Colbert & Kirtley v. Shepherd

Citations

• 89 Va. 401
• 16 S.E. 246
• 1892 Va. LEXIS 114

Syllabus

<p>1. Dedication—Case at bar.—No particular form or ceremony is necessary to dedicate land to public uses; the assent of the owner, and the fact of the land being used for public purposes, are all that is requisite. In 1789, with the consent and approval of the owner, the body of Mary Washington was interred in a burial lot, and forty-two years later a monument was erected over her grave by an association . organized. for that purpose. The corner-stone was laid with civic and military ceremonies by the President of the United States. Since then no one has claimed any private ownership over this spot of ground.</p> <p>Heed:</p> <p>This constituted a complete dedication of the tomb to public uses.</p> <p>2. Iíeservations—Option—Case, at bar.—The deed granting to the defendant certain land, containing within its bounds the said burial-ground and monument, reserved both, and defendant never claimed title thereto, but gave plaintiffs an option agreeing to sell a tract “ containing about two acres, with the Mary Washington monument and the marble shaft thereon,” in which option he used the language quoted merely to describe the tract. The evidence, in an action against defendant for breach of contract, showed that the option was procured by the false pretenses of the plaintiffs, for purposes other than those designed by him.</p> <p>Heed :</p> <p>The plaintiffs cannot recover.</p> <p>3. Brokers—Power to sell—Power to buy.-—Where owner constituted certain brokers agents to sell his land at an agreed price on commission—</p> <p>Held:</p> <p>Such agents could not buy for themselves at the price named.</p> <p>4. Idem.—Where the option paper left it doubtful whether it gave power to buy as well as to sell, the courts will not infer that the optionee was entitled to become the purchaser.</p>