Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar

“ But old surveys are not to be so tested. Most perfect in the beginning, they are constantly undergoing change and decay, until by wind, fire, rottenness, and the acts and frauds of men, their evidences lie only in memory and hearsay. ”

“ Upon the subject of boundary there is a general agreement that, by the English rule, evidence of the declarations of deceased persons as to the boundary of parishes, manors, and the like, which are of public interest, is admissible, but that such evidence is inadmissible for the purpose of proving the boundary of a private estate, unless such boundary is identical with another of public interest. In many of the states h is strict rules has been extended, and these declarations have been admitted to prove the boundaries of lands of private persons. ”

“ Those found upon any part of the block belong to each and every tract of which it is composed, and if sufficient lines and corners can be found they determine the location of the entire block, without regard to its calls for adjoiners or for waters, if such calls conflict with the lines actually run upon the ground and returned.' He added: 'It requires neither argument nor citation of authority to show that the learned judge was clearly right in thus instructing the jury.' 98 Pa. ”

“ By the settled law of Pennsylvania, applicable to the location of surveys, original marks and living monuments on the ground constitute the survey, and they are the highest proof of its true location. The next most important evidence of location is the calls for adjoining surveys ”

“ The location of a junior warrant may throw some light upon the location of a senior survey which it calls to adjoin. Hence what the deputy surveyor did in locating the Richard Martin has been admitted in evidence, and may be considered by the jury in connection with all the other evidence in determining the question whether or not the chestnut oak and the gums relied on by the defendant are trees marked by the surveyors in 1793 to define the southern line for the Brush Valley Block ”

“ The courses and distances laid down in a survey, especially if it be ancient, are never, in practice, considered as conclusive, but are liable to be materially changed by oral proof, or other evidence, tending to prove that the documentary lines are those not actually run. ”

“ St. 366, the witness having testified that he had owned the land in dispute 30 years before the trial, and employed one Ferguson, a surveyor since dead, to trace the lines, it was offered to prove what Goodlander said as to the lines while he was on the ground searching for them. This was rejected as purely hearsay. Justice TRUNKEY, delivering the opinion of the court, said: 'From an early day in this state, in litigation respecting boundaries, it has been competent to prove, after the death of a surveyor who had examined a line, what he said respecting it at the time and on the ground. ”

“ It was necessary for the plaintiffs to show their possession of the lands. * * * It was impossible for the plaintiffs to show the extent of their possession without showing the lines run by Wilson. Those lines were the plaintiffs' boundaries; at least such was their claim. ”