Eaton vs. Boston, Concord & Montreal Railroad (B., C. & M.R.R.) was a New Hampshire Supreme Court case decided in 1872 between farmer Ezra B. Eaton and the railroad company. Eaton asked the court to decide if B., C. & M.R.R. flooding of his farm was considered a "taking" under the Fifth Amendment's eminent domain clause, and if the railroad was responsible for compensation to the farmer for the taking. The court asked if "a release of all damages on account of the laying out or construction of a railroad through and over the land of the releasor, does not cover damages occasioned to the remaining land of the releasor by the construction of the railroad over the land of other persons". In 1851, after construction of the railroad, Eaton gave the defendants a warranty deed for the part of his farm where the railroad was located and signed the following release: "I, the subscriber, do hereby acknowledge that I have received of the Boston, Concord, & Montreal Railroad the sum of two hundred and seventy-five dollars, in full for the amount of damages assessed to me by the railroad commissioners of the State of New Hampshire, in conjunction with the selectmen of Wentworth, on account of the laying out of the said Boston, Concord, & Montreal Railroad through and over my land; and I do hereby release and discharge the said corporation from said damages".
The case deals with the legal concepts of eminent domain and strict liability (which received attention as a result of the need to address new and expanding issues created by the emergence and growth of railroads in the United States during the nineteenth century), and occupies a significant place in the historical background of eminent-domain and property-rights cases which emerged with the development of the railroads.
Background and related cases
Facts of the case
Eaton, a Wentworth, New Hampshire farmer, brought a civil action for damages (the flooding of his farm) against the B., C. & M.R.R. During construction of a road needed to build the railroad the company cut deeply into a ridge bordering Eaton's farm, removing a natural barrier to floods on surrounding farms (including Eaton's). As a result of the cut into the ridge several farms (including Eaton's) were damaged by flooding, which deposited sand and stone and prevented cultivation: "In consequence of this removal [natural barrier], the waters of the river, in times of floods and freshets, sometimes flowed on to E.'s land, carrying sand, gravel, and stones thereon". Eaton had signed a waiver of damages releasing the company from liability for the "laying out of railroad over his land," for which he was compensated. The defendants argued that Eaton's 1851 release waived their liability for the damage caused by the flooding of his property. The court ruled that the waiver only protected the railroad from liability resulting from the taking of Eaton's property "for the laying out of road" and not for damages resulting from the "construction" of the railroad (which caused the flooding of Eaton's land), noting that " ... this was a taking of E.'s property, within the meaning of the constitutional prohibition; and that the legislature could not authorize the infliction of such an injury without making provision for compensation".
The case, like similar ones involving railroads during the late 19th century, dealt with new legal issues and created precedents for law emerging from the development of the railroad system. Because the railroad was a new technology, courts in the past had not been faced with these issues. Eaton addressed legal and regulatory issues which emerged during the years after the 1872 decision: the exercise of power conferred by charter and eminent-domain questions (what constitutes a taking, what is considered public good and what is just compensation). Until 1870 much railroad law favored the industry, but Ely notes that after 1870 " ... lawmakers gradually shifted their focus toward controlling the behavior of the iron horse".
Northern Transportation Company of Ohio v. Chicago (1878)