Independent Realty Co.Supreme Court of Missouri · 1927
- Weber v. City of Iowa CitySupreme Court of Iowa · 1903
- Bayard v. Standard Oil Co.Oregon Supreme Court · 1901
- State v. WellsSupreme Court of Missouri · 1879
- Sikes v. St. Louis & San Francisco RailroadMissouri Court of Appeals · 1907
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