Court : US Supreme Court
Insurance Company v. Mosley - 75 U.S. 397 (1869) U.S. Supreme Court Insurance Company v. Mosley, 75 U.S. 8 Wall. 397 397 (1869) Insurance Company v. Mosley 75 U.S. (8 Wall.) 397 APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS Syllabus l. The declarations of a party himself, to whomsoever made, are competent evidence, when confined strictly to such complaints, expressions, and exclamations as furnish evidence of a present existing pain or malady, to prove his condition, ills, pains, and symptoms, whether arising from sickness, or from an injury by accident or violence. If made to a medical attendant, they are of more weight than if made to another person. 2. So is a declaration made by a deceased person, contemporaneously or nearly so, with a main event by whose consequence it is alleged that be died, as to the cause of that event. Though generally the declarations must be contemporaneous with the event, yet where there are connecting circumstances, they ma...
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Smith v. Sac County - 78 U.S. 139 (1870) U.S. Supreme Court Smith v. Sac County, 78 U.S. 11 Wall. 139 139 (1870) Smith v. Sac County 78 U.S. (11 Wall.) 139 ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF IOWA Syllabus 1. In a suit on a negotiable security, when the defendant has shown strong circumstances of fraud in the origin of the instrument, this casts upon the holder the necessity of showing that he gave value for it before maturity. Page 78 U. S. 140 2. In a case submitted to the court without a jury which finds the facts constituting such fraud, and does not find that the plaintiff gave value for the paper, the judgment was rightfully given for the defendant. Samuel Smith sued the County of Sac, Iowa, on certain interest coupons attached to bonds purporting to have been issued by the county for the erection of a courthouse. According to the form of pleading in the Iowa courts, by petition and answer, which is adopted in the circuit court for that district, the plain...
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Legal Tender Cases - 79 U.S. 457 (1870) U.S. Supreme Court Legal Tender Cases, 79 U.S. 12 Wall. 457 457 (1870) Legal Tender Cases 79 U.S. 457 WRIT OF ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS AND APPEAL FROM DECREE IN EQUITY IN THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS Syllabus 1. A purchase of the property of a loyal citizen of the United States under a confiscation and sale made pursuant to statutes of the late rebel confederacy, passed in aid of their rebellion, is void. Texas v. While, 7 Wall. 700, affirmed on this point. 2. The acts of Congress known as the Legal Tender are constitutional, when applied to contracts made before their passage. Hepburn v. Griswold, 8 Wall. 603, on this point overruled. 3. They are also valid as applicable to contracts made since. The case in the FIRST one, Knox v. Lee, was thus: Before the rebellion, Mrs. Lee, a loyal citizen of the United States, resident in Pennsylvania, owned a flock of sheep in Texas, which...
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United States v. Klein - 80 U.S. 128 (1871) U.S. Supreme Court United States v. Klein, 80 U.S. 13 Wall. 128 128 (1871) United States v. Klein 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 128 Syllabus 1. The Act of March 12th, 1863 (12 Stat. at Large 820), to provide for the collection of abandoned and captured property in insurrectionary districts within the United States, does not confiscate, or in any case absolutely divest the property of the original owner, even though disloyal. By the seizure, the government constituted itself a trustee for those who were entitled, or whom it should thereafter recognize as entitled. 2. By virtue of the act of 17th July, 1862, authorizing the President to offer pardon on such conditions as he might think advisable, and the proclamation of 8th December, 1863, which promised a restoration of all rights Page 80 U. S. 129 of property, except as to slaves, on condition that the prescribed oath be taken and kept inviolate, the persons who had faithfully accepted the con...
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Crapo v. Kelly - 83 U.S. 610 (1872) U.S. Supreme Court Crapo v. Kelly, 83 U.S. 16 Wall. 610 610 (1872) Crapo v. Kelly 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 610 ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK Syllabus A. of Massachusetts, owning a ship then on the high seas bound for the port of New York but registered in Massachusetts, applied to the insolvent court of Massachusetts for the benefit of the insolvent laws of the state, and under the statutes of the state the judge of the insolvent court executed and delivered to the assignee in insolvency a transfer of all the debtor's property, the effect of which, under the statute, was to convey to the assignee all the debtor's property "which he could have lawfully sold, assigned, or conveyed." The debtor himself executed no transfer. After this, the ship being still on the high seas, B., of New York, sued A. in a New York court for a money debt, and in accordance with the laws of New York respecting nonresident debtors issued an attachment against hi...
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Tyler v. Magwire - 84 U.S. 253 (1872) U.S. Supreme Court Tyler v. Magwire, 84 U.S. 17 Wall. 253 253 (1872) Tyler v. Magwire 84 U.S. (17 Wall.) 253 APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSOURI Syllabus The Supreme Court of the State of Missouri, on appeal, dismissed a petition which sought to have the title to lands held by the defendant, under a patent from the United States, divested, and vested in the complainant. From this decree of dismissal a writ of error brought up the case under the twenty-fifth section of the Judiciary Act, the complainant claiming the land under a former patent from the United States. Page 84 U. S. 254 This Court determined that the legal title to the premises was in the complainant under the second patent, reversed the decree, and remanded the cause "for further proceedings in conformity to the opinion of the court" ( 75 U. S. 8 Wall. 672). The opinion given declared also that on the merits (which were gone into, and in which utterance was given as...
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Scholey v. Rew - 90 U.S. 331 (1874) U.S. Supreme Court Scholey v. Rew, 90 U.S. 23 Wall. 331 331 (1874) Scholey v. Rew 90 U.S. (23 Wall.) 331 ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Syllabus 1. The "succession tax," imposed by the acts of June 30th, 1804, and July 13th, 1866, on every "devolution of title to any real estate," was not a "direct tax" within the meaning of the Constitution, but an "impost or excise," and was constitutional and valid. 2. A devise of an equitable interest in real estate, in which personal property had been invested by the trustee with the assent of the devisor, before the making of the will, was a devolution of real estate within the meaning of the Acts of June 30, 1864, and July 13, 1860, and the devisee is liable to the succession tax imposed thereby in respect of it if he has received its value, although in proceedings for partition he has had assigned to him only personal property. 3. An alien to whom a devise of an in...
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McLean v. Fleming - 96 U.S. 245 (1877) U.S. Supreme Court McLean v. Fleming, 96 U.S. 245 (1877) McLean v. Fleming 96 U.S. 245 APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI Syllabus 1. Where a manufacturer has habitually stamped his goods with a particular mark or brand, a court of equity will restrain another party from adopting it for the same kind of goods. 2. Positive proof of fraudulent intent on the part of the infringer is not required where the infringement is clearly shown. 3. Although no precise rule applicable to all cases can be laid down as to the degree of resemblance necessary to constitute an infringement of a trademark, an injunction will be granted where the imitation is so close that by the form, marks, contents, words, or their special arrangement, or by the general appearance of the infringing device, purchasers exercising ordinary caution are likely to be misled into buying the article bearing it for the genuine ...
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Coleman v. Tennessee - 97 U.S. 509 (1878) U.S. Supreme Court Coleman v. Tennessee, 97 U.S. 509 (1878) Coleman v. Tennessee 97 U.S. 509 ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE Syllabus 1. The thirtieth section of the Act of March 3, 1863, 12 Stat. 731, entitled "An Act for enrolling and calling out the national forces and for other purposes," did not make the jurisdiction of the military tribunals over the offenses therein designated, when committed by persons in the military service of the United States and subject to the Articles of War, exclusive of that of such courts of the loyal states as were open and in the undisturbed exercise of their jurisdiction. 2. When the territory of the states which were banded together in hostility to the national government and making war against it was in the military occupation of the United States, the tribunals mentioned in said section had, under the authority conferred thereby and under the laws of war, exclusive jurisdict...
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Bloomfield v. Charter Oak Bank - 121 U.S. 121 (1887) U.S. Supreme Court Bloomfield v. Charter Oak Bank, 121 U.S. 121 (1887) Bloomfield v. Charter Oak Bank Argued January 5-6, 1887 Decided April 4, 1887 121 U.S. 121 ERROR TO THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT Syllabus A town in Connecticut cannot make a contract, or authorize any officer or agent to make one in its behalf, except by vote of the inhabitants at a meeting warned by publicly posting a notice specifying the subject of the vote, and anyone who relies upon a vote as giving him rights against the town has the burden of proving such a notice although the selectmen and town clerk have neglected their duty of filing and recording the notice and although the record of the meeting states that it was "legally warned." The property of any inhabitant of a town in Connecticut may be taken on execution upon a judgment against the town. Page 121 U. S. 122 Neither the selectmen nor the trea...
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