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· 2/21/1870

Chicago v. Sheldon

Citations

  • 76 U.S. 50
  • 19 L. Ed. 594
  • 9 Wall. 50
  • 1869 U.S. LEXIS 940

Syllabus

<p>1. The clause in the ordinance of May 23d, 1859, by which the city of Chicago granted to the North Chicago City Railway Company the > ,ght to construct a railway, the company agreeing, that it should—</p> <p>“As respects the grading, paving, macadamizing, filling, or planking of the streets or parts of the streets, upon which they shall construct their said railways, or any of them, keep eight feet in width along the line of said railway on all the streets where one track is constructed, and sixteen feet in width along the line of said railway where two tracks are constructed, in good repair and condition”—</p> <p>does not make the company liable for curbing, grading, and paving the streets with an entirely new pavement. The obligation of the company extended to repairs only.</p> <p>2. A contract having been entered into between parties, valid at the time, by the laws of the State, no decision of the courts of the State, subsequently made, can impair its obligation.</p>

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

  • “In cases where the language used by the parties to the contract is indefinite or ambiguous, and, hence, of doubtful construction, the practical interpretation by the parties themselves is entitled to great, if not controlling, influence.”
  • “[I]n an executory contract, ... where its execution necessarily involves a practical construction, if the minds of the parties concur, there can be no great danger in the adoption of it by the court as the true one.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Nelson

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

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