Cox v. Campbell

In Cox v. Campbell, 135 Tex. 428, 143 S.W.2d 361 (Tex. 1940) the Texas Supreme Court applied the presumption to the centerline rule in a trespass to try title action. Id. The dispute in Cox concerned a railroad easement, on which there was a producing well. The facts in Cox showed that in 1898 and 1904, the grantor, Campbell, executed deeds that conveyed the property on each side of a railroad easement. The deeds did not describe the property being conveyed as consisting of the property to the center of the railroad easement. Instead, the two deeds described the conveyances in terms that used the north boundary of the easement for the 1898 deed, and the south boundary of the easement in the 1904 deed. Id. at 361. Thus, the Cox deeds are similar to the deeds Delaune executed in 1908 and 1916, as the property descriptions in the deeds called for borders on the railroad's right of way, and the deeds did not describe borders to the center of the railroad easement. Id. at 361-62. Although Campbell sold the property at issue in Cox several years apart to different grantees, the presumption to the centerline rule was still applied. Id. at 365-66.