by John Marshall

“ But the great objection on which the plaintiffs most rely, is, that to constitute a special entry in the state of Tennessee, the objects called for must be not torious as well as certain. The entry must be such as to give general information of the precise land it appropriates. Notoriety, as well as identity, are essential, it is said, to specialty, and a call for Sumner's line is not good, unless Sumner's survey was notorious. ”

“ The act of Virginia, which is the land law of Kentucky, requires, that entries shall be so special and certain that any subsequent locater may know how to appropriate the adjacent residuum. The land law of North Carolina, which is the law of Tennessee, contains no such provision. The lawyers of Kentucky have made some attempts to transplant into Tennessee the principles which had grown up in Kentucky; but their attempts were unsuccessful. The books are full of cases in which it is expressly decided that notoriety is not essential to the validity of an entry. ”

“ In Kentucky and in Virginia the rule is, that a Court of common law cannot look beyond the patent; but in Tennessee it is understood to be otherwise. The Courts of law in that state allow the parties, in an ejectment, to go back to the original entry, and to connect the patent with it. This rule is founded on the land laws of North Carolina, which have been construed in Tennessee to permit and require it. ”