113 U.S.
Volume 113 — United States Reports
87 opinions
- 113 U.S. 1Cole v. City of La Grange (1885)Held state or territorial law unconstitutionalSupreme Court of the United States
Cole v. City of La Grange, 113 U.S. 1 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that the general grant of legislative power in a state constitution only enables the legislature to use eminent domain or taxation to take private property, without the owner's consent, for a public purpose.
- 113 U.S. 9Head v. Amoskeag Manuf'GAffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
- 113 U.S. 27Barbier v. Connolly (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Barbier v. Connolly, 113 U.S. 27 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court in which the Court considered the application of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to a San Francisco ordinance regulating the establishment of public laundries. The Court held that the regulation of laundries for public health and public safety reasons were clearly within the police powers of the state, and the Fourteenth Amendment was not meant to interfere with the police powers of the state.
- 113 U.S. 33Liverpool, New York & Philadelphia Steamship Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Liverpool, New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v. Commissioners of Emigration, 113 U.S. 33 (1885), was a case decided by the United States Supreme Court. The Court held that courts should not prematurely determine whether a statute applies or does not apply to a given case based solely on pleadings and the text of the statute without considering the evidence. The Court further held that in cases where it is unclear whether an act applies, courts should not preemptively rule on the act's constitutionality, marking an early statement of the ripeness doctrine.
- 113 U.S. 40Davison v. Von Lingen (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Davison v. Von Lingen, 113 U.S. 40 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that a stipulation that a chartered ship was to sail from its current berth to a destination was a condition precedent to the contract, which was broken when the vessel did not sail directly to the destination. In the manner of cases named after ships, this case is also called The Whickham.
- 113 U.S. 51Drennen v. London Assurance Co. (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Drennen v. London Assurance Co., 113 U.S. 51 (1885), was a fire insurance case regarding two policies of fire insurance, issued March 10, 1883, by the London Assurance Corporation, of London for the property of the firm of Drennen, Starr & Everett, a business in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The loss occurred on July 29, 1883.
- 113 U.S. 59Hollister v. Benedict Burnham Manuf'G (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Hollister v. Benedict & Burnham Mfg. Co., 113 U.S. 59 (1885), was an American bill regarding alleged infringement on a patent issued to Edward A. Locke for specific improvements in identifying revenue marks. The defendants, Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, were assignees of the patentee, and the plaintiff was the collector of internal revenue for the Second collection district of Connecticut. The court ruled that, while the improvement was useful, it was not novel enough to be a patent.
- 113 U.S. 73Hess v. Reynolds (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Hess v. Reynolds, 113 U.S. 73 (1885), was a Supreme Court case determining whether a probate case from Michigan should be moved to federal court and, if so, which federal court should hear it. The court issued a writ of error on the judgment of the Eastern District of Michigan federal court for remanding a case back to the state court and determined that was indeed the appropriate federal court to hear the case.
- 113 U.S. 81Polleys v. Black River Improvement Co. (1885)Petition denied / appeal dismissedSupreme Court of the United States
Polleys v. Black River Improvement Co., 113 U.S. 81 (1885), was a writ of error in the circuit court of Wisconsin for La Crosse County, and a motion was made to dismiss it. The first ground of the motion was that the writ should have been directed to the supreme court of the state instead of to the circuit court of the county. The circuit court denied the relief and dismissed the bill.
- 113 U.S. 84Pullman Palace Car Co. v. Speck (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Pullman Palace Car Co. v. Speck, 113 U.S. 84 (1885), was an appeals case from the circuit court for the Northern district of Illinois a case that had been removed from that court. The appeal was on the grounds that while a party who has a case for removal is not put to his election to exercise or abandon the right to remove at the moment of entering his appearance, he is not permitted unreasonably to delay this election during all the period incident to the preparation of the case, until both parties find themselves in condition to go to trial at law. Whether they be statutory or rules of the court's adoption, the cause would stand for trial if the parties had taken the usual steps as to pleading and other preparations.
- 113 U.S. 89Griffith v. Godey (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Griffith v. Godey, 113 U.S. 89 (1885), was a suit regarding equity of defendants who were trustees of certain property that the complainant was interested in, and which they received and disposed of. The complainant, Ellis Griffith, and his brother, John Griffith, were partners, engaged in the business of cattle raising, and resided in Kern County, California, where they occupied what is called a stock range, a tract of country on which cattle are permitted to roam and graze. It may be termed the feeding ground-the pasture land of the cattle.
- 113 U.S. 97Rowell v. Lindsay (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Rowell v. Lindsay, 113 U.S. 97 (1885), was a bill brought by the appellants, John S. Rowell and Ira Rowell, the plaintiffs in the circuit court. The bill was in equity against Edmund J. Lindsay and William Lindsay, the appellees, to restrain the infringement of reissued letters patent No. 2,909, dated March 31, 1868, granted to the plaintiffs for 'a new and improved cultivator. The answer of the defendants, among other defenses, denied infringement of the letters patent. The plaintiffs contended that infringement of their letters patent was made out by the evidence, which tended to show that the defendants constructed and sold seeding-machines made according to the specification of letters patent granted to John H. Thomas and Joseph W.
- 113 U.S. 104Findlay v. McAllister (1885)Reversed and remandedSupreme Court of the United States
Findlay v. McAllister, 113 U.S. 104 (1885), was a suit brought against Thomas McAllister and 14 other defendants, to recover damages as follows:
- 113 U.S. 116Central Railroad Banking Co of Georgia v. Pettus (1885)Reversed and remandedSupreme Court of the United States
Central Railroad & Banking Co. of Ga. v. Pettus, 113 U.S. 116 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court case involving a dispute over attorneys' fees that reached the Court on appeal from a federal trial court in a case between parties from different states. The case addressed whether attorneys who secured relief for unsecured creditors in equity proceedings were entitled under state law to an equitable lien on the property recovered in the litigation for reasonable fees. The Court held that such a lien was recognized, but reduced the compensation awarded. The case arose on appeal from a decree of the Circuit Court of the United States for the Middle District of Alabama in favor of the appellee law firms Pettus & Dawson and Watts & Sons.
- 113 U.S. 128Steele v. United States (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Steele v. United States, 113 U.S. 128 (1885), was an appeal of a case which held that a private sale of old material that arose from the breaking up of a vessel of war, made by an officer of the Navy Department to a contractor for repairs of a war vessel and machinery, is a violation of law. The allowance of the estimated value of such material in the settlement of such contractor's accounts is a violation of law. A settlement of such accounts at the Navy Department and at the Treasury, in which the contractor was debited with the material at the estimated value, does not preclude the United States from showing that the estimates were far below the real value, and from recovering the difference between the amount allowed and the real value.
- 113 U.S. 135Independent School-Dist of Ackley v. HallAffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
- 113 U.S. 143Clawson v. United States (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Clawson v. United States, 113 U.S. 143 (1885), was a case regarding a Utah territorial statute which authorized an appeal by a defendant in a criminal action from a final judgment of conviction, which provides that an appeal shall stay execution upon filing with the clerk a certificate of a judge that in his opinion there is probable cause for the appeal, and further provides that after conviction, a defendant who has appealed may be admitted to bail as of right when the judgment is for the payment of a fine only, and as matter of discretion in other cases, does not confer upon a defendant convicted and sentenced to pay a fine and be imprisoned the right, after appeal and filing of certificate of probable cause, to be admitted to bail except within the discretion of the court.
- 113 U.S. 149Bicknell v. Comstock (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Bicknell v. Comstock, 113 U.S. 149 (1885), was an action to recover the cost paid for a tract of land in Iowa and the value of the improvements made by the defendant. The complaint alleged a conveyance by Bicknell to one Bennett, the subsequent transfer to the defendant by sundry mesne conveyances, valuable improvements on the premises made by Bennett and his grantees, and a failure of title in Bicknell, when the deed was made by reason of a superior title in the State of Iowa under a land grant. Judgment below for plaintiff, to reverse which this writ of error was brought.
- 113 U.S. 153United States v. Mueller (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
United States v. Mueller, 113 U.S. 153 (1885), was a contracts case before the United States Supreme Court.
- 113 U.S. 157Consolidated Safety-Valve Co v. Crosby Steam Gage Value (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Consolidated Safety-Valve Co. v. Crosby Steam Gauge & Valve Co., 113 U.S. 157 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that novelty sufficient to distinguish a patent from prior art can be suggested by facts demonstrating the practical value of the invention. Here, the fact that known versions of the invention were not used and the fact that the claimed invention was widely adopted quickly suggest that the claimed invention had some modicum of novelty that its contemporaries lacked. Thus, the patent was valid, and the other party was liable for patent infringement. This case determined the validity of patent No. 58,294, granted to George W. Richardson September 25, 1866, for an improvement in steam safety valves.
- 113 U.S. 179Bryan v. Kennett (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Bryan v. Kennett, 113 U.S. 179 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that, under the treaty providing for the Louisiana Purchase, the United States would recognize property interests granted by the previous sovereign governments prior to the Purchase, even if the grant had been inchoate or incomplete. The case involved a disputed title to land in the U.S. state of Missouri, which had previously been under the control of Spain and France before being acquired by the United States. In the late 1700s, the government of Spain had made a possibly incomplete grant of the land to a U.S. citizen, Moses Austin. Spain then lost control of the land to France in 1800, who in turn sold it to the United States.
- 113 U.S. 199Northern Liberty Market Co. v. Kelly (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Northern Liberty Market Co. v. Kelly, 113 U.S. 199 (1885), was a writ of error to reverse a judgment for the defendant in an action brought on April 4, 1884, by a corporation formed for the purpose of erecting a markethouse in the City of Washington and carrying on a marketing business there, upon twenty promissory notes made by him to the plaintiff, dated January 1, 1875. A twenty-year-old incorporated markethouse company with power to purchase, hold, and convey real or personal estate necessary to enable it to carry on its business, built a markethouse on land owned by it in fee simple, and sold by public auction leases for ninety-nine years, renewable forever, of stalls therein at a specified rent.
- 113 U.S. 203Tucker v. Masser (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
<p>IN error to the circuit court of the united states for the- DISTRICT OF COLORADO.</p> <p>The facts which make the case are stated in-the opinion of the court.</p>
- 113 U.S. 205Cardwell v. Americal River Bridge CoAffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
- 113 U.S. 213Voss v. Fisher (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
This was a suit in equity brought by Charles J. Fisher, the appellee, against Willibald Yoss, the appellant, to restrain the infringement by the latter of letters patent granted to Fisher, dated May 4, 1869, “for an improved neck-pad for horses.” The answer denied infringement and denied that Fisher was the first inventor of the patented improvement.
- 113 U.S. 215Caillot v. Deetken (1885)Petition denied / appeal dismissedSupreme Court of the United States
<p>This court can acquire no jurisdiction under a writ of error where the return to it is made by filing the transcript of the record here after the expiration of the term of this court next succeeding the filing of the writ in the Circuit Court.</p>
- 113 U.S. 216Cheong Ah Moy v. United States (1885)Petition denied / appeal dismissedSupreme Court of the United States
Cheong Ah Moy v. United States, 113 U.S. 216 (1885), was a case regarding a Chinese woman who—upon her arrival at a San Francisco port from China—was not permitted to stay in that city by reason of the Acts of Congress of May 6, 1882 (amended 1884). She was forcibly kept on board another vessel scheduled to sail back to China and had to have someone sue out a writ of habeas corpus to obtain her release.
- 113 U.S. 218Price v. Pennsylvania Railroad (1885)Petition denied / appeal dismissedSupreme Court of the United States
Price v. Pennsylvania Railroad Co., 113 U.S. 218 (1885), was a case where the plaintiff sued the defendant for the loss of her husband by a death which the jury found, by a special verdict, to be caused by the negligence of the company's servant or servants. The Supreme Court dismissed the plaintiff's application for writ of error because there was no question of federal law presented.
- 113 U.S. 222County of Dakota v. Glidden (1885)Petition denied / appeal dismissedSupreme Court of the United States
Dakota County v. Glidden, 113 U.S. 222 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that a civil settlement extinguishes a controversy and deprives courts of jurisdiction to make further decisions.
- 113 U.S. 227Board of County Com'rs of the County of Anderson v. Beal (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Anderson County Commissioners v. Beal, 113 U.S. 227 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court case.
- 113 U.S. 243Harvey v. United States (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Harvey v. United States, 113 U.S. 243 (1885), was a case for labor and materials furnished by the claimants in constructing coffer dams in Davenport, Iowa and in performing the work necessarily connected therewith and preliminary to the mason work for the piers and abutments referred to in the contract. That court proceeded on the view that the claimants had no right to rely on the testimony of experts introduced by them as to the value of the work, but should have kept and produced accounts of its cost and expense, but it gave to the claimants the benefit of the testimony of experts introduced by the United States as to such value in awarding the above amount.
- 113 U.S. 249Central Co of New Jersey v. Mills (1885)Supreme Court of the United States
This was an appeal from an order of the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of New Jersey, remanding to the Court of Chancery of the State of New Jersey a suit in equity brought by the appellees against the appellants.
- 113 U.S. 258Looney v. District of Columbia (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
This suit, as appeared by the facts found by the Court of Claims, was upon a contract in writing made September 11, 1872, between the petitioner and the Board of Public Works of the District of Columbia, by which he agreed to furnish materials and labor, and in a good and substantial manner to grade and gravel Fourteenth Street East between B Street South and ' Boundary in the City of Washington, at prices specified, and among other things agreed tci punctually pay in cash…
- 113 U.S. 261Nashville St Ry Co v. United States (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway Co. v. United States, 113 U.S. 261 (1885), regarded a suit brought by the United States against a railroad company, Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway, to recover monies paid for delivery of United States mail in Tennessee from March 31 to June 8, 1861.
- 113 U.S. 268Coon v. Wilson (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Coon v. Wilson, 113 U.S. 268 (1885), was a suit filed in the United States Supreme Court regarding the infringement of reissued letters patent No. 8, 169, granted to the plaintiff, Washington Wilson, as inventor, April 9, 1878, on an application therefor filed March 11, 1878, for an "improvement in collars," the original patent, No. 197,807, having been granted to him December 4, 1877. The patent was for a "standing collar" resulting in a more comfortable fit.
- 113 U.S. 278Spaids v. Cooley (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Spaids v. Cooley, 113 U.S. 278 (1885), was regarding a lawsuit brought to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in the United States on December 13, 1876, by Chauncey D. Spaids against Dennis N. Cooley to recover $593.70, with interest from July 1, 1868. The declaration contained the common money counts and nothing more. There were two pleas, one denying indebtedness and the other averring that the alleged cause of action did not accrue within three years before the suit. The plaintiff's reply joins issue on the first plea and as to the second plea avers that the defendant promised to pay the debt named in the declaration within three years next before the commencement of the suit.
- 113 U.S. 287Sully v. Drennan (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Sully v. Drennan, 113 U.S. 287 (1885), was an appeal from an order of the Circuit Court for the Southern District of Iowa in the United States remanding to the state court a case which had been removed from the state into the circuit court. The suit was brought originally in the district court of the state by James N. Drennan and others, taxpayers of Prairie Township, in the County of Mahaska.
- 113 U.S. 293Avegno v. Schmidt (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Avegno v. Schmidt, 113 U.S. 293 (1885), was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that title to property confiscated during the American Civil War was properly held by the mortgagor.
- 113 U.S. 302Stone v. Chisolm (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Stone v. Chisolm, 113 U.S. 302 (1885), was a writ of error to reverse a judgment of the Circuit Court for the District of South Carolina, which dismissed the complaint in which the plaintiff asked for recovery in the sum of $1,050 with interest from July 1, 1883 Sixty bonds or obligations of the Marine and River Phosphate Mining and Manufacturing Company of South Carolina which became totally insolvent.
- 113 U.S. 310Thornley v. United States (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Thornley v. United States, 113 U.S. 310 (1885), was a lawsuit brought against the United States to recover the balance due on pay to the appellant who had been an officer of the U.S. Navy.
- 113 U.S. 316Baylis v. Travelers' Ins Co of Hartford Conn (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Baylis v. Travelers' Insurance Company, 113 U.S. 316 (1885), was a case where after close of testimony in a trial, the defendant moved to dismiss on the ground of the insufficiency of the evidence to sustain a verdict. This motion was denied and the plaintiff asked that the case be submitted to the jury to determine the facts on the evidence. The court refused this, and plaintiff excepted. The court then ordered a verdict for plaintiff, subject to its opinion, whether the facts proved were sufficient to render defendant liable to plaintiff on the cause of action stated. Plaintiff moved for judgment on the verdict, and defendant moved for judgment on the pleadings and minutes of trial.
- 113 U.S. 322Illinois Pneumatig Gas Co v. Berry (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Pneumatic Gas Co. v. Berry, 113 U.S. 322 (1885), was a case regarding a decree whereby a director of a corporation can be released by that corporation of all claims, equitable or otherwise, arising out of transactions under a contract between the corporation and the director made in excess of its corporate powers is valid, if made in good faith and without fraud or concealment.
- 113 U.S. 328Bigelow (1885)Petition denied / appeal dismissedSupreme Court of the United States
Ex parte Bigelow, 113 U.S. 328 (1885), was an application for a writ of habeas corpus to release the petitioner from imprisonment in the District of Columbia jail where he was held, as he alleges, unlawfully by John S. Crocker, the warden of the jail. He presents with the petition the record of his conviction and sentence in the Supreme Court of the District to imprisonment for five years under an indictment for embezzlement, and this record and the petition of the applicant present all that could be brought before the court on a return to the writ, if one were awarded.
- 113 U.S. 332Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Quincy v. United StatesAffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
- 113 U.S. 339Santa Anna v. Frank (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Town of Santa Anna v. Frank, 113 U.S. 339 (1885), was a case with no special finding of facts, the general finding of the issues for the plaintiff was not open to review by this court. Town of Martinton, Illinois v. Fairbanks, 112 U.S. 670; S. C. ante, 321. Questions were discussed by counsel for the defendant as to the legal authority of the town to issue the bonds referred to, fairly arose upon the first count of the declaration. But their determination could not affect the judgment, for the common counts were sufficient under the statutes of Illinois to support the judgment without reference to any question of the legal authority to issue the bonds described in the first count. Rev. St. Ill. 1870, c. 110, 58; Bond v. Dustin, 112 U.S. 604; S. C. ante, 296. Judgment was affirmed.
- 113 U.S. 340McArthur v. Scott (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
McArthur v. Scott, 113 U.S. 340 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that, in actions contesting wills, people who were not yet born at the time of the action cannot be bound by the decision if the representative of their interest was antagonistic to them. In other words, the doctrine of virtual representation only applies to a person when there was a fair presentation of the arguments in that person's favor. The case was followed faithfully in federal courts and was also generally accepted by state courts. The case was about a contested will that directed land to be conveyed to or divided among remaindermen at the expiration of a particular estate.
- 113 U.S. 408Hyatt v. Vincennes Nat BankAffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
- 113 U.S. 418United States v. Jordan (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
United States v. Jordan, 113 U.S. 418 (1885), was a Supreme Court of the United States case regarding an Act of Congress that involved tax refunds. Specifically, it provided for the refunding to the persons therein named of the amount of taxes assessed upon and collected from them contrary to the provisions of the regulations therein mentioned. In other words, pay to each of such persons the sum set opposite his name, each of them is entitled to be paid the whole of that sum, and no discretion is vested in the Secretary of the Treasury or in any court to determine whether the sum specified was or was not the amount of a tax assessed contrary to the provisions of such regulations. On the 29 July 1882, an Act of Congress was passed, 22 Stat. 723, c.
- 113 U.S. 424Chicago v. Crane (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Chicago & Northwestern R. Co. v. Crane, 113 U.S. 424 (1885), was a suit brought by a taxpayer and resident in the Town of Polk City, Iowa, on behalf of himself and all other resident voters, taxpayers and property holders, commenced suit in a state court of Iowa against two companies, praying for a peremptory writ of mandamus to compel the reconstruction and operation of the old line after the Chicago and North Western Railway, an Illinois corporation. changed the line and made it avoid the city, constructing a branch to the latter.
- 113 U.S. 435Prentice v. Stearns (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Prentice v. Stearns, 113 U.S. 435 (1885), was an action to recover possession of real estate and damages for its detention, the plaintiff in error being plaintiff below, and a citizen of Ohio, the defendant being a citizen of Minnesota, specifically recovery of real estate deeded from an Indian chief to A, in 1858, of a tract described by metes and bounds and further as: being the land set off to the Indian Chief Buffalo at the Indian Treaty of September 30, 1854, and was afterwards disposed of by said Buffalo to said A, and is now recorded with the government documents did not convey the equitable interest of the chief in another tract described by different metes and bounds, granted to the said chief by a subsequent patent in 1858 in conformity with the said treaty in such manner that…
- 113 U.S. 449Morgan v. Hamlet (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Morgan v. Hamlet, 113 U.S. 449 (1885), was a bill in equity filed by the appellants, September 3, 1879.
- 113 U.S. 452Chase v. Curtis (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Chase v. Curtis, 113 U.S. 452 (1885), was a suit brought under the provisions of §12 of the Act of the Legislature of New York of February 17, 1848, as amended June 7, 1875, where trustees of corporations formed for manufacturing, mining, mechanical, or chemical purposes are made liable for debts of the company on failure to file the reports of capital and of debts required by that section, is penal in its character, and must be construed with strictness as against those sought to be subjected to its liabilities. Suit was brought to recover from the trustees of such a corporation the amount of a judgment against the corporation, the judgment roll is not competent evidence to establish a debt due from the corporation to the plaintiff.
- 113 U.S. 465St Louis Ry Co v. Berry (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Berry, 113 U.S. 465 (1885), was a writ of error to review the action of the Supreme Court of Arkansas in refusing to restrain officers of that state from levying a tax on property of the plaintiff in error.
- 113 U.S. 476Morgan v. United States (1885)Altered precedentSupreme Court of the United States
Morgan v. United States, 113 U.S. 476 (1885), was a case involving several judgments of the United States Court of Claims in four cases against the United States for the payment of United States bonds known as "five-twenty bonds."
- 113 U.S. 506Provident Institution for Savings in Jersey City v. Mayor and Aldermen of Jersey City (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Provident Institution for Savings v. Mayor of Jersey City, 113 U.S. 506 (1885), was a bill in equity filed in the Court of Chancery of New Jersey by the appellant, to foreclose two mortgages given to it on a certain lot in Jersey City, New Jersey by Michael Nugent and wife, and another person.
- 113 U.S. 516Union Pac Ry v. RyanSupreme Court of the United States
- 113 U.S. 527Erhardt Boaro (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
This was an action for the .possession of a mining claim in Pioneer Mining District, in the county of Dolores and State of Colorado. The claim was designated by the plaintiff as “ The Hawk Lode ” mining claim, and by the defendants as “ The Johnny Bull Lode ” mining claim. The plaintiff was a citizen of New York, and the defendants were citizens of Colorado. The complaint wras in'the usual form in actions for' mining clasims under the practice in Colorado.
- 113 U.S. 537Erhardt v. Boaro (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
<p>APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO.</p> <p>The facts which make the case are stated in the opinion of the court.</p>
- 113 U.S. 539Richards v. Mackall (1885)No dispositionSupreme Court of the United States
Richards v. Mackall, 113 U.S. 539 (1885), was an appeal from the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia to the High Court on whether or not an appeal from that Court to this Court may be allowed by that Court sitting in the special term. Chief Justice Waite delivered the opinion of the Court. The Supreme Court of the District of Columbia consists of one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. Rev.Stat.Dist.Col. § 750; 20 Stat. 320, c. 99, § 1. The law provides for both special and general terms of the court, and for an appeal from the special to the general term, but the judgments and decrees, when rendered, are, whether they be at general or special term, the judgments and decrees of the supreme court. Rev.Stat.Dist.Col. §§ 753, 772.
- 113 U.S. 542Peugh v. Davis (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Peugh v. Davis, 113 U.S. 542 (1885), was a suit in equity for redeeming unoccupied and unenclosed city lots from a mortgage, continued from a case brought to the high court during the October 1877 term, (Peugh v. Davis, 96 U. S. 332) the question then was whether certain instruments of writing, made by Peugh to Davis constituted an absolute conveyance of lots in the District of Columbia or were in the nature of a mortgage security for loan of money. The court was of opinion that, on all the facts of the case, the latter was the true construction of the transaction between the parties. Respondent defended against complainant's claim to redeem by setting up that the alleged mortgage was an absolute conveyance.
- 113 U.S. 545Gumbel v. Pitkin (1885)No dispositionSupreme Court of the United States
Gumbel v. Pitkin, 113 U.S. 545 (1885), was a case brought in error to the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Louisiana to dismiss a writ of error.
- 113 U.S. 550Fussell v. Gregg (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Fussell v. Gregg, 113 U.S. 550 (1885), was an appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio regarding a bill in equity filed November 20, 1879, to establish the title of the plaintiff to, and recover the possession of, a certain tract of land in the County of Logan, in the State of Ohio, and for an account of rents and profits. The dispute was one of many issues with land titles in the former Virginia Military District section of Ohio.
- 113 U.S. 565Fussell v. Hughes and Others. 1 (1885)Supreme Court of the United States
- 113 U.S. 566St. Louis v. Myers (1885)Petition denied / appeal dismissedSupreme Court of the United States
St. Louis v. Myers, 113 U.S. 566 (1885), was a motion to dismiss for want of a federal question to give jurisdiction regarding Acts that admitted Missouri into the Union while leaving the rights of riparian owners on the Mississippi River to be settled according to the principles of state law and relinquishing to the City of St. Louis the rights of the United States in wharves and thoroughfares, which did not authorize the city to impair the rights of other riparian proprietors by extending streets into the river. Chief Justice Waite delivered the opinion of the Court. The question on which this case turned below was whether Myers, the lessee of the property situated on the bank of the Mississippi River, within the City of St.
- 113 U.S. 568Brown v. United States (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Brown v. United States, 113 U.S. 568 (1885), was an appeal from the Court of Claims regarding one James Brown, the intestate of the appellant, who was a boatswain in the United States Navy. The petition in this case was filed against the United States by the administratrix of his estate in the Court of Claims to recover a balance of pay which she alleged was due to Brown at his death. The Court of Claims found the following facts: The decedent Brown, was appointed a boatswain in the US Navy, January 4, 1862. On October 22, 1872, the Naval Retiring Board, before which he had been ordered by the Secretary of the Navy under the provisions of § 23 of the Act of August 3, 1861, 12 Stat.
- 113 U.S. 574Chicago Life Ins Co v. Needles (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Chicago Life Insurance Co. v. Needles, 113 U.S. 574 (1885), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court. It involved the writ of error regarding a denial of a motion and final judgment rendered perpetually enjoining Chicago Life Ins. Co. from further prosecution of its business. From that judgment, a writ of error was prosecuted to the supreme court of the state, where, among other things, was assigned for error the refusal of the court of original jurisdiction to adjudge that the said statutes of Illinois were in violation of the Constitution of the United States. The judgment of the inferior court was in all things affirmed by the supreme court of the state, and from that judgment of affirmance the present writ of error is prosecuted.
- 113 U.S. 585Pearce v. Ham (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Pearce v. Ham, 113 U.S. 585 (1885), was an appeal from the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of Illinois regarding a bill filed by Charles I. Ham, the appellee, against Isaac N. Pearce and Andrew J. Kuykendall, the appellants. Originally, one Joseph K. Frick contracted with the County Court of Johnson County in the State of Illinois, where he agreed to build, according to certain plans and specifications, a courthouse for said county at Vienna, the county seat, furnishing the material and completing it by the first Monday of September 1870, in consideration whereof the county court agreed to pay him $38,357 in the bonds of Johnson county, bearing ten percent interest, and due in six years.
- 113 U.S. 594Ayers v. Watson (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Ayers v. Watson, 113 U.S. 594 (1885), was an action of trespass to try title of certain land in Bell County, Texas, originally brought in the district court of that county by Watson, the defendant in error, against the plaintiffs in error and one Anderson.
- 113 U.S. 609California Artificial Stone Paving Co. v. Molitor (1885)Petition denied / appeal dismissedSupreme Court of the United States
California Artificial Stone Paving Co. v. Molitor, 113 U.S. 609 (1885), involved a bill that was filed by the appellant against the appellee complaining that the latter was infringing on a letters patent granted to one John J. Schillinger, and which had been assigned for the State of California to the complainant. The patent was for an improvement in concrete pavement was originally issued July 19, 1870, and reissued May 2, 1871. The improvement, as described in the reissued patent, consisted in laying the pavement in detached blocks separated from each other by strips of tar paper or other suitable material so as to prevent the blocks from adhering to each other.
- 113 U.S. 618Winona St v. Barney (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Winona & St. Peter R. Co. v. Barney, 113 U.S. 618 (1885), was a case in brought to the United States Supreme Court involving public land grants to a state to aid in constructing railroads which contained a description which would be difficult to give full effect if used in an instrument of private conveyance.
- 113 U.S. 629Kansas Pac Ry Co v. DunmeyerSupreme Court of the United States
- 113 U.S. 645Schmieder v. Barney (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Schmieder v. Barney, 113 U.S. 645 (1885), regards the act of July 14, 1862, § 9, 12 Stat. 553, which imposes a duty, "On all delaines . . . and on all goods of similar description, not exceeding in value forty cents per square yard, two cents per square yard." Held that the similarity required is a similarity in product, in adaptation to uses, and in uses, even though in commerce they may be classed as different articles; affirming Greenleaf v. Goodrich.
- 113 U.S. 648Camp v. United States (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Camp v. United States, 113 U.S. 648 (1885), was an action brought by the appellant on April 13, 1869, to recover a balance alleged to be due as compensation for collecting and delivering to the United States a large amount of cotton in bales which was captured and abandoned property within the meaning of the acts of Congress. He claimed to have performed the services in question under an arrangement or agreement with an agent of the US Treasury Department which the Secretary of the Treasury subsequently recognized as a valid contract with the government. He admits certain payments on his claim, and asks judgment for the further sum of $80,000. The court below dismissed his petition.
- 113 U.S. 656Parsons v. Wilkinson (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Maxwell's Executors v. Wilkinson, 113 U.S. 656 (1885), was a writ of error brought by the executors of a former collector of the port of New York to reverse a judgment in an action brought against him by the defendant in error to recover duties paid by them on imported iron.
- 113 U.S. 659Flagg v. Walker (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Flagg v. Walker, 113 U.S. 659 (1885), regards a case where the deeds for several parcels of land were transferred from Flagg, who was in financial difficulty, to Walker in return for paying off Flagg's debts and profits from the sale against a mortgage for other property owned by Flagg.
- 113 U.S. 679Blake v. City and County of San Francisco (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Blake v. City and County of San Francisco, 113 U.S. 679 (1885), was an appeal from a decree that dismissed a bill filed by the appellant to restrain the infringement by the appellees of reissued letters patent granted to the appellant as the assignee of original letters patent issued to Thomas H. Bailey. The original patent was dated February 9, 1864, and the reissue September 18, 1877. They were for "a new and improved valve for water cylinders of steam fire engines and other pump cylinders." The specification, which was substantially the same in both patents, stated that previous to the invention therein described, the only valve used to relieve the pressure upon fire hose to prevent them from bursting was one operated by hand.
- 113 U.S. 684Fourth Nat. Bank of St. Louis v. Stout and Others. 1 (1885)Petition denied / appeal dismissedSupreme Court of the United States
This was a suit in equity begun by Stout, Mills & Co., judgment creditors of the-Yeager Milling Company, to recover from the Fourth National Bank their pro rata share of certain property of the debtor company which was in the hands of the bank. The bank claimed a superior right to the property, and denied its liability to account to creditors therefor.
- 113 U.S. 687Davies v. Corbin (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
<p>IN ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR- THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS.</p> <p>Motions to dismiss or affirm.</p> <p>A statement of the litigation ■ in Davies v. Corbin, is contained in 112 U. S. 36, which was also a motion to dismiss. The grounds for the motion in Caines v. Corbin, are substantially the same -as those in the other case.</p> <p>I. The writ of error in the case of Davies v. Corbin was never perfected. The record fails to show that any bond was given. That in the absence of a bond the writ of error will be dismissed, has often been decided. Sage v. Railroad Co., 96 U. S. 712; National Bank v. Omaha, Id. 712. — II. Davies and Gaines are not entitled to prosecute writs of error. The mandamus to the county court constituted the judgment; the orders on the rules to show cause against the tax collector, clerk and other officers, were merely in enforcement of that judgment. The levy and collection of a tax is not only an entire thing, although accomplished by successive steps and by separate officials, but is a continuous transaction. Labette Co. v. Moulton, 112 U. S. 225. Surely every one of the officials of the State who may have any action to take in the assessment, collection and payment of the tax, cannot prosecute a separate writ of error and make a separate “case” here, every time there is a levy attempted to be enforced under the writ of mandamus. — III. The judgments should be affirmed even if the cases are not dismissed. The writs of. error are brought in the face of the repeated decisions of this court, to the effect, that it is no answer to a writ of mandamus from a United States court commanding a collection of a tax, for the tax officer to allege that he had been enjoined by a State court. It is plain the cases are brought here for delay only.</p>
- 113 U.S. 689Boyer v. Boyer (1885)ReversedSupreme Court of the United States
Boyer v. Boyer, 113 U.S. 689 (1885), was a suit in error brought in a state court of Pennsylvania for an injunction restraining the commissioners of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania from levying a county tax for the year 1883 upon certain shares in the Pennsylvania National Bank, an association organized under the National Banking Act. The suit proceeds upon the ground that such levy violates the act of Congress prescribing conditions upon state taxation of national bank shares in this, that "other moneyed capital in the hands of individual citizens" of that county is exempted by the laws of Pennsylvania from such taxation. A demurrer to the bill was sustained and the suit was dismissed.
- 113 U.S. 703Soon Hing v. Crowley (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Soon Hing v. Crowley, 113 U.S. 703 (1885), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States.
- 113 U.S. 711United States v. Indianapolis St L R (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
United States v. Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad Co., 113 U.S. 711 (1885), regarded a suit that was brought to foreclose mortgages given to secure bonds issued by the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad Company. A final decree of foreclosure having been passed, the mortgaged property was sold, and the sale was confirmed by the court. The United States intervened by petition, and asked that certain sums, alleged to be due to the government on account of taxes, be first paid out of the proceeds.
- 113 U.S. 713Fisk (1885)Stay/motion grantedSupreme Court of the United States
Ex parte Fisk, 113 U.S. 713 (1885), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that Federal rules of evidence control in actions at law in federal court, and they preempt state laws that allow discovery in analogous situations. Essentially, Francis B. Fogg brought suit in the New York trial court against Fisk to recover the sum of $63,250 on the allegation of false and fraudulent representations made by Fisk in the sale of certain mining stocks. The case was removed to federal court, and the state court ordered that the proceedings continue there under the rules of the state court. Fisk was held in criminal contempt when he declined to answer questions his attorney believed violated the Fifth Amendment.
- 113 U.S. 727Cooper Manuf'G Co of Mount Vernon Ohio v. Ferguson (1885)Reversed and remandedSupreme Court of the United States
Cooper Manufacturing Co. v. Ferguson, 113 U.S. 727 (1885), was a suit regarding the legitimacy of a sale of a steam engine and other machinery in the State of Ohio.
- 113 U.S. 737Carter v. Burr (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Carter v. Burr, 113 U.S. 737 (1885), was a case regarding a promissory note that was held by the appellee which secured by mortgage of premises in the City of Washington, DC to the appellant, to decide whether other transactions regarding the property would pay this note, or if it would instead remain in force, along with the right to participate in the proceeds arising from a sale under the mortgage.
- 113 U.S. 742Gregory v. Hartley (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Gregory v. Hartley, 113 U.S. 742 (1885), was a case in error to the Supreme Court of the State of Nebraska where it was decided and reaffirmed that the words "term at which said cause could be first tried and before the trial thereof," Act of March 3, 1875, c. 137, § 3, 18 Stat. 471, mean the first term at which the cause is in law triable, i.e., in which it would stand for trial if the parties had taken the usual steps as to pleadings and other preparations. Babbitt v. Clark, 103 U.S. 808, and Pullman Palace Car Co. v. Speck, ante, 113 U.S. 87.
- 113 U.S. 747United States v. Steever (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
United States v. Steever, 113 U.S. 747 (1885), was an appeal from the court of claims to recover the amount necessary to make up his lawful share of the prize money awarded for the capture of the Confederate naval ram Albemarle. The rebel iron-clad ram CSS Albemarle was captured and sunk at Plymouth, in the Roanoke River, in the State of North Carolina, on the night of October 27, 1864, by the United States Picket Launch No. 1, an armed torpedo launch propelled by steam, attached to a division of the North Atlantic blockading squadron, and commanded by Lieut. William B. Cushing, of the United States navy, and having on board six inferior officers (of whom the petitioner, a third assistant engineer, was one) and eight men. Lieut.
- 113 U.S. 756Hardin v. Boyd (1885)AffirmedSupreme Court of the United States
Hardin v. Boyd, 113 U.S. 756 (1885), was a motion to dismiss a lawsuit on county bonds issued in aid of a railroad. Judgment below for the plaintiff. The defendant brought a writ of error to reverse it. Subsequently, to the judgment, the county settled with the plaintiff and other bondholders, by giving them new bonds bearing a less rate of interest, and the old bonds, which were the cause of action in this suit, were surrendered and destroyed. Fraud and collusion was alleged in the handling of a will which transferred ownership of property in Crittenden County, Arkansas. These facts were brought before this Court by affidavits and transcripts from the county records, accompanied by a motion to dismiss the writ of error.