I'm looking at the valuation record submitted to the I.C.C. in 1919 for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe railroad line running from Dallas to Cleburne, Texas. It looks like there's a typo in the "Cost of Parcel when Originally Acquired" column.
10.80 ac. $ 203.40 = $ 18.83/ac.
6.06 ac. $ 156.00 = $ 25.74/ac,
9.51 ac. $ 345.20 = $ 36.30/ac.
4.67 ac. $2789.50 = $597.32/ac.
But, no, that 4.67 ac. came out of Ritter's farm. As some Dallas attorneys wrote to the land agent for the railroad in Galvestion who later wondered how the right-of-way had been acquired:
"We find that right of way over & through Ritter's farm was condemned - that Jas. B. Simpson represented the Company before the Commissioners, appealed from their award to the County Court, where Ritter obtained judgment for $1250.00 from which judgment Col. Simpson appealed to Court of Appeals & reversed same. That when the case was sent back it was transferred to the District Court, the County Judge having been of Counsel for Ritter.
"In the Dist Court Ritter amended & sued for $4500.00 & obtained $2500.00 ...."
In other words, the railroad could have had a right-of-way across Ritter's farm for $1250.00, but appealed that value assigned to the right-of-way in the condemnation proceeding and ultimately ended up paying twice that sum plus court costs when final judgment was rendered. So, what was the magic formula?
Per the Dallas attorneys in 1889:
"Ritter is red headed, and famous for rail road litigation, and doubtless it would be well for any trespass that may have been committed to be settled without suit. He is unscrupulous & never fails to bring up a strong array of witnesses to swear for him."
The reason for the land agent's inquiry was that apparently two years after the judgment in his favor for $2500.00 plus costs of court, Ritter was back complaining about a trespass by the railroad onto his land outside the 50 ft. right-of-way that had cost the railroad nearly $600 per acre for just an easement. They paid him before that could go any furtner.
Kent McMillan, post: 378999, member: 3 wrote: I'm looking at the valuation record submitted to the I.C.C. in 1919 for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe railroad line running from Dallas to Cleburne, Texas. It looks like there's a typo in the "Cost of Parcel when Originally Acquired" column as you run down the right-of-way parcels in sequence:
10.80 ac. $ 203.40 = $ 18.83/ac.
6.06 ac. $ 156.00 = $ 25.74/ac,
9.51 ac. $ 345.20 = $ 36.30/ac.
4.67 ac. $2789.50 = $597.32/ac.But, no, that 4.67 ac. came out of Ritter's farm. As some Dallas attorneys wrote to the land agent for the railroad in Galvestion who later wondered how the right-of-way had been acquired:
"We find that right of way over & through Ritter's farm was condemned - that Jas. B. Simpson represented the Company before the Commissioners, appealed from their award to the County Court, where Ritter obtained judgment for $1250.00 from which judgment Col. Simpson appealed to Court of Appeals & reversed same. That when the case was sent back it was transferred to the District Court, the County Judge having been of Counsel for Ritter.
"In the Dist Court Ritter amended & sued for $4500.00 & obtained $2500.00 ...."
In other words, the railroad could have had a right-of-way across Ritter's farm for $1250.00, but appealed that value assigned to the right-of-way in the condemnation proceeding, and ultimately ended up paying twice that sum plus court costs when final judgment was rendered. So, what was the magic formula?
Per the Dallas attorneys in 1889:
"Ritter is red headed, and famous for rail road litigation, and doubtless it would be well for any trespass that may have been committed to be settled without suit. He is unscrupulous & never fails to bring up a strong array of witnesses to swear for him."
The reason for the land agent's inquiry was that apparently two years after the judgment in his favor for $2500.00 plus costs of court, Ritter was back complaing about a trespass by the railroad onto his land outside the 50 ft. right-of-way. They paid him before that could go any furtner.
By the way, in case you've also had difficulty getting information from a railroad company as to how they obtained their right-of-way across various tracts, I should mention the two parts of the material archived in the National Archives and Records Administration. There are, of course, the valuation maps that show the right-of-way and station lands. However, sheets of data were also filed with the Interstate Commerce Commission to accompany each map. The valuation map will identify the railroad operating the line, the State (of course), the Valuation Section and Sheet Number. With that information in hand, you can request copies of the land acquisition forms, which are typically available as jpeg images via email, at no charge for up to 20 scans.
The image below is a portion of the land acquisition form for Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe, Valuation Section 2 TX, Map 6, for example.
Kent McMillan, post: 378999, member: 3 wrote: I'm looking at the valuation record submitted to the I.C.C. in 1919 for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe railroad line running from Dallas to Cleburne, Texas. It looks like there's a typo in the "Cost of Parcel when Originally Acquired" column.
10.80 ac. $ 203.40 = $ 18.83/ac.
6.06 ac. $ 156.00 = $ 25.74/ac,
9.51 ac. $ 345.20 = $ 36.30/ac.
4.67 ac. $2789.50 = $597.32/ac.But, no, that 4.67 ac. came out of Ritter's farm. As some Dallas attorneys wrote to the land agent for the railroad in Galvestion who later wondered how the right-of-way had been acquired:
"We find that right of way over & through Ritter's farm was condemned - that Jas. B. Simpson represented the Company before the Commissioners, appealed from their award to the County Court, where Ritter obtained judgment for $1250.00 from which judgment Col. Simpson appealed to Court of Appeals & reversed same. That when the case was sent back it was transferred to the District Court, the County Judge having been of Counsel for Ritter.
"In the Dist Court Ritter amended & sued for $4500.00 & obtained $2500.00 ...."
In other words, the railroad could have had a right-of-way across Ritter's farm for $1250.00, but appealed that value assigned to the right-of-way in the condemnation proceeding and ultimately ended up paying twice that sum plus court costs when final judgment was rendered. So, what was the magic formula?
Per the Dallas attorneys in 1889:
"Ritter is red headed, and famous for rail road litigation, and doubtless it would be well for any trespass that may have been committed to be settled without suit. He is unscrupulous & never fails to bring up a strong array of witnesses to swear for him."
The reason for the land agent's inquiry was that apparently two years after the judgment in his favor for $2500.00 plus costs of court, Ritter was back complaining about a trespass by the railroad onto his land outside the 50 ft. right-of-way that had cost the railroad nearly $600 per acre for just an easement. They paid him before that could go any furtner.
Well, that's why people love Capitalism.
It looks like Mr. Ritter played the 'game' with the RR and won. I ignorant about the condemnation process but it seems that if you have the missing or final piece of the puzzle, you're holding a good hand to play. The defamation comments reflect the situation.
Robert Hill, post: 379040, member: 378 wrote: I ignorant about the condemnation process but it seems that if you have the missing or final piece of the puzzle, you're holding a good hand to play.
The condemnation of the right-of-way was done under authority of the laws of Texas in force at the time. The way the process worked, the railroad could make a survey to locate the line of its track along the route it had been authorized to operate a railway. Then the railroad offered the landowners whose lands were crossed by the proposed line money for a right-of-way, which in this case was nearly uniformly 100 ft. wide.
If the landowners did not agree to sell, the railroad had to file suit in County Court to condemn the right-of-way. The County Judge appointed several Commissioners to view the proposed right-of-way and place a value on it. If the value was lower than the sum that the railroad had already offered, the landowner was stuck with costs of court. If the value was higher, the railroad paid costs and had to pay the appraised value before entering the land and constructing the line.
The railroad could appeal the award, which in the case of the right-of-way from Mr. Ritter it did. However, the railroad ultimately lost because they got out-manoeuvered when the case was returned to the County Court from the Appeals Court.
The deal was that once the County Court had arrived at a judgment as to the value of the right-of-way sought to be condemned, and the railroad had paid the award and any costs of court that it had been assessed, it could go ahead and construct its line even as the appeal worked its way though the courts. So, the railroad had paid $1250.00 plus court costs and was appealing that as excessive, but had already laid its track across Ritter's land.
