Wood v. Railroad Company

APPEAL from the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Nebraska.

This was a suit in equity brought by William H. Wood against the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, wherein he prays for a decree adjudging that the legal title to certain land, being a portion of section 13, township No. 8, range 7, in Lancaster County, Nebraska, is vested in him.

The bill alleges that on Feb. 1, 1866, one Robert Beall made a pre-emption filing and an entry upon the land in question, and resided thereon from Feb. 1, 1866, to June 27, 1867, made valuable improvements, but afterwards abandoned it; that, May 24, 1871, the complainant duly made a homestead entry thereon, and complied with the laws so as to entitle him to a patent therefor, had it not been for the grant to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company by the act of Congress approved July 2, 1864; that on or about Jan. 31, 1877, he made the requisite final proof to entitle him to a patent, but that the Land Department rejected his application therefor, on the ground that the land had been approved to the company by virtue of that act; that the company duly accepted the grant, and on June 15, 1865, filed with the Secretary of the Interior a map showing the location of the line whereon the road was built; that the land is within twenty miles thereof, and on or about April 8, 1875, was, through mistake and erroneous construction of law, selected for, and patented to, the company.

A demurrer to the bill having been sustained and the bill dismissed, Wood appealed to this court.

Mr. John I. Redick, Mr. W. J. Connell, and Mr. E. E. Brown for the appellant.

No counsel appeared for the appellee.

MR. JUSTICE FIELD delivered the opinion of the court.