129 Ind. 101 | Ind. | 1891
This was a suit by the appellees to enjoin the appellants from building a school-house on certain real estate condemned and paid for by the trustees for such pur
The only assignment of error presenting any question is the error of the court in its conclusions of law, there being a special finding of facts and conclusions of law stated by the court.
The facts found show that appellant Knight, trustee of said township, on the 6th day of September, 1889, instituted proceedings in the Gibson Circuit Court against the owners of the real estate described in the complaint, and upon which he was about to erect a school-house, to condemn said land for school purposes for said township; that the defendant in said proceedings made default, and such proceedings resulted in a judgment of said court, on the 27th day of September, 1889, condemning said land upon payment of the damages assessed and costs; that on the 1st day of October, 1889, the said trustee paid to the clerk of said court the amount of damages assessed, with costs, to wit, $91.05; that none of the appellees were parties to such proceedings; that said real estate is situate in school district No. 11, in said township; that plaintiffs are resident voters of said district, owners of property, real and personal, situate therein liable to taxation, and all, except appellee Woods, have children between the ages of six and twenty-one years, who are entitled to the privileges of the common school in said district and township; that on September 20th, 1889, said appellees and others, resident voters and taxpayers of said school district, delivered to said trustee Knight their petition in writing, wherein said petitioners objected to said real estate as a location for a school-house, and asked said trustee not to locate or build a school-house on said land, and asked that he locate and build at another point on other lands in said district. On the 23d day of September, 1889, other resident taxpayers and patrons of said school petitioned said trustee asking that he build a school-house on said land; that said trustee made no entry in his record of any decision
As a conclusion of law the court stated that appellees could maintain the action, and that appellants should be permanently restrained from building said school-house on the site selected by said trustee, and judgment was rendered accordingly.
We do not think there was any error in the conclusions of. law stated by the court. By section 4537, R. S. 1881, appeals lie in matters of this character from the decision of the township trustee to the county superintendent, and the decision of the superintendent is made final. In so far as the decision of the county superintendent related to the condemning and prohibiting of the erection of the school-house on the site designated by the trustee, it was within his jurisdiction, and was valid and binding upon the trustee, and took from the trustee all authority to build a school-house on that site. The finding of facts shows that this decision was made upon the 29th day of October, 1889, and that the trustee had full knowledge of the decision when he let the contract to Williams, though it appears that such portion of the decision was not entered on the superintendent’s record until after November 5th. The decision was binding though not entered until afterwards. Tufts v. State, ex rel., 119 Ind. 232.
It is further contended that the appeal was not taken from the trustee within the proper time, but the date when the trustee made his decision is not shown by the finding of facts. No entry of it was made of record, and the voters of the district, and patrons of the school, were in no way notified of his having made it. He paid for the land October 1, and afterwards gave notice that he would let a contract for the building of a school-house. When these steps were taken, the appellees took immediate steps to preserve their rights. The trustee granted the appeal, and appeared and submitted
The judgment is affirmed, with costs.