| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation |
| Authority: | Constitution of the United States, Art. III, §1 |
| Terms: | life tenure, subject to impeachment and removal |
| Positions: | 9 (by statute) |
This is a list of cases reported in volume 81 (14 Wall.) of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1872, along with a case from 1870 and a case from 1871.[1]
In 1874, the U.S. government created the United States Reports, and retroactively numbered older privately published case reports as part of the new series. As a result, cases appearing in volumes 1–90 of U.S. Reports have dual citation forms; one for the volume number of U.S. Reports, and one for the volume number of the reports named for the relevant reporter of decisions (these are called "nominative reports").
Starting with the 66th volume of U.S. Reports, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States was John William Wallace. Wallace was Reporter of Decisions from 1863 to 1874, covering volumes 68 through 90 of United States Reports which correspond to volumes 1 through 23 of his Wallace's Reports. As such, the dual form of citation to, for example, Christmas v. Russell is 81 U.S. (14 Wall.) 69 (1872).
Wallace's Reports were the final nominative reports for the US Supreme Court; starting with volume 91, cases were identified simply as "(volume #) U.S. (page #) (year)".
See also: List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
See also: List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office.
See also: List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by court composition.
The Supreme Court is established by Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which says: "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court . . .". The size of the Court is not specified; the Constitution leaves it to Congress to set the number of justices. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 Congress originally fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices).[2] Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices (always including one chief justice).
When the cases in 81 U.S. (14 Wall.) were decided the Court comprised these nine members:
| Portrait | Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salmon P. Chase | Chief Justice | Ohio | Roger B. Taney | (Acclamation) | – May 7, 1873 (Died) | |
| Smith Thompson | (Acclamation) | – November 28, 1872 (Retired) | ||||
| Nathan Clifford | Associate Justice | Maine | Benjamin Robbins Curtis | (26–23) | – July 25, 1881 (Died) | |
| Noah Haynes Swayne | Associate Justice | Ohio | John McLean | (38–1) | – January 24, 1881 (Retired) | |
| Samuel Freeman Miller | Associate Justice | Iowa | Peter Vivian Daniel | (Acclamation) | – October 13, 1890 (Died) | |
| David Davis | Associate Justice | Illinois | John Archibald Campbell | (Acclamation) | – March 4, 1877 (Resigned) | |
| Stephen Johnson Field | Associate Justice | California | newly created seat | (Acclamation) | – December 1, 1897 (Retired) | |
| William Strong | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Robert Cooper Grier | (No vote recorded) | – December 14, 1880 (Retired) | |
| Joseph P. Bradley | Associate Justice | New Jersey | newly created seat | (46–9) | – January 22, 1892 (Died) | |
See also: United States district court.
See also: United States circuit court.
See also: United States federal courts. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 the federal court structure at the time comprised District Courts, which had general trial jurisdiction; Circuit Courts, which had mixed trial and appellate (from the US District Courts) jurisdiction; and the United States Supreme Court, which had appellate jurisdiction over the federal District and Circuit courts—and for certain issues over state courts. The Supreme Court also had limited original jurisdiction (i.e., in which cases could be filed directly with the Supreme Court without first having been heard by a lower federal or state court). There were one or more federal District Courts and/or Circuit Courts in each state, territory, or other geographical region.
Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.
See also: Chase Court.
| Case Name | Page & year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States v. Crusell | 1 (1872) | Chase | none | Davis | affirmed | |
| Cockroft v. Vose | 5 (1872) | Miller | none | none | dismissed | |
| Bank of W. Tenn. v. Citizens' Bank | 9 (1872) | Swayne | none | none | dismissed | |
| Palmer v. Marston | 10 (1872) | Swayne | none | none | dismissed | |
| Sevier v. Haskell | 12 (1872) | Swayne | none | none | dismissed | |
| Steines v. Franklin Cnty. | 15 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | dismissed | |
| Kennebec & P.R.R. v. Portland & K.R.R. | 23 (1872) | Miller | none | none | dismissed | |
| Bartemeyer v. Iowa | 26 (1872) | Miller | none | Swayne | dismissed | |
| Ward v. United States | 28 (1872) | Miller | none | Bradley | reversed | |
| Henderson's D.S. | 44 (1872) | Clifford | none | Field | reversed | |
| Christmas v. Russell | 69 (1872) | Swayne | none | none | reversed | |
| Hurley v. Street | 85 (1872) | Chase | none | none | dismissed | |
| Traders' Nat'l Bank v. Campbell | 87 (1872) | Miller | none | none | affirmed | |
| The Thames | 98 (1872) | Strong | none | none | affirmed | |
| Mahan v. United States | 109 (1872) | Miller | none | none | remand denied | |
| Foulke v. Zimmerman | 113 (1872) | Miller | none | none | affirmed | |
| The Bridgeport | 116 (1872) | Bradley | none | none | affirmed | |
| Armstrong v. Morrill | 120 (1872) | Clifford | none | Strong | affirmed | |
| Ex parte Newman | 152 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | mandamus denied | |
| The Scotia | 170 (1872) | Strong | none | none | affirmed | |
| The Java | 189 (1872) | Bradley | none | none | reversed | |
| The Merrimac | 199 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | affirmed | |
| The Mabey | 204 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Caperton v. Bowyer | 216 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | dismissed | |
| Caperton v. Ballard | 238 (1872) | Davis | none | none | dismissed | |
| Gibson v. Warden | 244 (1872) | Swayne | none | none | reversed | |
| Hook v. Payne | 252 (1872) | Miller | none | none | multiple | |
| The Vaughan | 258 (1872) | Swayne | none | Chase | affirmed | |
| The Cayuga | 270 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Easley v. Kellom | 279 (1872) | Bradley | none | none | affirmed | |
| City of Lexington v. Butler | 282 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Bigler v. Waller | 297 (1872) | Strong | none | none | reversed | |
| Dent v. Emmeger | 308 (1872) | Swayne | none | none | affirmed | |
| French v. Shoemaker | 314 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | affirmed | |
| The Laura | 336 (1872) | Miller | none | none | affirmed | |
| The Continental | 345 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | reversed | |
| Pugh v. McCormick | 361 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Insurance Cos. v. Weides | 375 (1872) | Strong | none | none | affirmed | |
| First Nat'l Bank v. Pahquioque Bank | 383 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | affirmed | |
| O'Dowd v. Russell | 402 (1872) | Chase | none | none | dismissal denied | |
| The Steamer Webb | 406 (1872) | Strong | none | none | affirmed | |
| Smith v. Mason's Assignee | 419 (1871) | Clifford | none | none | reversed | |
| Mowry v. Whitney | 434 (1872) | Miller | none | none | affirmed | |
| Schuylkill & D.I. Co. v. Munson | 442 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Nicolson P. Co. v. Jenkins | 452 (1872) | Davis | none | none | reversed | |
| United States v. Ballard | 457 (1872) | Chase | none | none | affirmed | |
| Black v. Curran | 463 (1872) | Davis | none | none | affirmed | |
| Dolton v. Cain | 472 (1872) | Davis | none | none | affirmed | |
| Cross v. United States | 479 (1872) | Davis | none | none | reversed | |
| Dirst v. Morris | 484 (1872) | Bradley | none | none | affirmed | |
| Collins v. Riggs | 491(1872) | Bradley | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. Powell | 493 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | reversed | |
| Phoenix Ins. Co. v. Hamilton | 504 (1872) | Bradley | none | none | affirmed | |
| Gorham Co. v. White | 511 (1872) | Strong | none | none | reversed | |
| Morgan v. United States | 531 (1872) | Davis | none | none | affirmed | |
| United States v. Justice | 535 (1872) | Davis | none | none | reversed | |
| United States v. Hunt | 550 (1872) | Chase | none | none | reversed | |
| Turner v. Smith | 553 (1872) | Miller | none | none | reversed | |
| Gregg v. Moss | 564 (1872) | Miller | none | none | affirmed | |
| Philpot v. Gruninger | 570 (1872) | Strong | none | none | affirmed | |
| The Delaware | 579 (1872) | Clifford | none | none | affirmed | |
| Leary v. United States | 607 (1872) | Field | none | none | affirmed | |
| Erskine v. Hohnbach | 613 (1872) | Field | none | none | affirmed | |
| Mowry v. Whitney | 620 (1872) | Strong | none | none | reversed | |
| The Key City | 653 (1872) | Miller | none | none | reversed | |
| Delmas v. Merchants' Ins. Co. | 661 (1872) | Miller | none | none | reversed | |
| New Bedford et al. Co. v. United States | 670 (1872) | Strong | none | none | affirmed | |
| Willard v. Presbury | 676 (1870) | Nelson | none | none | reversed | |