129 Iowa 62 | Iowa | 1905
The sole controversy between these two parties is as to whether the boundary line between their adjoining lots shall be determined by a survey based upon an
The evidence as to a boundary line by acquiescence, as contended for by the plaintiff, relates to a bam placed by defendant’s grantor on the supposed boundary line and in the northwest corner of her lot, and a fence running from the southwest corner of this bam to the east and west street in front of plaintiff’s and defendant’s lots, and separating defendant’s lot, which was to the east of this fence,, from plaintiff’s lot to the west. The barn and fence were constructed by defendant’s grantor more than ten years before either party acquired title to his lot, and the evidence as to the acquiescence by the respective grantors of the parties in this fence, as constituting the true boundary line, is amply sufficient to sustain the decision, of the trial court based on the rule announced in Miller v. Mills County, 111 Iowa, 654, 660, unless there are controlling circumstances in the case which require that an exception be made to the general rale there announced.
Counsel for appellant rely upon the statement made in the opinion in that case, “ that in the absence of other controlling circumstances the inference is conclusive that the division line between adjoining tracts definitely marked by the erection and maintenance of a fence or other monuments, recognized by the owners as such, and up to which they have occupied and cultivated the land on either side for more than ten years, the statutory period of limitation, is the true boundary between them; ” and they contend that there are controlling circumstances in this case which prevent the application of the rale. The controlling circumstances relied
The fact that the line of acquiescence is not a straight line, although the description in the deed or plat calls for a straight line, has never been held such a controlling circumstance as to defeat the presumption arising from acquiescence. In O’Callaghan v. Whisenand, supra, it was held that the determination for some distance of the line of acquiescence by means of the wall of a building would constitute such determination of the entire boundary, on the presumption that the parties intended a straight line, but in that case the remainder of 1he line of acquiescence was not indicated in any way, while in this case the entire line of acquiescence was fixed by the lines of the barn and fence. Tt is argued that the line established by the barn should control, because of its being a more permanent structure, but in our judgment there is no
The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.