UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
MEREDITH V. PICKETT, 22 U. S. 573 (1824)
22 U. S. 573U.S. Supreme Court
Meredith v. Pickett, 22 U.S. 573 (1824)
Meredith v. Pickett
22 U.S. 573
Syllabus
Under the following entry,
"H. R. enters two thousand acres in Kentucky by virtue of a warrant for military services performed by him in the last war, in the fork of the first fork of Licking, running up each fork for quantity,"
it appeared in evidence that at the first fork of Licking, the one fork was known and generally distinguished by the name of the south fork, and the other by the name of the Main Licking, or the Blue Lick Fork, and that some miles above this place the south fork again forked, held that the entry could not be satisfied with lands lying in the first fork.
In such a case, the entry could not be explained and the survey supported by oral testimony. The notoriety and names of places may be shown by such testimony, but the words of an entry are to be construed by the court as any other written instrument. clubjuris