McQuiddy v. Ware’s Empirical Analysis
87 U.S. 14 · 1873
Citation profile
20 federal appellate · 5 district · 27 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 72 later decisions (4 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2023 · most notably Pace v. Superintendent State Correctional Institution at Graterford (2005), Shappirio v. Goldberg (1904)
20 federal appellate · 5 district · 27 state decisions — followed in 13 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.
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 72 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Why this delay? The plaintiff says he was in ignorance of them until recently, and that, as soon as he ascertained them, he took steps to assert his rights. Such a general allegation will not suffice to provoke the interposition of a court of equity. It will not do to remain willfully ignorant of a thing readily ascertainable. There has beenfree and uninterrupted communication between Tennessee and Missouri since the war closed, and the courts everywhere accessible for the prosecution of any cause of action. Besides, in the very nature of things, the complainant must have known soon after it occurred that an improved farm, once occupied by him, was in the possession of adverse claimants. This was notice sufficient to put him on inquiry, and this inquiry would have resulted in ascertaining all the facts stated in the bill. There is no reason given for the delay, nor any facts and circumstances on which any satisfactory excuse can be predicated. ””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Naddo v. Bardon““But if the proceedings, instead of being irregular and voidable, are null and void, as they are characterized in the bill, the remedy at law is complete; for there is in such a condition of things nothing in the way of the successful maintenance of an action of ejectment, which will result, not only in the restoration of the lands, but also of their rents and profits.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Jenkins v. Hannan“Equity always refuses to interfere where there has been gross laches in the prosecution of rights”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.