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162 Mass. 485

Olson v. Keith

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided January 1, 1895

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1895-01-01

<p>Deed — Boundary — Ambiguity.</p> <p>If a deed fixes exactly the location of all the lines and boundaries of the land conveyed, its construction cannot be controlled or affected by paroi evidence.</p> <p>A deed described the land conveyed as beginning at a point in the line of a private way, which ran westerly from 0. Street, at the southwest corner of A.’s lot, thence northerly in a line parallel with C. Street and by the land of A. a certain number of feet to an angle, thence northwesterly “ in line of a stone wall ” and by land of B. a certain number of feet, “ more or less, to a point,” thence southerly “ in a line parallel with said G. Street ” a certain number of feet, more or less, to the line of the private way, and thence by the way “ sixty feet ” to the place of beginning. A survey showed the length of two of the lines other than that on the private way to be somewhat less than the distance stated in the deed, which was qualified in each instance by the words “ more or less.” Held, that this part of the description was controlled by the location of the lines and monuments; and that there was no legal ambiguity in the deed.</p>

Relies on Morse v. Rogers · Stowell v. Buswell

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1895-01-01

How this case has been cited

Cited by 6 later decisions — most recently January 2017

4 state decisions

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Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Knowlton, J.

¶1On the undisputed facts of this case the deed from the tenant to the demandant fixes exactly the location of all the lines and boundaries of the lot conveyed, and its construction cannot be controlled or affected by paroi evidence. Cook v. Babcock, 7 Cush. 526. Stowell v. Buswell, 135 Mass. 340.

¶2The boundary A on the plan is the starting point, at the southwesterly corner of William King’s house lot, and is not in dispute. The line A B is the westerly boundary line of the lots of King and Sturgis, and is not in dispute. The point G is fixed at 60 feet from the point A, on the northerly line of the private way, and the line G D is fixed as having one end at G and running parallel with Copeland Street, It strikes the wall at D, which is a point 148 feet, more or less, from the corner at B. The only way of fixing exactly the point D is by running the line G parallel with Copeland Street until it strikes the wall, and the deed does not purport otherwise to show where on the wall the terminal boundary is. The length of the line on the wall is given in feet, with the qualification “more or less.” While the survey shows the length of two of the lines to be somewhat less than the distance stated in the deed, this part of the description is controlled by the location of the lines and monuments, and there is no legal ambiguity in the deed. Morse v. Rogers, 118 Mass. 572.

¶3■ Exceptions overruled.

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