Name/Title
Sewers vs. HacklanderEntry/Object ID
2022.97.08Scope and Content
An original carbon copy, in a blue back, of the opinion of the Michigan Supreme Court, decided June 17, 1922, in Sewers v. Hacklander. Plaintiffs [George J. Sewers] sought to restrain the defendants [John J. Hacklander] from interfering with their trapping and hunting on property between Silver Lake and the Kalamazoo River that was owned by the Hacklander but was partially under water and navigable by a small boat. Hacklander claimed that the Sewers were trespassing. The Court ruled in favor of Hacklander, stating that he "has the right to use his land under water, the same as land above water, so long as he does not interfere with the right of navigation.... Hunting and trapping are not incidents of the right to navigation."
Included is the short opinion in the companion case of Michigan Trust Co. v. Gotham, which the Court found was controlled by its decision in Sewers. There the plaintiff bank owned property along the Kalamazoo River in trust for members of the Pottawotamie Club, which had made improvements on the land to preserve game for hunting. The court noted that in the spring "hundreds of muskrats are found" there, worth $4-4.50 a piece on the market. The defendants had taken several hundred muskrats by entering the Club's property in boats. The Court ruled for the plaintiff for the same reasons as in the Sewers decision.
The 13-page document in bound with two grommets in blue paper.Context
Conflict for resource rights between two leading fishermen.Collection
1845 Fishing, commercialCataloged By
Winthers, SallyAcquisition
Accession
2022.97Source or Donor
Wolbrink, Janet (Bogart) 1923-2016, Wolbrink, Robert B. Sr. 1923-1996Dimensions
Height
11-1/4 inWidth
8-1/2 inLocation
Box
100 Commercial FishingRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Sewers, George James 1891-1954, Hacklander, John J. "Jack" 1885-1956Create Date
January 7, 2023Update Date
January 7, 2023