The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-05-25
THE STATE OWNS THE LAND.
The Supreme Courts Decision in the
Celebrated Beaver Lake Case.
The States Claim to Between $4,000 and TO-.
600 Acres of Valuable Land in Northern
Indiana Held 70 Be Good.


A decision was rendered by the Supreme Court
yesterday in the case against the Portsmouth
Savings Bank, which has been pending for sew
eral years involving the States right to the pos
session of 1900 acres of land once the bed of
Beaver lake. The decision practically covers
number of other similar cases now pending, and
establishes the States right to all overfowed
lands from which the water has receded OF been
drained, of which there are. it is estimated.
between $4,000 and 70. 600 acres now II the pos
session Of Eastern and Western capitalists.
Beaver lake was located about five miles south
OF the Kankakee river, in Newton county. Its
dimensions were about FIVE miles north and
south, and seven and one-half miles east and
west, with an island of about one hundred acres
in the center, covered with timber 1t was from
ten to fifteen feet deep. and was nav!gable, but
had no outlet By an act of Congress, approved
September %, 1850, all swamp and overfowed
lands were granted to the State. This act made
it the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to
make out as soon as practicable an accurate list
and plat of the overfowed lands and transmit it
to to the Governor, at whose request patent
should be issued to the State. In 1853 patents
were issued by the United States to Indiana for
the lands thus ceded to her. The lake bed was
never surveyed or plated by the government,
and, therefore, no patent was issued to the State
for it. Soon after the passage of the act
the State commenced draining off the
water Of the lake. until it re-
duced to the dimensions of three quarters
of mile wide and three miles long. Anticipat-
inr In oot f6cf dino wall
as the bed ITSELF John P. Dunn, then Auditor OF
Indiana, and AMI B. Condit purchased from the
State, for small sum, the greater part of the
lands bordering on the lake. Soon after making
the purchase Dunn became embarrassed and in
debted to the State in his official capacity as
Auditor His interest in the lands was sold by
the sheriff to Michael G.. Bright, who afterward
bought the interest Of Condit. He never had
paper title for the bed of Beaver lake, but for
the border land only. However. Bright
proceeded to plat the lake bed, covered
with water, into forty-acre lots. making 427. In
satisfaction of claim for Sc. 600 of the State
against Dunn and his suretes, of whom Bright
was one, the latter, on compromise with Aqulla
Jones, at that time Treasurer of State conveyed
to him on Nov 10. 1860. 1877 alternate lots in
the Beaver lake bed. which were in turn trans
ferred by Jones to the State. The suit was not
to recover any Of the lots conveyed by Bright to
Jones. but to recover part of the lots retained
by Bright. for which he never received any title
from the State.
The court, after reviewing the conflicting con
structions placed upon the act OF 1885, holds
that the act was present grant OF lands to the
State, subject to Identification by the State AS
swamp and overlooked land. The act of Con
gress of 1873 which quitclaimed the bed of
Beaver lake to the State, did not carry title to
the State, but operated recognition of the
f s0S tha stsa the State had selected snS
and confirmed that selection, thus perfectng the
title as indefeasibie The title thus confirmed
relates back TO 1850 The act of 1852
stituted the Auditor and Treasurer of State
agents on the part Of the State to sell the swamp
lands which had been surveyed and plated.
and it is apparent that the Legisla-
ture made no provision for the sale
of unsurveyed and plated lands, and as public
officers they had no authority to dispose of the
States lands, except such as was conferred upon
directly by making patents to border lands they
could not indirectly convey the bed.
The court next discusses the question of es-
topple based upon the acts of the State, through
Jones. insaccepting deed from Bright for the
odd-numbered alternate lots on his plat.
by collecting taxes. assessed upon the lands and
the improvements, since made. The court
says that the lots were not accepted by way OF
compromise of conflicting claims to the bed
of the lake. and that the act of 1865, which au-
thorlzed the sale of the lots so acquired, was
not passed for the purpose of relinquishing the
States title to the lots not decided to it by
Bright. Bright and his grantees We're bound to
know that the deeds to the lands
did not carry the bed; that the
officers had no authority to sell the
bed of the lake, and that the
act of 1865 made provision for the sale of any
portion of the bed, except that decided by Bright.
With this knowledge of the condition of the title
neither Bright nor his grantees are in condition
to urge an estoppel The collection of the taxes
was the unauthorized act of ministerial officers,
which will not estop the State. AS Bright and
his grantees must be held to have had knowl-
edge that the title was in the State they could
not by improving the States lands, acquire title
by estoppel, and the evidence does not disclose
that the State ever had notice Of any improve
ments.
The next point relied on by the bank is that
the statute of limitation bars the State from as
sorting title. The court says there is no evil
dence that Bright ever had at any time actual
possession of any portion of the land, and the
plat recorded by him was not equivalent to actual
possession such as to require the State to bring
an action for possession or lose its rights under
the statute. There is no evidence that his
grantees ever exercised any rights at any time
beyond ffteen years prior to the bringing of the
action, and AS the statute in actions to recover
possession of real estate is twenty years there
is no bar.
The suit decided, with number of others.
was originally brought by Judge Jacob B. Ju-
lian at the direction of the State officers nearly
six years ago. While attending to legal bust
ness in the Newton Circuit Court Judge Julian
became acquainted with the history of the State
claim to the lands, and directed the attention Of
the State officers to the matter. He was en-
ployed to assist the Attorney -gener al in bring
ing the suits. and has been associated with At
torney- generals Woollen, Baldwin and Hord,
during their successive terms, in the prosecu
ton OF the cases.
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