Case Name: Mrs. Lane, the Widow of Lane, Deceased, v. Coply
Court: Connecticut Superior Court
Jurisdiction: Connecticut
Decision Date: 1774-09
Citations: 1 Root 68
Docket Number: 
Parties: Mrs. Lane, the Widow of Lane, Deceased, v. Coply.
Judges: 
Reporter: Connecticut Reports
Volume: 1
Pages: 68–68

Head Matter:
Mrs. Lane, the Widow of Lane, Deceased, v. Coply.
Fifteen years exclusive possession by tlie son, a bar to tbe right of the father.
Action of ejectment for dower. Plea not guilty — Issue to the jury; who find the following facts, viz.
That thirty years before the date and impetration of the plaintiff’s writ, Enos Lane, under whom the defendant claims, and the son of said deceased, by liberty from his father, entered upon said land, which his father then owned, lying in a wilderness state, cleared and fenced the land, planted an orchard and built a house and barn upon it and improved the whole, taking all the profits to himself, until the death of his said father, which happened in A. D. 1770.
The question of law referred to the court was — Whether the father at the time of his death was divested of his right and title to said lands by the son’s entering and possessing as aforesaid, for more than fifteen years.

Opinion:
The opinion of the court upon the facts, was — That the father was divested of his right and title to said land, at the time of his death — and the defendant was found not guilty.