Case Name: Knight vs. The Town of Ashland and others
Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Wisconsin
Decision Date: 1884-10-14
Citations: 61 Wis. 246
Docket Number: 
Parties: Knight vs. The Town of Ashland and others.
Judges: 
Reporter: Wisconsin Reports
Volume: 61
Pages: 246–247

Head Matter:
Knight vs. The Town of Ashland and others.
September 29
October, 14, 1884.
Equity — Adequate remedy at law.
Where complete and adequate relief can be obtained in an action at law, equity will not interfere.
APPEAL from the Circuit Court for Ashland County. ■
This actioh was brought against the town of Ashland, the town of Butternut, to which a portion of the territory of the former town of La Pointe had been attached, and the county of Ashland. The facts sufficiently appear from the opinion. The relief prayed in the complaint is that the amount due to the plaintiff under his contract with the town of La Pointe may be ascertained; that the amount of the assets of said town received by the defendants, and the amount which they should respectively pay to the plaintiff, may be determined, and that the plaintiff have judgment therefor; that a receiver of the assets and property of said town of La Pointe may be appointed, etc.
. Wm. F. Vilas, for the appellant,
to the point that if the town of Ashland was not liable at law, equity would enforce a trust as to all of the property of the vacated town of La Pointe, cited: Broughton v. Pensacola, 93 U. S. 268; Mer-riwether v. Garritt, 102 id. 512-14, 529-30; Few Orleans v. Clark, 95 id. 653-4; Beloit v. Morgan, 7 Wall. 619; Town of M-ilwaulcee v. City of Milwaukee, 12 Wis. 93.
For the respondents there was a brief by J. J. Miles and J. M. Bingham, and oral argument by Mr. Bingham.

Opinion:
Tayloe, J.
This is an appeal from an order sustaining a demurrer to the complaint on the ground that it does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of- action. The circuit court sustained the demurrer; and the plaintiff appeals from the order.
The facts set out in the complaint are substantially the same as those set out in the case of Knight v. Town of Ashland, ante, p. 233. In the opinion filed in that case the court hold that the appellant has an adequate remedy at law to recover against the' town of Ashland for his services, which are the subject of this action, and, as a consequence, there is no necessity for resorting to- a court of equity for that purpose. For that reason, if for no other, the circuit court properly sustained the demurrer. It is unnecessary, therefore, to determine whether any cause of action is set out against the town of Butternut or Ashland county.
By the Court.— The order of the circuit court is affirmed, and the cause is remanded for further proceedings.