Fisk v. Town of Havana

Citations

• 88 Ill. 208

Syllabus

<p>1. Dedication—land for highway. To constitute a dedication of land for a highway, the owner of the fee must give the right of way to the public, and it must be accepted and appropriated by the public to that use by travel, and a recognition of it as a public highway by repairs, or otherwise, by the proper authorities. To show a dedication, the acts of both the donor and the public authorities, in these respects, should be certain.</p> <p>2. Same—intent of owner must appear. In the absence of proof of an intention on the part of the owner of the land to dedicate its use to the public, a highway can not be regarded as existing by dedication.</p> <p>3. Where a road was laid out, under defective proceedings, and forcibly opened over a defendant’s land, he having opposed the same, and from that time forward contending there was no road, and refused to work out his road tax thereon, and the only proof tending to show a dedication was, his removing a tree and some brush therefrom, under the direction of the commissioners of' highways, it was held, that a verdict on the assumption of a dedication by him could not be sustained.</p>