The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1882-04-20
rwentv=sexen Years in Court

The following account of remarkable ana
lengthy litigation in West Virginia is taken
from the Kanawha Gdsette. 1t possesses an
especial local interest from the fact that one
of the owners of the property, Mr.. Nicholas
G. Kinney, was prominent resident OF Statn-
ton, where a large number of his relatives and
connections now live. Other parties men
toned in the account are also we'll known IN
this section Mr. Paxton being former resi-
dent of Rockbridge, and Mr., Walker having
recently bought a handsome estate in Rock
ingham county. The Gazette says:
At the term Just adjourned of the Kanawha
county (W. Va) Circuit Court, his Honor
Judge Guthrie finally disposed of the chancery
cause OF Taliaferro VS.. Patrick and Others
This had become one of the Oldest OF many
ancient causes on the docket. Begun in 1855
and running through some twenty years
OF litigation, it has proven not only difficult
but profitable case to all concerned.
In 1856 W. A. Quarter, Esq, brought the
suit to partition the large body of land known
as the John Steele 10 500-acre survey. About
1856 the partition was made. 1t was divided
into some halfdozen lots, and different blocks
were assigned TO different owners. Lot "B,'
containing abont 4 200 acres, was assigned to
some forty or fifty owners James Gardner
Paxton, of Rockbridge county, Va, who
owned some interest in Lot B, undertook in
1857 to have their land sold, and to organize
joint stock company. Many of our older cit
liens well remember Mr.. Paxton's sanguine
and energetic efforts to develop Kanawha
lands. Perhaps no man had more faith in the
prospects of our coal and timber lands than he.
After devoting many years of patient toll and
1oh nv i,,a h ;aT n;f in Ra-
nawha country, as it was then called, he was
killed in the terrible Jerry's Run disaster, near
the White Sulphur, in 1870.
The majority of the owners IN Lot "B" were
descendants of ChiefJustice John Marshall.
In the spring OF 1857 Lot "B'' was sold to Pax
ton and Nicholas G. Kinney, James F Jones
and Raleigh Colston, all of Virginia. The land
then sold for 1894 per acre. The cash pay
ment (Sl, 400) was made and some other small
ones. The war came on. inter 07ma0 Leges 81
lent. With more or less litigation the case
was resumed after the war, until in 1872 re-
sale was decreed and resurvey had. 1t was
fonnd that instead of containing 1856 acres
there were something over 1900. September
3, 1872, FL. S. Walker purchased it at the sale
decreed by the court at 1910 per acre, and
paid the cash payment amounting to some
$4,000
The panic came on and Injunction, DEGREES,
ETC., multiplied thick aud fast. The case got
into the Court of Appeals and was about again
to be contested holly in the court below, when
Mr.. Walker complied with the terms of sale
and paid into court some $780, 900 or more. At
the same time he sold to DIR. Ward, of Mich
igan, netting for himself handsome sum-
The gross sum paid into court in all was about
$4,000. The contest for some years past has
been as to dividing this large sum of cash.
The papers had accumulated until there
were several boxes of them. The equities arts
ing in the case were numerous and intricate.
The costs alone mounted to some $1,000.
The case survived the terms of about half
dozen judges, beginning with Judge Summers,
in 1855. Of the four purchasers, Paxton,
Kinney, Jones, and Colston, the latter alone
survives. Some OF the owners, who were chill
dren when the suit began, are now almost old
men. And many who were young men and
maidens in 1855 are now grandparents Many
tigants, attorneys, and judges in this case have
passed away, and now it is gone 1t has at
different times but more especially at its close,
brought profits to the attorneys and officers of
the court. Some see it go with regret, for it |
has beeu well-spring of joy, no doubt, to
maDV