245 Pa. 94 | Pa. | 1914
Opinion by
The numerous assignments of error in this case raise many interesting questions of law, but as we view the record a discussion of a very few of the legal positions pressed upon us by learned counsel will suffice to dispose of the present controversy. We will not therefore undertake to follow the printed argument by discussing the specifications of error separately. It must be conceded on all sides, indeed it is conceded, that if a consentable line marked on the ground was recognized and acquiesced in by the adjoining landowners since 1868, a permanent boundary was established, and with that boundary line thus fixed there is no basis for the contention made by appellants here. In the light of our own cases no one can seriously question this settled rule of law. As far back as Brown v. McKinney, 9 Watts 565-567, this court said: “It cannot be disputed that an occupation up to a fence on each side by a party or two parties for more than twenty-one years, each party claiming the land on his side as his own, gives to each an incontestable right up to the fence, and equally whether the fence is precisely on the right line or not.” Our courts have always favored the settlement of disputes of this character by recognizing consentable lines established by the parties themselves, and this without regard to whether the line agreed upon conforms to the
Then, again, the case is just as clearly against appellants on the questions of adverse possession. It has long been settled in Pennsylvania that a person in possession by a fence as his line for more than twenty-one years, establishes his right to claim title to the line thus
It is not disputed that the appellee holds the title to the Hooker Smith tract, and the only question that could arise is the location of the line in controversy. No matter what doubt may have existed as to the original location of this line, the adjoining landowners consented to the line marked on the ground in 1868 and have acquiesced in that consentable line ever since. Most of the questions raised by this appeal relate to other matters, and the rulings of the court about which complaint is made, have no direct bearing upon the controlling issues in the case.
No benefit would result to anyone by elaborating the discussion of questions which for the purposes of the present can only be considered academic. The consent-able line marked on the ground in 1868, and the adverse possession which followed for a period of forty-three years, are sufficient to establish the title of appellee to the land in dispute, and all other matters which appellants sought to have considered at the trial may be disregarded as immaterial and irrelevant to the issue under the facts.
Judgment affirmed.