Townsend v. Little’s Empirical Analysis
109 U.S. 504 · 1883
Citation profile
124 federal appellate · 22 district · 90 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 323 later decisions (25 by the Supreme Court) — most recently July 2023 · most notably United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. (1906), United States v. Chemical Foundation, Inc. (1926)
124 federal appellate · 22 district · 90 state decisions — followed in 30 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Williams v. Jackson · Vattier v. Hinde · 14 Ohio St. 469 - White v. State · Patten v. Moore
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 323 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““According to the well-settled rule, general and specific provisions, in apparent contradiction, whether in the same or different statutes, and without regard to priority of enactment, may subsist together, the specific qualifying and supplying exceptions to the general. . . .” 109 U.S. 504 , 512, 3 S.Ct. 357 , 362, 27 L.Ed. 1012 .”
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““Constructive notice is defined to be, in its nature, no more than evidence of notice, the presumption of which is so violent that the court will not even allow of its being controverted. Plumb v. Fluitt, 2 Anstr. 482; Kennedy v. Green, 3 Mylne & K. 699. Where possession is relied on as giving constructive notice, .it must be open and unambiguous, and not liable to be misunderstood <jr misconstrued. Ely v. Wilcox, 20 Wis. 523 , 91 Am. Dec. 426 ; Patten v. Moore, 32 N: H. 3⅜2; Biilington’s Lessee v. Welsh, 5 Bin. 129 , 6 Am. Dec; 406. It must bo sufficiently distinct and unequivocal, so as to put the purchaser on his guard. Butler v. Stevens, 20 Me. 484 ; Wright v. Wood, 23 Pa. 120 ; Bogue v. Williams, 48 Ill. 371 . As said by Strong, J., in Meehan t. Williams, 48 Pa. 238 , what makes inquiry a duty is such a visible state oí things as is inconsistent with a perfect right in him who proposes to sell. See, also. Holmes v. Stout, 4 N. J. Eq. 402 ; McMeehan v. Griffing, 3 Pick. 149 , 15 Am. Dec. 108 ; Hanrick v. Thompson, 9 Ala. 409 .”,”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““Where possession is relied on as giving constructive notice, it must be open and unambiguous, and not liable to be misunderstood or misconstrued. Ely v. Wilcox, 20 Wis. 523 ; Patten v. Moore, 32 N. H. 384; Billington v. Welsh, 5 Binn., 132 . It must be sufficiently distinct and unequivocal so as to put the purchaser on his guard. Butler v. Stevens, 26 Me. 484 ; Wright v. Wood, 23 Pa. 120 ; Bogue v. Williams, 48 Ill. 371 . As said by Strong, J., in Meehan v. Williams, 48 Pa. 238 , what makes inquiry a duty is such a visible state of things as is inconsistent with a perfect right in him who proposes to sell.””
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Kirby v. Tallmadge · Olson v. Olson
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.