57 Fla. 133 | Fla. | 1909
On the 14th of September, 1908, William D. Griffin, the defendant in error, brought a suit of Unlawful Entry and Detainer against the Perry Naval Stores Company, in the Circuit Court of Taylor County. The’ declaration is in the statutory form (section 2157 General Statutes of 1906) and describes 360 acres of land by quarter sections, townships and range, and claims damages. At the October term of the court the case was tried before a jury, which rendered a verdict in the statutory form (section 2166 General Statutes of 1906) for the plaintiff for possession of the land and damages $368.00. A judgment was entered on this verdict, which is here for review on writ of error.'
Mr. Griffin, the plaintiff, testified at length in his own behalf. He is the principal witness by whom he undertakes to prove his possession of the premises. He sa) s among other things the folowing: “1 have had from five to thirty-five acres of this land in cultivation for thirty
Mr. W. W. Hampton, a son of Mr. J. L. Hampton, after testifying about a notice he gave Mr. Malloy to stop chipping the land, said: “He (meaning doubtless the plaintiff) used it for farming and pasturing cattle.”
This is all the evidence bearing on the possession of the plaintiff offered by him.
Mr. J. F. King testified for the defendant that he was a surveyor and.was on the land in January or February before it was turpentined. A plat of the land showing Mr. Hampton’s field was filed in evidence.. That when he was surveying the land he heard a conversation between Mr. Hampton and a Mr. Boyd, in which Hampton claimed the land for Mr. Griffin, and Boyd claimed it as his. “They said while they were talking that they were good friends and would not fall out over the dispute.” “Mr. Griffin’s land and his- land and the Interstate People’s land was all in dispute. Mr. King further testified that the zigzag lines on the map indicate-as near as he could draw it the end of Hampton’s
Mr. Malloy testified for the defendant that there, was no one in possession of the land when it was being boxed except the small part in Mr. Hampton’s field, and that when they first cut the boxes on the land he did not know any one claimed any interest in the turpentine on the land or turpentine privileges except the Perry Naval Stores Gompany; that he never stopped Mr. Hampton from using this land for any purposes that he knew of— never told him to stop, and that the Perry Naval Stores Company had a lease on these boxes for turpentine purposes. Mr. Malloy says that Mr. Hampton informed him that Mr. Griffin claimed the land after a few boxes had been cut and forbid him to cut boxes. This is the substances of all the evidence bearing upon the possession of the property upon the part of the plaintiff, Mr. Griffin.
The action of Unlawful Detainer is provided for by Chapter 1630 Laws of 1869, in an act entitled “An Act Concerning Forcible Entiy and Detainer.” (See General Statutes of 1906, 2152 to 2169 inclusive).
This court held in Liddon v. Hodnett, 22 Fla. 271, that the statute applied in three classes of cases: 1. Where another enters in any case where entry is not given by law: 2. Where another enters with strong hand or multitude of people even
One of the assignments of error embraces the propositions that the verdict is contrary to the evidence, and against the weight of the evidence. A consideration of the evidence shows that the plaintiff some time “in the eighties” and before used the lands involved as a pasture, had some sort of a house on it, and raised some corn and potatoes, but it does not appear that he had used it for such purposes since. He claims that a small number of acres were under fence, but does not know whether it was separately fenced from Mr. Hampton’s land, or embraced in his field. The surveyor who was on the land just before the defendants began boxing the timber saw no evidence of possession by any one of any part of the land except about four acres embraced in Mr. Hampton’s field, and about two acres in Mr. McCall’s field. No title deeds were introduced to show the extent of the possession claimed by the plaintiff. There was evidently a dispute between Mr. Griffin and. others as to the ownership of the land. We do not think the evidence shows such possession on the part of the plaintiff as will support this action. It is not intended to be used as an action of tresspass or ejectment, but is a summary remedy to determine the question of the right of possession, and the plaintiff to sustain it must show possession within a reasonably recent period before the wrong is done of which he complains to sustain it. If the fact that about four acres of the land was enclosed in Mr. Hampton’s field can be said to be evidence of Mr. Griffin’s possession, we do not see, under the evidence how it could be called possession of the remainder of the 360 acres. ' The land was not fenced, and did not show an}' evidence of being in the possession of any one.
All concur.