Legal Opinion

Gilbert v. Bell

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided March 15, 1818PublishedCited by 4 opinions

This was a writ of right, prosecuted by the demandants, to recover seisin of a messuage and tenement, with the land under and adjoining the same, situated in Boston, and described in the writ; and the demandants allege that Gibbs Atkins, their father, was seised thereof within forty years next before the date of their writ, and continued so seised until one Nathaniel Hickman, under whom the tenant claimed to hold, afterwards, on the 31st day of December, 1788, unjustly…

Read the full summary

This was a writ of right, prosecuted by the demandants, to recover seisin of a messuage and tenement, with the land under and adjoining the same, situated in Boston, and described in the writ; and the demandants allege that Gibbs Atkins, their father, was seised thereof within forty years next before the date of their writ, and continued so seised until one Nathaniel Hickman, under whom the tenant claimed to hold, afterwards, on the 31st day of December, 1788, unjustly entered and disseised the said Gibbs Atkins. * The tenant claimed the premises as lessee of Mary Dolbeare and others, heirs…

1Opinion of the CourtParker, C. J.

The judgment of confiscation is conclusive against the demandants; and the commonwealth became seised, without the execution of the habere facias possessionem, as was settled in the case of M’Neil vs. Bright & Al. (3) The ground taken by the counsel for the demandants, that the statute which provides for the confiscation of the estates of absentees did not operate upon the estate in question, because Gibbs Atkins did not remain out of the United States during the whole war, cannot be supported. For the obvious meaning of the statute is, that, to be subject to its penalties, the person…

2Cases cited1 opinion

  1. M'Neil v. BrightMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1808

3Cited by4 opinions

  1. Dunlap v. StetsonU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Maine · 1827
  2. Atherton v. JohnsonSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1819
  3. Borland v. DeanU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts · 1826
  4. Jones v. RivesSupreme Court of Alabama · 1841

Showing a preview — retrieve the full document via the Exa API.

Powered by the Exa API