273 Pa. 208 | Pa. | 1922
Opinion by
By proprietary patent, dated March 27, 1775, there was conveyed in fee to Colonel John Armstrong 556% acres of land, a grant fully protected by the Act of November 27, 1779. Later, it was proposed that a county town be laid out upon this tract, and, as appears by a recital in a subsequent deed, Armstrong agreed with the governor, in consideration of one-half the sums received from sales of all the town lots, to execute and deliver a deed of conveyance, in fee simple, for 150 acres, to be used for this purpose. In 1797, the land in question passed by devise to the two sons of the first grantee.
By Act of April 6,1802, authority was given five commissioners to determine the most eligible site for the erection of public buildings in Armstrong County, which county had been organized March 12, 1800. Trustees were appointed in 1803 to survey 150 acres of the land, including a convenient lot or lots, not exceeding two acres, upon which the necessary structures for public use should be erected. The following year, a map of the town was prepared, by which it appeared two corners of the public square were reserved for this purpose, the plat returned to the Commonwealth being so marked. On December 17, 1804, a deed in fee simple, without limitation of any kind, was executed by the owners, in which the trustees were named as grantees, and, subsequently, on November 3,1807, they conveyed to the Commissioners of Armstrong County. Upon one of the lots, in question, the courthouse and other public structures were built, and maintained until 1850, when new buildings became necessary, and the older ones were abandoned.
The legislature in 1851 (Act April 8, 1851, P. L. 361), authorized the division of the land into lots, to be sold by the county commissioners for the highest prices obtainable, with power to execute the necessary deeds in fee simple, the proceeds to be paid to the county treasurer. The tract was divided into eighteen parts; fifteen
Defendants desired to make sale of the land in their possession. A claim of ownership was made by Armstrong County, it insisting there had been a dedication of the entire courthouse plot for public uses, which made its transfer legally impossible for any other purposes than those originally intended, and that the legislature was without power to authorize the sale, as it had done by the Acts of 1851 and 1872. A rule to bring ejectment resulted in the present proceeding. Testimony showing the record title was offered by plaintiff, and evidence in explanation of the possession of defendants was submitted. Upon undisputed facts, the court below directed a verdict for defendants. This appeal was taken from the judgment subsequently entered.
Was the court house lot dedicated to public purposes? Clearly, this was not done by the Commonwealth, as the patent was directly from the Penns to Armstrong; nor can it be said that this happened as a result of the promise, of the first owner, to the governor, to deed in fee simple to the trustees of Armstrong County, in consideration of the laying out by the legislature of a county town, thus increasing the value of the other land, laid out into lots, one-half of the proceeds of which was to be paid to him. And the claimant is not aided by the
This conclusion renders unnecessary a discussion of the other suggestions made. If the county owned the land in fee, then clearly the legislative authorization to sell was permissible. The inability of defendants to produce the formal conveyance of lot No. 4 does not affect the result. “After a great lapse of time, and a series of
What has been said, sufficiently disposes of the assignments of error; all are overruled, and the judgment is affirmed.