Dexter v. Tree

Citations

• 117 Ill. 532
• 6 N.E. 506

Syllabus

<p>1. Alley—right of abutting owner to its use—and as to being public or private. If an alley is a public one, a party whose buildings adjoin the same will have a right to its use for light and ventilation, as well as for all other lawful purposes; but if it is not public, the fact that it has remained a long time uninclosed, and such party has built his house with windows and doors opening upon it, and enjoyed the benefit of light and ventilation from it, will confer no right upon him to have it kept open.</p> <p>2. Dedication—in respect to an alley—in assessor’s plat. Where an assessor’s plat of land, made for purposes of taxation, shows a strip seven feet wide, marked, “alley, see book 15, page 228, ” and the reference shows it to be a private alley, created for the sole use of the parties then owning adjacent property, the sale and conveyance of lots by the numbers and description, as shown by such plat, will not amount to a dedication of such strip as a public alley. Nor will the making of such conveyances affect the rights of persons to such alley who are not parties thereto.</p> <p>3. Prescriptive right—the basis thereof—as to the use of an alley. Every species of prescription by which property is acquired or lost, is founded upon the presumption that he who has had quiet and uninterrupted possession of anything for many years, has a just right, without which he would not have been permitted to continue its enjoyment. It must originate under a claim of right, and not under mere permission.</p> <p>4. The use of a private alley of another by mere permission, without any claim of right to such use, which is not inconsistent with its use by the owners thereof, is not of such adverse character as will form the basis for a prescriptive right.</p> <p>5. .Where there is nothing to show that the use of an alley was under a claim of right, or with the intention to enjoy it without regard to the wishes of the owners of the land, or that it was established and maintained