Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-03-24
Washington County Court.


HrSRY OvArr Reporter.
There now remains but one more case TO be
heard on the jury calendar-that Of William 7.
Whittier -. John q A. Crosby and Trustee,
which was set at the head Of the docket. The
| jury will probably be dismissed tomorrow after
a service Of sixteen days an unusually short term
for this county. last term the jury was neld
thirtyfye days, and In the fall Of 1873 forty eight
days, the longest jury term ever known In Wash
/ ington county
The following is resume Of the cases tried
during the last week
| j. T. and II. =. Woodward rs Allen Bates.
This is an action Of trespass, claiming $500 dam
ages for entering upon plaintiffs farm and driy
ing cattle fcross it, against his will and for incl
dental injuries by breaking into their gardens,
bruisng and breaking down their fruit trees etc.
/ The writ was dated April 10, 1873 and the tres
passes were alleged to have been committed from
August 4, 1870, up to the date Of the writ. The
parties at that time were neighbors in School Dis
trict No 49, in South Barre, near the granite quar-
/ ries, and Bates, in addition to his homestead,
owned pasture known as the "mill-stone hill
| lot" north Of which, aud between it and the high
way lay the Woodward farm Defendant adj
/ mitted entering upon the farm, and made little
/ question rs 10 the fruit trees etc, but rested his
case upon a right Of way 10 his land, based upon
| long-contnued, II not immemoral usage and oc-
cupation; and upon this question the case hinged,
/ the burden of proof being thrown upon defendant
TO show fifteen years at least, continued use and
occupation Of this right OF way, without OPPOSE
ton II appeared from the evidence that plaintiffs
| took a warfantee deed Of this farm from George
W Collamer sept 9. 1872. Dec. %, 1855, the same
Coamer decided milestone hill lot 10 OTIS Walker,
and June %, 1857, Walker conveyed tito defendant
Colamer having coyenanted 10 give plaintiffs a
full and perfect title the court ruled that right
Of way existed at that time, and that none could
have begun to eNist til 1855, when Collamer
decided 10 Walker And whatever adverse occu-
pancy might have begun then, was soon eXtin-
guished by Walker leasing the milestone lot To
plaintiffs, the court ruling that a man could not
create adverse possession against himself De
PENDANT began his occupancy In the season Of
1858 and the jury were obliged To find that there
had been adverse possession Of plaintiffs farm
continuously from that time till the service Of the
writ August 6, 1873 just fifteen years aud little
over, supposing the season Of 1855 to have
begun at the time cows went to pasture. The
testimony on this point was very conflicting, and
the balance seemed on the side Of the plaintiffs,
foraltough several men testified TO having used this
path to draw granite lumber, etc it was in proof
generally that the privilege was paid for. Tho
jury after a short delibeaton, returned q verdict
IN favor Of plaintiff for 81 80 damages and costs
This case was Of the very smallest importance to
either party, but contained several very nice
"pints Of law Messrs Joseph A. Wing and
5 C. shurtlef for plaintiff. Messrs Charles II.
Heath and W A. Boyce Tor defendant.
Henry Z. Reed rs. Town Of Berlin. Plaintiff,
young man Of twenty-five in the winter Of 1874,
was in the employ Of Gardner Rowe in Berlin,
As teamster and engaged in drawing logs
from Bowells place " Stebbins mill in that town.
Rowell lives on a cross-road in school district
No 4, in Berlin his own home being at the end,
aud the only other house ON the road being one
owned by Carlos Bancroft, Of Montpelier and oc-
cupied by Samuel NJ Gleason. Al the foot Of
hill little east Of Mr.. Gleasons house, was a
small bridge, which plaintiff claimed was ont Of
repair On the afternoon Of March II, 1874, plain
tiff was going 10 mill with load OF logs pair
Of traverse sleds, drawn by pair Of horses and
having 60. on the bridge, found himself, he
claimed, suddenly tipped of his sled into the
ditch. lie was picked up by Amos Chase.
brother teamster, who had = load Of logs a short
distance behind him, and he returned 10 Rowells
| house. The next day he worked some drove the
team, but did not load or unload but the second
day he gave up work and went of visiting 1t
wasn't claimed that he was injured much, and the
town claimed he wasn't injured any. The town
| put Mr. Gleason on the stand who rela-
ted a conversation with plaintiff on the day
he quit work in which his wife told plain
| till that he must not work any more, II he
expected damages, and claimed that plaintiffs
sudden cessation Of work was caused by that re-
mark Plaintiffs counsel, ON Che other hand,
argued that II plaintiff had been humbugging, he
would have taken to his bed and dieted. IN
| stead of keeping up he did, and returning TO
| mis- work in three week time. The great trouble
with plaintiff was the neglect by his counsel
to prove by direct evidence, that the road on
which the accident occurred was public highway
maintained By the town. Mr. Livigstone is one Of
| che most careful lawyers at the bar, but by some
strange oversight he forgot this technical point,
aud II 1t had not been for some testimony by Mr..
| Rowell, that he had been highway surveyor in
| that district the year previous TO the accident,
thus giving ground for an inference that it might
| be public highway, his case must have been lost
| The court however, left the matter in the jury's
hands on ahat testimony there was, and they re-
| turned a verdict in plaintiff favor for $3.50 and
costs. The town conceded that the notice was
| good. Messrs J. o. Livingston and J. J. lAmson
| for plaintiff; Messrs Homer W Heaton md L.
| L, Durant for defendant.
| Jacob T. Wheelock rs town Of Hardwck. Plain
tiff claimed $500 damages from the town for in
jures to his horse, caused by defect in the high
way. Plaintiff lives in Calais, and in March, 1872
he was engaged in moving the household effects
Of Henry Wheeler from Calais to house in the
Houston district, -so-called, in Ilardwick. On
the 18th of March he started for Wheelers new
house with a sledoad Of heavy goods, drawn by
two hoHes, and after leaving South Hardwick,
turned OF into the road in question, which leads
over the hill to South Walden. The snow
deep and somewhat soitened by the thaw, and on
that day was drifting some. short distance
from his destination, plaintiff alleges, his
horses slumped in and he was forced to unhiteh
them. They were led to the barn of Wheeers
new house and there ii was found that the on
one had corked his left hind leg. The cut began
the top Of the ankle Joint, little to the right
OF the centre running crosswise clear over To down
near the heel 1t was about four inches long,
laid the bone and muscles bare and in the widest
place could put tho end Of my two fingers into
it," The ankle was bound, the horse led home,
and was unfit for work during the next three
months, according to plaintiff statement. Plain
till presented bill for board nursn. and med-
cine during that time, and the horse being trot-
ter and stallion, which had been used for stock
purposes, plaintiff claimed that his earnings were
greatly reduced by OF the wound, people be-
lieying the horse to be affected with ring bone
Plaintiff valuation Of the horse before the ae-
cldent was 500, and he testified that be consid-
cred him to have been made worth 500 less than
that by the accident Defendant put on witnesses
to contradict plaintiff in every essential statement,
alleging first, that he was imprudent in ventur-
ing upon such road-a cross-road Of small travel
! at such time that the horse wasn't perma-
nently injured being nearly II not quite, as valu-
able now ever and that the horses real value
was always much less than claimed by plaintiff.
But the great question in the case was as to the
3 notice which plaintiff, at the time OF the bringing
oithe suit was required by statute to give To defen
5 dant town in writing within thirty days after the
/ accident At an early stage OF the case, counsel
E showed plaintiff paper and proved by him that
II was an exact copy of the notice given by him