Hiner v. Jeanpert

Citations

• 65 Ill. 428

Syllabus

<p>1. .HianwAY—evidence of a dedication. Where a road had been traveled for over thirty years, and was not amere neighborhood track through uninclosed woodland, but a well defined traveled road between important points in the neighborhood, and the travel varied not more than usual from tile main beaten track, and the public authorities, with the knowledge of the former owners of the land over which it passed, made repairs, and built bridges where needed: Held,, that the long user by the public, and the acts of acceptance by the authorities in making repairs and building bridges where needed along the line of the road, and the acquiescence of the grantors of the owner contesting the road, fully justified the jury m inferring a dedication and the existence of a highway.</p> <p>3. A highway may be lawfully established by public user and recognition by the public authorities, and acquiescence of the owners of the land over which it passes. No express words of dedication are necessary, and consent may be inferred from acquiescence, and user by the public; and user does not depend upon any fixed period of time.</p> <p>3. Instructions. Although the instructions given may have been more numerous than they ought to be, and some of them not as accurately drawn as they should have been, yet if they are not calculated to prejudice the other party’s cause, and the finding of the jury is fully warranted by the evidence, this will furnish no sufficient cause for a reversal.</p>