18 Pa. Super. 90 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1901
Opinion by
All the parties to this litigation affirm the validity of the contract of August 26, 1863, and there has been no failure of performance of any of the covenants that entered into its consideration. The controlling question, therefore, is whether it was a mere license, a mere option, or a sale of the coal in place. That minerals beneath the surface of a tract of land may be coñveyed by deed, distinct from the right to the surface, is, of course, unquestioned. After severance of the surface from the underlying strata, whether by reservation or by express grant, the mineral right is an independent interest in land; it forms a distinct possession; is held upon a distinct title; and is as much the subject of sale, devise or inheritance, and of separate taxation and incumbrance as the surface. The technical words “ grant bargain and sell,” or the like, are not necessary to the creation
We concur as to the main question in the conclusion reached by the learned judge of the court below, and substantially for the reasons given in his clear and satisfactory opinion. We do not deem it necessary to add anything further to what he has said. It follows that the coal under the fifty-acre tract devised to Clarissa Barker did not pass by the devise and that the royalties accruing after the death of the grantor, being purchase money for the coal sold, are distributable as personalty according to the provisions of his will.
Judgment affirmed.