9 Cow. 530 | Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors | 1827
delivered the opinion of the court. The defendants in error in this cause, claiming to be entitled each to one ninth part of a "farm in the "town of Schodack, in Rensselaer county,, presented their petition to the "Supreme court, at the August term of that court, in the year 1823, under the act of, 12th of April, 1813, for the partition of land's, stating that each of them was seised -in fee of the ninth part of the premises as tenants in common, and that Clapp, the plaintiff in error, 'was tenant uncommon, as purchaser, from one Peter Bromagham, of the ninth part thereof; and that the owners of the residue were unknown to them, the petitioners ,; *and praying that commissioners might be appointed according to law, to make partition thereof. Clapp, the plaintiff in error, pleaded in bar to the demand of the "petitioners for partition erf the said premises, sole seisin of the same in fee in himself, at the time of preferring the petition, and at all times after-wards, with a traverse of the alleged seisin of the petitioners or either of them, as tenants in common thereof; and to this plea subjoined a notice of his intention to give in evidence, at the trial, that the "petitioners never Were seised of the premises, but that, on the contrary, he at the
The petitioners, in their replication, protesting that the defendant below was not solely seised and possessed as by him alleged in his plea, take issue upon the traverse, and say, that they, the petitioners, are seised of the premises as tenants in common, in manner and form as alleged by them in their petition. Upon this issue the parties went to trial, and the bill of exceptions taken at the trial, presents the facts which give rise to the questions now before the court.
It appears, from the testimony disclosed by the record, that William Bromagham, deceased, the father of the petitioners, was, in his lifetime, seised of the premises in fee, subject to an annual rent reserved by the deed of conveyance, and made payable to the grantor and his heirs and assigns for ever; that William Bromagham, about four years before his death, became a lunatic; and that his sons Peter and Isaac, by the common consent of the family, took the charge, possession and management of his farm; that Peter was, on application to the court of chancery, appointed the committee of the person and estate of the lunatic; that Peter, shortly before, or after his appointment as committee, purchased the share and interest of Isaac in the premises ; that William Bromagham, the lunatic, died January 15th, 1799, leaving nine children, among whom were the petitioners, and Peter and Isaac Bromagham; that Peter, the committee of the lunatic, *had the sole possession of the whole of the premises at the time of the death of the lunatic, and claimed to'be the absolute and exclusive owner of the same ; that he continued to hold the same as his own, adversely to all other persons, until the 29th of November, 1802, when he contracted for the bargain and sale of the same to John Clapp, the plaintiff in error, for £1000, and agreed to deliver the possession of the farm to Clapp, on or before the first day of May then next; that the possession
These are the prominent facts of the case. The judge was of opinion that the petitioners had maintained the issue on their part, and were entitled to the three-ninths of the premises claimed by them as tenants in common with Clapp and the other unknown owners; and so charged the jury, who found a verdict accordingly; and the supreme court have confirmed the opinion expressed by the judge at the trial, and given judgment on the verdict.
The questions for the consideration of this court, then, are, what the issue between the parties was? How far that issue was sustained by the petitioners ? What points of law were involved in it, and how they were settled by the supreme court, and whether the decision of them was correct or not ?
The issue was upon the seisin and possession of the re r petitioners. The petition alleged that each petitioner was seised of one equal undivided ninth part of the premises, as tenant in common in fee. The defendant’s plea is, sole seisin in himself, with a traverse of the alleged seisin of the petitioners; and the petitioners take issue on the traverse, reiterating the allegations of the petition ; that they were seised of the premises as tenants in common, in manner and from as *alleged in their petition. It was incumbent, then, upon the petitioners, on this issue, to prove that they were seised as tenants in common of the shares of the premises claimed by them, at the time of presenting the petition.
It is not the finding of the jury, but the opinion and charge of the judge which induced that finding, that are brought before us for review; and we are not to look to the formal Verdict on the record, but to the evidence returned to us in the bill of exceptions, for the matters that bear upon the points on which we are to adjudicate. Now, the bill of exceptions clearly shows, that the fact of the sole and exclusive possession of the farm, by Clapp, the defendant below, as the absolute owner of it, claiming the title adversely to the petitioners for more than 20 years without interruption, claim or disturbance from them, was fully proved; and it was assumed, and in terms, conceded by the court below, on their decision of the cause. That fact, therefore, not having been drawn in question, cannot be intended to have been passed upon by the jury. It was the legal effect of that fact upon this case, that was the point in dispute between the parties ; and that legal effect was a question of law. In ordinary cases between strangers, litigating in possessory actions, such a possession would be a conclusive defence in law against the claimant. If it was unavailing to this defendant in this form of action, the inefficacy of it must proceed • either from some relation between the parties as joint owners, or from the nature and form of the remedy by partition.
These parties, it is said, stood in the relation of tenants in common to each other ; and the possession ot one of them was, in judgment of law, the possession of all of them
Lord Mansfield in the case of Doe v. Prosser, (Cowper,
Anciently the rule, was, that an actual ouster or forcible dispossession of the co-tenant was necessary to constitute a disseisin. That rule was afterwards relaxed, and the exclusive receipt of the profits by one, withholding from his companion all participation in them, or an actual hindrance of the companion from entering or sharing the possession, was adjudged to be sufficient evidence of an adverse holding. And afterwards it was held, in Doe v. Reid, (11 East, 51,) that one tenant in common in possession, claiming the whole and denying possession to the .other, is evidence of an ouster; and that it is not indispensably necessary to make the possession adverse, that there be a receipt of the rents, and an actual hindrance of the co-tenant from entering. Nor has this rule been recently introduced. It obtained in England long prior to the separation of this country from that. It is laid down in Viner’s Abridgment, that although the entry of one tenant ir. common is the entry of both, yet, if one enter, claiming
In 2 Atkeyns, 632, Ld. Hardwicke ruled that a fine and non-claim by a tenant in common will bar his companion, if he does not call the party to an account for the profits ; for this, he observes, has always been admitted to be evidence of an ouster.
The supreme court of the United States, in Ricard v. Williams, (7 Wheaton 60,) take the true distinction. There is no doubt, they say, that in general, the entry oi one heir will enure to the benefit of all; and that, if the entry is made *as heir, and without claim of an exclusive title, it will, be deemed an entry, not adverse to, but in consonance with the rights of the other heirs ; but it is as clear that one heir may disseise his co-heirs, and hold an adverse possession against them as well as a stranger ; and that notwithstanding an entry as heir, he may afterwards, by disseisin of his co-heirs, acquire an exclusive possession on which the statute will run. They admit that an ouster or disseisin is not to be presumed from the mere fact of sole possession; but they say, that it may be proved by such possession, accompanied with a notorious claim of an exclusive right. In that case, the entry was made by an heir under an exclusive claim to the whole, not by descent; hut by the title distinct or paramount; and -it was held that there was no incapacity in the heir to claim an estate by title distinct or paramount to that of his ancestor ; and if his possession is exclusive under such claim, and he holds all other persons out until the statute period has run, he is entitled to the full benefit and protection of the bar.
These principles appear to me to apply to this case, and to govern it. Here was an entry by Peter, claiming the whole ; he was in possession claiming the entire estate;
The deed of conveyance from Peter Bromagham to Clapp was not produced; but the agreement was sufficient to show that the entry and possession were under a claim of title ; and the confidence of Clapp in the validity of that title is' conclusively shown by the consideration he paid for the land.
*It is settled by the decisions of this court, that it is enough that the possessor be in under a claim of title to clothe it with the character of an adverse holding, and to give it efficacy as a defence, when of sufficient age to be a bar ; and that an invalid or defective title, if believed to be good,
Conceding, then, for the sake of the argument, that Peter had no title to the shares of the farm now claimed by the petitioners, but held them by wrong; still, if his possession was a desseisin or deforcement, Clapp is entitled to the
But, it was contended that the purchase and possession ^aPP were fraudulent; and if that objection to the title was well founded, it might be fatal; for fraud vitiates whatever it touches.
The rules of law, therefore, relative to notice, or the sufficiency of disclosures to put the party on enquiry, are inapplicable. To affect the defendant with fraud, clear and positive proof was necessary. It ought to have been shown that he knew Peter’s title to be bad, and that the same belonged in fact to all the heirs of the ancestor; or that the petitioners were entitled to the shares they now claim to belong to them, and with such knowledge, colluded with Peter to defraud them. Not a trace of any such evidence appears. The only circumstance from which any knowledge, by Clapp, of the family, can be inferred, is, that he knew Isaac to be *the brother of Peter. But the knowledge of that fact, so far from leading to any doubt of Peter’s, ownership, seems to me strongly to confirm the truth of his representation; for Isaac stands by, and sees Peter contract for the sale of the whole farm, without objecting to the sale or intimating to the purchaser a doubt of Peter’s right to sell. Fairness required a disclosure of the adverse claim of the other members of the family, if any claims were made by them; and the purchaser had reason to conclude that Peter was, as he appeared and assumed to be, the real and sole owner of the farm. It appears that part of the purchase money remained unpaid
Can these petitioners be heard to charge this purchaser with fraud, or be permitted to found any claim upon the presumption of his knowledge of their rights ? If they have established a title, and if this suit is the proper mode of availing themselves of it, and they are in season to assert their claim, the courts will enforce it. But the defendant below is entitled to all the protection this court can give to a bona fide purchaser for a valuable and full consideration ; and his defence is entitled to attention.
To return then to the issue between the parties. I concur in the opinion of the supreme court, that the possessory right, or the right of entry of all the petitioners, was barred by the lapse of time; upwards of 20 years’ possession having run against them all, and more than ten years having elapsed since the death of the husband of Jemima, who was under coverture when the disseisin or adverse possession commenced. Then did the petitioners prove the issue on their part, and show that they were seised of three-ninths of the premises as tenants in common with the defendant ?
Seisin imports possession; and when averred in pleading is predicated of the possession in fact of the premises. Thus, in writs of right, the demandant claims the right and inheritance, and avers his seisin in the past time, not the present ; alleging that he was seised within twenty-five years, and not that he is seised. So, in the writ of entry, a similar form is used in alleging the seisin ; and the reason is, that in both cases the plaintiff has been ousted of his possession, and cannot, *with truth, aver himself to be seised. But in partition, the plaintiff or petitioner must allege that he is seised, which imports a present possession as tenant in common or coparcener; and hence it is that non insimul tenent is the appropriate issue in partition, because the parties cannot hold together unless their possession as well as their titles, are in common. The fact of an adverse
Now it is admitted, that the possession was held by Clapp adversely to the petitioners, at the time of presenting the petition. It follows, that, if adverse possession has the same operation and effect as a disseisin before a descent is cast" or the entry is tolled by lapse of time, the petitioners were not seised of any part of the premises, at that time, as tenants in common ; and they failed in the issue. The verdict of the jury therefore, ought, in such case, to have been against them and no judgment of partition given.
Coke,- in his commentary on Littleton, says, that if one coparcener disseise another, during the disseisin a writ of partition does not lie between them. The text of Littleton and the Year. Books sustain the position; and the reason given for it is, that they do not hold together and undivided. (Co. Lit. 167, b. 4 H. 7, fol. 9, b. 11, Ass. 23.) Yet the disseisee has a right of entry, and is entitled to his share of the estate when reduced to possession; and if it be a decisive objection to a partition, that one of the tenants in common is disseised by the other, on the ground that, during ..such disseisin, they do not hold • together,1 the same objection applies with equal force and upon the same reason, to ,the case of adverse possession ; for, in that case, as in disseisin, they do not, during the continuance of the adverse .possession, hold together. The law, as laid down by Coke, is recognised by Baron Comyn in his valuable Digest; and Viner in his Abridgment, treating of partition by coparceners, observes that the word tenet in a writ *always implies a tenant of the freehold; and therefore if one of them be disseised-by the other, no writ of partition lies. (16 Viner, 225, partition,) 1.
In the case of Bradshaw v. Callighan, in this court, (8 John. 558,) the rule was admitted, that if one coparcener is disseised by another, no writ of partition will lie; and the reason there given, is, that in England the word
In this case, the petitioners never had a seisin of any part of the premises, unless they acquired it by the entry or possession of Peter ; for he had exclusively the possession at the death of his father; and if he held that possession for .himself solely, and kept out the rest of the heirs, he was a deforciant, and they had neither a seisin in fact nor in law of the undivided shares they claim. But if they ever could be regarded as constructively in possession by the entry of Peter, their coparcener, they were ousted by his subsequent acts and sale to Clapp; and from that period, at all events, the possession has been adverse; and they have had no seisin of the premises.
It was strenuously contended on the argument, that this adverse possession was a disseisin, and some of the later cases countenance the opinion, that an adverse possession is a disseisin. To many purposes, it may be so considered; and though there are points in which they differ, yet in the aspects under which we are now viewing them, they are" substantially the same, and produce the same effect upon the title. The disseisor, if he continue himself to occupy the premises, may at anytime before the right of entry is lost by lapse of time, be evicted by the disseisee; and so may the adverse possessor; and in such cases, where no descent is cast, the adverse possession, if suffered to run, will mature into right as soon as the disseisin. It is not material, therefore, for the purposes of this suit, to enter into a critical enquiry of the relative properties of disseisin and adverse possession, or to note the distinctions between them. It is well *settled that the adverse possession of one tenant in common or co-parcéner is an ouster of the co-tenants ; and that a continuance of it for twenty years as effectually tolls the entry as disseisin of the same duration, or a descent cast upon the heir of the disseisor. In this case there has been an adverse possession for more than twenty years. I am not now called upon, therefore,
But suppose the adverse possession to differ from the . ..... , disseisin m this; that until it toils the entry it will not distm’b seisin of the co-tenants, who are kept out by the usurper, nor obstruct the prosecution of a writ of partition, (which is the broadest, concession that can be asked for,) ^he right of entry in this case was tolled; qnd how then can it be contended that the seisin of the petitioners continued, or that partition could be demanded by them ? They were, in the language of the law, divested of all title to the land but the mere right; and were put to their writ uPon that right as their only remedy for the recovery of the part of the estate they claimed. It is clear, that the party who has lost both the possession and the right of p0ssessi0n, and has a mere right only, is not seised of the estate, either in fact or in law. How then could these petitioners sustain the averment of seisin 'in the petition, or the issue taken on the. traverse ? Why was not the proof of adverse possession for twenty years a decisive defence - and if so, how could the suit for partition be maintained before they had regained the seisin and posses- . r ■ SlOn 01 tilB IcVnd. .
But this was a proceeding under the statute of this state for the partition of land, and not a Writ of partition at common law; and it was assumed in argument, that the jurisdiction of courts of law, on petition for partition, has been extended by the act to cases of the mere right, equally with those of the seisin and possession of the petitioners.' A brief *view of the provisions of the act will be necessary to test the accuracy of this position.
The act (1 R. L. 507,) provides, that where any lands, tenements or hereditaments, shall be held in joint tenancy, tenancy in common, or coparcenary, it shall be lawful for any one or more of the parties interested therein, to pre
*The supreme court, in the case of Ferris v. Smith, (17 John. 221,) proceed upon the same ground, and hold that the plea of non tenent insimul is not supported by showifig the quantity of'interest to vary from the statement of the petition; but is maintained by showing that the defendant
This construction of the act is fortified by the provisions contained in the 13th section of it, by which it is enacted, that nothing contained in the act shall be construed in any manner to authorize the revival or prosecution of any claim *to lands which might otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations, or by the acquiescence of any party having such claim; or to aid the prosecution of any claim that may not be-so barred; but every such claim shall'be and remain in the same situation as if the act had not been
But the -legislature deemed it unfit that the possession should be disturbed by proceedings for partition of premises held adversely to the petitioners; or that a party who has no right to enter upon the land, and enjoy it in common, should be entitled to have a part of it set off to him to hold in severalty. The right to have the estate divided, pre-supposes an acknowledged right to the possession and enjoyment of the part of it to which the petitioner claims to be entitled. It is the partition of lands in the possession of the part owners, that the act intends; and not the recovery of the possession of premises which are held adversely to the petitioners ; and the act therefore limits the partition it authorises, to estates and interests actually held in common; requires the petitioners to set forth the rights and titles of the parties; and gives the defendants who appear, the plea of non tenent insimul as the general issue ; thereby authorising an issue which shall dblige the petitioners to show a seisin in themselves, to establish a right to a partition ; and the lawgivers, for greater caution, in terms forbid any construction to be given to the act, or ■use to be made of it, which shall in any way control or interfere with the operation of the statute of limitations, *or aid the petitioners in obviating the impediments to the recovery of the premises they claim, from the provisions of that statute, or from their own acquiescence. Would the terms of those provisions of the partition act be satisfied,
But again, if the true construction of the act should be held to admit of an issue between the parties upon the mere right, must it not still be at the election of the defendant to tender that issue, or an issue upon the right of' possession ? The act allows him to plead any special plea, or the general plea of non tenent insimul, with notice of any special matter that might be pleaded, ', Now, if under this permission, the mise might be joined upon the mere right, yet the defendant clearly is not limited to that issue, but is in terms, allowed to plead the general issue, peculiar to the writ of partition, or to plead any special plea he chooses. In this case he has elected to plead sole seisin, and to traverse the seisin of the petitioners; and on that traverse the issue was joined. Must not the parties, then, be confined to that issue? And could the petitioners under it recover upon the mere right; or must they not show an actual seisin, or at least, a right of entry, to entitle them to a verdict ? To obviate these difficulties, it was said that the proceedings in partition were not calculated or intended for the recovery of the possession, but to ascertain and determine the rights of the parties ; and that the petitioners, after the judgment in partition, would be left to recover the shares allotted to them, in the action of ejectment or writ of right; to which actions the statute of limitations would remain a bar. But a moment’s attention to the results of the judgment in partition will show this reasoning to be illusory and unsound. The judgment in partition, it is true, does not of itself change the possession ; but it establishes the title, and in an ejectment or writ of right, must be conclusive. The suit will be brought by the party, not for his undivided part, but for his separate share of the premises allotted to him on the partition, and the judgment of the court, adjudging that share to belong to him, and allotting it to him to hold *in sev ■
But again; suppose the premises, instead of being divided by the commissioners, should be sold under the 5th section of the partition act; must not the moneys raised by the sale be distributed among the parties to the petition ? The direction of the act to distribute, when the owners are known, is express and general; there is no exception to it; and adverse possession would surely not be a sufficient bar to such distribution. The intention and direction of the act clearly is, that the money shall, in all cases of sale, be distributed among the parties whose shares and interests have been ascertained and determined, according to their rights as adjudged by the court; and the intention must, therefore, in my judgment, be that the parties must establish their rights'to the seisin and possession of the premises, as well as the mere right, before judgment can be given for either a partition or sale of the estate ; since the party having the possessory right vested in him at the time of the petition for partition must, upon any other construction of the act, lose the whole benefit, in case of the sale of the premises, of the statute of limitations for the protection of such right of possession. Was it not the obvious intention of the legislature in the 13th section of the partition act, to guard against its interference with the provisions of the
Now, the possessor who has held adversely for 20 years, has acquired a right of possession which the statute of limitations will protect against an ejectment or writ of entry. But a sale in partition, if authorised by the act, must divest him of that right, and take from him his possession, and he sustains an irreparable loss by the operation; for his right of possession gives him no claim to the money raised by the sale. If, under other circumstances, any such claim .could have been preferred, it is excluded by the judgment of the court, by which the title of the land, and the right of the proceeds of the sale of it, are adjudged to belong to another.
But again; why should the party in possession be subjected to the vexation, trouble and expense of a suit for partition, by a claimant who is out of possession, before his right to the possession of the undivided .part he claims is established ? If the judgment in partition is to be used against the party in possession, then the assailant will be furnished with a weapon against which the shield of the statute of limitations will be no protection; and, if the judgment is not to be used, the claimant may be unable to recover the possession of the share set apart to him; and the proceedings in partition would, in such case, be nugatory, and involve the party in possession in a useless and onerous charge. In the present case, if the petitioners are to be put to their writ of right after the partition, for the recovery of the part allotted to them, and the statute of limitations is to run against them to the time they bring their writ, considering that the adverse possession against them is admitted to have commenced as early as the 3d of May, 1803, and is claimed to be of anterior date and origin, they may be too late to recover on any mise to which they could entitle themselves. But if they are in time foi
But it is said to have been decided by the supreme judicial court of the state of Massachusetts, that actual seism is not necessary to maintain the statute process for partition; and the case of Barnard v. Pope, (14 Mass. Rep. 434,) is cited as the authority for the position. In that case there had been a sole possession for only ten years; there had been no actual ouster, nor any refusal to account for the rents and profits; and the court say that the right of entry remained at the time of filing the petition ; and they held that under those circumstances, there was a sufficient.seisin to maintain the process. In a previous case, in the same court, between Bonner and others and The Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase, (7 Mass. Rep. 475,) it had been ruled that actual seisin in the petitioners was necessary to maintain the process for partition; and Chief Justice Parker distinguishes the case before him from that case, on the ground that the right of entry in that case was gone; but that in the case before him it remained. He admits the rule of the common law and the English statutes to be, that a writ of partition cannot be maintained by a tenant in common who has been dis seised; but he takes the ground that the possession of one tenant in common is the possession of all; and the t there must be overt acts of ouster, or a sole and exclusive posses
The principle of that case, therefore, would protect the defendant in this ; for, in this case, the right of entry was tolled by twenty years adverse possession. The case cited from Harris & McHenry’s Reports shows that the same rule prevails in the state of Maryland; and that an adverse possession for 20 years is held by the courts of that state to be a bar to a partition. (2 Harris & McHenry, 254.) This case with those before cited to the same point, shows that the rule in England and in our sister states of Massachusetts and' Maryland require a right of entry, at least, in a plaintiff or petitioner, to enable him to sustain the writ or statute process for partition. Our partition act is full as restrictive in its provisions, if not more so, than those of Massachusetts or Maryland; and it would seem strange, therefore, that our 'courts .should allow greater latitude to the petitioners than the courts of those states.
In the court of chancery, which has an extensive jurisdic in partition, and is in the habitual exercise of it, the course is to' require that the title of the complainant be first established, before partition is decreed. An adverse possession for twenty years would' be a fatal objection; and when interposed, must invariably stay the proceedings. The bill may not be dismissed; but the cause must stand over until the complainant establishes his right and recovers the seisin and possession at law. In analogy to the course of that court, the just and reasonable construction of the partition act would fairly admit, and I think requires, the same rule to be applied to the proceedings in the supreme court. The only difference is, that in equity, the bill, if filed, will
*But it is said by the supreme court to be the duty of that court to ascertain and determine the respective rights of the parties, and to give judgment that partition be made according thereto. The answer is, that that duty does not devolve upon the court until after the final determination of all the issues between the parties ; and is never to be performed unless those issues, which involve the right of the petitioners to partition, terminate favorably to them. After the issues of fact between the parties are settled by the jury, and the questions of law that may arise upon them are disposed of by the court, if the objections to the petition are removed, it does become the duty of -the court to ascertain and determine the rights of the parties, and give judgment according to those rights. But the right to the partition is a preliminary question; and may depend upon either the facts of the case or the law arising upon them; and if any issue in law or in fact which may be taken upon that preliminary question, is decided against the petitioner, and is decisive of that question, his petition must be dismissed ; and no judgment of partition can be given. The error of the supreme court in this case appears to me to consist in their proceeding to judgment of -partition on the petition. An issue of fact had been joined upon the seisin of the petitioners, which involved the right to a partition ; and the evidence on that issue was decisive against them. The verdict of the jury, it is true, is in favor of the plaintiffs or petitioners; but that verdict was given under and in conformity to the charge of the circuit judge, before whom the issue was tried, to which the counsel for the defendants excepted.
The charge and exception both appear in the bill of exceptions. The circuit judge in his charge declared and delivered his opinion to the jury, that the matters produced and given in evidence on the part of the defendant below,
Such is the history of the case upon the record. That record refers to a stipulation, whereby the fact appears to be that the case never was in truth passed upon by the jury; but that a case was made for the opinion of the supreme court, with liberty to turn it into a Bill of exceptions or special verdict; and that after the judgment of the supreme court upon the case, in favour of the plaintiffs, it was turned into a bill of exceptions, for the purpose of bringing it before" this court. To the opinion of the supreme court, then, we are to look for the grounds of the judgment, and for an explanation of the charge or opinion to the jury appearing by the record to have been delivered. We there find the court distinctly to admit, that the defendant’s possession was adverse for more than 20 years ; and that the possessory right of the plaintiffs was gone; but that such adverse possession did not support the issue on the part of the defendant because the plaintiffs had a remedy by writ of right, and were therefore entitled to partition ; and if this opinion of the supreme court, as given in the reasons for the judgment and put upon the record, was correct, then the further duty of that court clearly was, to proceed to ascertain and determine the rights of the parties, and render judgment of partition; but if they erred in their opinion, and the verdict ought to have been set aside, then they mistook their duty, which, in such case, was to award a new trial of the issue. That is the question now
But it is objected that the question of adverse possession was for the jury and not for the court to decide ; and that the verdict of the jury set forth in the bill of exceptions, being *in favor of the plaintiffs below on the issue, is conclusive against the adversity of the defendant’s possession. To this objection the record itself gives an answer which I have already noticed, and deem sufficient. It was a verdict given under and in conformity to the opinion of the judge; and its efficacy depends on the soundness of that opinion. The fact of adverse possession, or in other words, whether the premises have been held by the defendant as his own against the claim of the plaintiff, is a question for the jury; but the evidence adduced on the trial to establish or disprove that fact often involves points of law which the court is to decide ; and the duty of the judge is to submit the questions of fact to the jury under his direction and opinion on the questions of law which the evidence before them may involve. In the present case, independently of the stipidation of the parties, to which we cannot shut our eyes, it sufficiently appears from the record itself that the verdict was given in conformity to the opinion of the court expressed in the charge, and did not result from the deliberations of the jury upon the evidence. The record, though not so full as would be desirable, discloses enough to show that this course was substantially pursued. In strictness, the charge should have been, that if the jury, from the evidence, should find that the possession had been adverse to the petitioners for more than 20 years, then the defendant below was entitled to a verdict; but the direction, as stated in the bill of exceptions, is different. If an opinion had been expressed upon the result of the evidence, that opinion, as the supreme court declare in the reasons they assign for their judgment, must have been that the evidence did establish an adverse possession for upwards of twenty
It is certainly true, as was contended on the argument, that a verdict cannot be reversed in this court, as being, against the weight of evidence; and when the jury are left free to exercise their own judgment, their decision on questions of fact, though subject to review' in the court where it is given, is conclusive" here.
In Doe v. Prosser, (Cowper, 217,) it is laid down by the court, that the jury, after twenty years’ adverse possession, is to find an ouster ; and in the case of Ricard v. Williams, (7 Wheaton 59,) similarly circumstanced with this, where one of the heirs of the ancestor entered claiming, not as heir, but under a distinct title, kept the exclusive' possession, and held out the other heirs, until the right of entry was barred by lapse of time, the court held, that the jury ought to have been instructed, that if they were satisfied that the defendant’s possession was adverse to that of the other heirs, under a claim of title distinct "from, or paramount to that of the ancestor, during his period of exclusive possession, which in that case was 25 years, the entry of a purchaser under a sale of the estate as the property
So in this case, the evidence clearly showing an adverse possession for more than 20 years, the verdict of the jury upon the issue ought to have been for the defendant; and the jury ought to have been charged, that such adverse possession, if proved to their satisfaction, was sufficient in law to bar the plaintiffs’ entry, and to entitle the defendant to a verdict; and the opinion of the court as stated to •fie jury, that the evidence Was not sufficient to bar the action was, according *to my views of the law, clearly wrong ; and the judgment of the supreme court, founded upon the verdict given in conformity to that opinion, ought to be reversed, and a new trial of the issue awarded.
Per totam curiam.
Rule accordingly.
Eggleston v. Bradford, 10 Ohio, 312. Wilson v. Inloes, 11 Gill & J. 351. 1 Chity Pl. 190
Fosgate v. Herkimer, Man. Sec. Co 12 Barb. 352.
Humbert v. Trinity Church, 24 Wen. 586. Dig. N. Y. Rep. by Hogan, tit. adverse possession.
Humbert v. Trinity Church, 24 Wen, 586. Jackson v. Tibbits, anta 241. McCluny v. Ross, 5 Wheat. 116.
Varick v. Jackson, 2 Wen. 166, 4 Kent t 482 et seg.
Adverse possession can only exist as against a person entitled to the possession. Clark v. Hughs, 13 Barb. 147. Jackson v. Schoonmaker, 4 John. 389.
And vid. Jackson v. Harsen, (6 Cowen, 323.)
And vid. anie, 252-3, and the cases there cited.
Prescott v. Nevers, 4 Mason 326. Parker v. Proprietors &c, 3 Metcalf 91.
Ross v. Durham, 4 Dev. & Bat. 54.
Livingston v. Peru Iron Co. 9 Wen. 511.
Ross v. Durham, 4 Dev. & Bat. 54.
9 Wen. 511. But the law will never construe a possession tortucas unless from necessity. Oh the other hand, it will consider every possession lawful; the commencement and continuance of which is not proved to be wrongful. Ricard v. Williams, 7 Wheat. 107 : per Story, J.
Oakley v. Van Horn, 21 Wen. 305.