58 Tex. 690 | Tex. | 1883
Appellees brought this suit against the appellant, alleging that in 1837 A. C. and J. IL Allen were the owners of the land upon which the city of Houston now stands; that in 1837 the said Allens laid the same out in blocks and lots, public streets and public grounds, and forms now the principal part of the business portion of the city of Houston; that the said Allens caused to be made a map of the grounds so laid out, which exhibited the lots and blocks, the public streets and public grounds, or blocks dedicated to the public use of said city, and had it recorded in the county clerk’s office; that they publicly exhibited said map, and sold to others the lots and blocks according to said map, and purchasers were induced to buy on the faith of the representations made on said map, "with reference to the public streets and blocks as designated on said map; that one of said blocks was numbered 31, and was designated and marked on said map “ courthouse,” by which designation and mark, and .other acts of said Allens in connection therewith, the said block was dedicated by the said Allens to public use for a court-house, and the adjacent grounds surrounding, but not for any other use by the public; that the said Allens never parted with the title to said block further than they may be said to have done so by their act of dedication aforesaid; that the public accepted such dedication, and that afterwards the inhabitants of the town of Houston were incorporated and made a body corporate in July, 1837, and have ever since been so incorporated.
That all subsequent maps of said city have been in accordance with the one made by the said Allens; that in the year 1838, without any permission from the corporate authorities of Houston, the county of Harris had a log-house erected on said block marked “ court-house,” which house it used for a common jail for some years, until it became unsafe; that the erection of said log-house on said square was complained of by the citizens, -?s well as by the city of Houston, and that about September, 1840, the said corporate authorities demanded of said county to remove said jail from off said square, but the commissioners’ court of said county deemed it inexpedient to do so at that time, because of the embarrassed state of the county finances;
The appellees obtained an injunction against the appellant and its commissioners’ court, restraining said commissioners’ court from taking further steps in the erection of said jail on said square.
The appellant answered by a general demurrer and a general denial, and by an answer admitting the map and plans of the city of Houston as made by the said Allens in 1837, and that property was sold in reference to the same, but saying that said block No. 31 was marked “ court-house square ” instead of “ court-house,” and that the said Allens dedicated said block No. 31 to the county of Harris for its county court-house and county buildings, to be used for the benefit of said county; that said county immediately accepted said block, took possession thereof, and has had and held peaceable possession of the same, with its court-house and other buildings thereon, to the present time; that in Hay, 1838, the county, through its commissioners’ court, erected a court-house and jail on said square, and that the jail continued on said square in use by the county
The case was tried, verdict and judgment were for appellees, per- - petuating injunction.
Appellant filed its motion for a new trial, which was overruled and an appeal taken.
The case is now here for revision. The court did not err when it assumed in the introductory paragraph of its charge, as an admitted fact, that the appellees had bought their lots with reference to the city map, calling for the street on which they front, and that they, now and when the suit was filed, owned the lots claimed by them. Their title to the lots was admitted. Hor was it a material error, or in fact of any consequence at all, that the court failed in its charge to submit to the jury the question as to the dates at which the appellees acquired title to their lots. The date of Gabel’s purchase was expressly admitted, and there was no issue as to the date of Taylor’s purchase. The dates of both purchases were in evidence before the jury without dispute. The court was not bound, under the facts of the case, to call the jury’s attention more especially to this issue. The appellant very properly did not deem the matter of sufficient importance to ask the court to specially instruct the jury on the subject. Hor did the court err, under the pleadings and evidence, in informing the jury that block Ho. 31 in the city of Houston was a public square.
The court also ruled correctly in permitting parol evidence to go to the jury to show the purpose and intention of the original donors in making the dedication. Hor was there any bill of exceptions reserved to this action of the court. In the case of Lamar County
There is no error in the judgment, and it is affirmed.
Affirmed.