Commonwealth v. Bierly

Citations

• 37 Pa. Super. 496
• 1908 Pa. Super. LEXIS 318

Syllabus

<p>Deed — Estoppel—Land law — Warrant—Patent—Commonwealth’s title to forest land — Forestry.</p> <p>Where a patent is issued by the commonwealth for land on an application alleging a vacancy, when in fact no vacancy exists, and subsequently the commonwealth takes title to the land for forestry purposes by mesne conveyances from the holder of the older warrant, a person claiming under the junior warrant cannot allege that as the junior patent was issued by the commonwealth for a valuable consideration, the commonwealth is estopped from afterwards acquiring by purchase the older title and setting it up to defeat its own later grant.</p> <p>The rule that a grantor in a deed cannot set up a prior paramount title in himself against his own grantee applies only to a deed containing a warranty or covenant of title, and the estoppel is enforced merely to avoid a circuity of action. As a warranty and patent from the commonwealth contains neither warranty nor covenant for title, the rule is not applicable to these instruments, and as against them the commonwealth may set up a prior paramount title in itself.</p> <p>A person who secures a patent from the commonwealth on an application which either mistakenly or falsely alleges that the land is vacant is in no position to claim that the commonwealth is estopped by reason of its patent from setting up a prior paramount title in itself. In such a case there is an estoppel against an estoppel and the matter is at large.</p> <p>Adverse possession — Title—Burden of proof.</p> <p>Whilst the law raises no presumption against a title acquired by adverse possession, it certainly raises none in its favor. Upon him who asserts such a title, the burden of proof rests, with a constant pressure to establish, during the entire statutory period, the existence of every element out of which such a title must rise.</p> <p>Title to land by adverse possession for twenty-one years, cannot be established by proof of one or two crops on a very small p