About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

Powhatan Steamboat Company, Plaintiffs in Error, v. the Appomattox Railroad Company, The U.S. 247 (1861)

handle is hein.slavery/ussccases0423 and id is 1 raw text is: DECEMBER TERM, 186U.                       247
Poww7wtan Steamboat, Co. v. A ppomattox Railroad Co.
and that he had made the survey in accordance with'such cus
torn.
The grantee was bound to abide by the marked line from
. to 1; but the other lines'must be governed by a legal rule,
which a local custom cannot change. Should this custom be
recognised as law, governing surveys, it must prevail in pri-
vate surveys, in cases of sales of land, when the purchaser who
bought a certain number of acres might, by surface meagure
across a mountain, lose a large portion of the land he had .pai&
for. And such would- be the case with this, grantee, were he
restricted to surface measure; whereas, by the terms of his
patent, the Government granted to the extent of lines approx-
imating to horizontal measurement. How far the 'act of 'lim-
itations will affect the plaintiff's title, will depend on'ithe fadt
whether Evans's coal bank falls within the boundary of the
patent sued on, as it is not claimed that, the other possession
at a different place on grant No. 22,261, and for which tres-
pass the recovery was had, was seven years old when the suit
was brought.
It is ordered that the judgment below be reversed, and the
cause remanded for anothwer trial to be had therein.
THE POWHATAN STEAMBOAT COMPANY, PLAINTIFFS IN ERROU,,V.
THE APPOMATTOX RAILROAD COMPANY.
In the code of Virginia, chapter 196, are the following sections, viz:
SEc. 15. If ra free person, on a Sabbath day, be found laboring at any trade or
calling, or employ his apprentices, servants, or slaves, in laboor other busi-
ness, except in household or other work of necessity or charity, he shall forfeit
$10 for each offence; every day any servaiit, Apprentice, or slave, is so em-
ployed, constituting a distinct offence.
SEc. 17. No forfeiture shall be incurred under the preceding section for the
transportation on Sunday of the mail, or of passengers and their baggage.
And the said forfeiture shall not be incurred by any person who conscien-
tiously believes that the seventh day of the week ought to be observed as a
sabbath, and actually refrains from all secular business andtlabor on thatdhy;
;rovided. he does not compel a slave, apprentice, or. servant  not of his belief,

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most