# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 115

This is a list of cases reported in volume 115 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1885.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 115 U.S.

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). 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 volume 115 U.S. were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| Morrison Waite | Chief Justice | Ohio | Salmon P. Chase | January 21, 1874 (63–0) | March 4, 1874 – March 23, 1888 (Died) |
| Samuel Freeman Miller | Associate Justice | Iowa | Peter Vivian Daniel | July 16, 1862 (Acclamation) | July 21, 1862 – October 13, 1890 (Died) |
| Stephen Johnson Field | Associate Justice | California | newly created seat | March 10, 1863 (Acclamation) | May 10, 1863 – December 1, 1897 (Retired) |
| Joseph P. Bradley | Associate Justice | New Jersey | newly created seat | March 21, 1870 (46–9) | March 23, 1870 – January 22, 1892 (Died) |
| John Marshall Harlan | Associate Justice | Kentucky | David Davis | November 29, 1877 (Acclamation) | December 10, 1877 – October 14, 1911 (Died) |
| William Burnham Woods | Associate Justice | Georgia | William Strong | December 21, 1880 (39–8) | January 5, 1881 – May 14, 1887 (Died) |
| Stanley Matthews | Associate Justice | Ohio | Noah Haynes Swayne | May 12, 1881 (24–23) | May 17, 1881 – March 22, 1889 (Died) |
| Horace Gray | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Nathan Clifford | December 20, 1881 (51–5) | January 9, 1882 – September 15, 1902 (Died) |
| Samuel Blatchford | Associate Justice | New York | Ward Hunt | March 22, 1882 (Acclamation) | April 3, 1882 – July 7, 1893 (Died) |

## Citation style

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.
* "C.C.D." = United States Circuit Court for the District of . . .
** e.g.,"C.C.D.N.J." = United States Circuit Court for the District of New Jersey
* "D." = United States District Court for the District of . . .
** e.g.,"D. Mass." = United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
* "E." = Eastern; "M." = Middle; "N." = Northern; "S." = Southern; "W." = Western
** e.g.,"C.C.S.D.N.Y." = United States Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York
** e.g.,"M.D. Ala." = United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
* "Ct. Cl." = United States Court of Claims
* The abbreviation of a state's name alone indicates the highest appellate court in that state's judiciary at the time.
** e.g.,"Pa." = Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
** e.g.,"Me." = Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

## List of cases in volume 115 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower court | Disposition of case |
| Pacific Railroad Removal Cases | 1 (1885) | Bradley | none | Waite | multiple | reversed |
| Hadden v. Merritt | 25 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Wheeler and Company v. New Brunswick and Canada Railroad Company | 29 (1885) | Miller | none | Blatchford | C.C.D. Conn. | affirmed |
| Pirie v. Tvedt | 41 (1885) | Waite | none | Harlan | C.C.D. Minn. | affirmed |
| Gwillim v. Donnellan | 45 (1885) | Waite | none | none | C.C.D. Colo. | affirmed |
| Grant v. Parker | 51 (1885) | Waite | none | none | C.C.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| Richter v. Union Trust Company | 55 (1885) | Waite | none | none | C.C.W.D. Mich. | motion to take testimony de bene esse in a cause pending in this Court on appeal is denied |
| Crump v. Thurber | 56 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | C.C.D. Ky. | reversed |
| Stewart Brothers and Company v. Dunham, Buckley and Company | 61 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.S.D. Miss. | multiple |
| Ehrhardt v. Hogaboom | 67 (1885) | Field | none | none | Cal. | affirmed |
| The Charles Morgan | 69 (1885) | Waite | none | none | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Clark v. Beecher Manufacturing Company | 79 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | C.C.D. Conn. | affirmed |
| Wollensak v. Reiher | 87 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Frasher v. O'Connor | 102 (1885) | Field | none | none | Cal. | affirmed |
| Gray v. National Steamship Company | 116 (1885) | Field | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Buncombe County v. Tommey | 122 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.W.D.N.C. | affirmed |
| Mayfield v. Richards | 137 (1885) | Woods | none | none | La. | reversed |
| Smith v. Woolfolk | 143 (1885) | Woods | none | none | Ark. Cir. Ct. | affirmed |
| Philippi v. Philippe | 151 (1885) | Woods | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ala. | affirmed |
| Lámar v. McCulloch | 163 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| A. Norrington and Company v. Peter Wright and Sons | 188 (1885) | Gray | none | none | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Filley v. Thomas J. Pope and Brother | 213 (1885) | Gray | none | none | C.C.E.D. Mo. | reversed |
| Boston Mining Company v. Eagle Mining Company | 221 (1885) | Waite | none | none | C.C.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| Lancaster v. Collins | 222 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | C.C.E.D. Mo. | affirmed |
| Van Weel v. Winston | 228 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Starin v. City of New York | 248 (1885) | Waite | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Clay v. Field | 260 (1885) | Gray | None | None | N.D. Miss. | affirmed |
| Henderson v. Wadsworth | 264 (1885) | Woods | None | None | C.C.D. Ky. | reversed |
| Moses v. Wooster | 285 (1885) | Waite | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | abatement granted |
| Jacks v. City of Helena | 288 (1885) | Waite | None | None | Ark. | dismissed |
| City of Waterville v. Van Slyke | 290 (1885) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D. Kan. | continued |
| Hazlett v. United States | 291 (1885) | Harlan | None | None | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Merrick's Executor v. Giddings | 300 (1885) | Harlan | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Smith v. Black | 308 (1885) | Blatchford | None | Field | Sup. Ct. D.C. | reversed |
| Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway Company v. Kentucky | 321 (1885) | Matthews | None | None | Ky. | affirmed |
| Knickerbocker Life Insurance Company v. Pendleton | 339 (1885) | Bradley | None | None | C.C.W.D. Tenn. | reversed |
| Sargent v. Helton | 348 (1885) | Woods | None | None | C.C.S.D. Ala. | affirmed |
| Watts v. J.B. Camors and Company | 353 (1885) | Gray | None | None | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Thomas J. Pope and Brother v. E.P. Allis and Company | 363 (1885) | Woods | None | None | C.C.E.D. Wis. | affirmed |
| Humphrey Bell and Company v. First National Bank of Chicago | 373 (1885) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | reversed |
| Merchants' Exchange National Bank v. Bergen County | 384 (1885) | Field | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Deffeback v. Hawke | 392 (1885) | Field | None | None | Sup. Ct. Terr. Dakota | affirmed |
| Sparks v. Pierce | 408 (1885) | Field | None | None | Sup. Ct. Terr. Dakota | affirmed |
| Alabama v. Burr | 413 (1885) | Waite | None | None | original | dismissed |
| Eachus v. Broomall | 429 (1885) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Gibson v. Lyon | 439 (1885) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Gage v. Pumpelly | 454 (1885) | Harlan | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Jones v. Van Benthuysen | 464 (1885) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Leonard v. Ozark Land Company | 465 (1885) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. Ark. | vacation denied |
| St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Company v. McGee | 469 (1885) | Waite | None | None | Mo. | affirmed |
| Drew v. Grinnell | 477 (1885) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Bohlen v. Arthurs | 482 (1885) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.W.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Kurtz v. Moffitt | 487 (1885) | Gray | None | None | Cal. Super. Ct. | reversed |
| Shepherd v. May | 505 (1885) | Woods | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Missouri Pacific Railroad Company v. Humes | 512 (1885) | Field | None | None | Mo. | affirmed |
| Missouri Pacific Railroad Company v. Terry | 523 (1885) | per curiam | None | None | not indicated | affirmed |
| Davis Sewing Machine Company v. Richards | 524 (1885) | Gray | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Traer v. Clews | 528 (1885) | Woods | None | None | Iowa | affirmed |
| Ferry v. Livingston | 542 (1885) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.E.D. Mich. | affirmed |
| Thompson v. Allen County | 550 (1885) | Miller | None | Harlan | C.C.D. Ky. | affirmed |
| Effinger v. Kenney | 566 (1885) | Field | None | None | Va. | reversed |
| Harrison, Havemeyer and Company v. Merritt, Collector of the Port of New York | 577 (1885) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Kenney v. Effinger | 577 (1885) | Field | None | None | Va. | dismissed |
| Arnson v. Murphy | 579 (1885) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Pullman's Palace Car Company v. Missouri Pacific Railroad Company | 587 (1885) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. Mo. | affirmed |
| Hassall v. Wilcox | 598 (1885) | Waite | None | None | C.C.W.D. Tex. | largely dismissed |
| Northern Pacific Railway Company v. Traill County | 600 (1885) | Miller | None | None | Sup. Ct. Terr. Dakota | reversed |
| Bowman v. Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company | 611 (1885) | Waite | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | dismissed |
| Clay County v. United States | 616 (1885) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D. Iowa | reversed |
| Campbell v. Holt | 620 (1885) | Miller | None | Bradley | Tex. | affirmed |
| Baltzer v. Raleigh and Augusta Air Line Railroad Company | 634 (1885) | Woods | None | None | C.C.W.D.N.C. | affirmed |
| New Orleans Gas Light Company v. Louisiana Light and Heat Producing and Manufacturing Company | 650 (1885) | Harlan | None | None | C.C.E.D. La. | reversed |
| New Orleans Water Works Company v. Rivers | 674 (1885) | Harlan | None | None | C.C.E.D. La. | reversed |
| Louisville Gas and Electric Company v. Citizens' Gaslight Company | 683 (1885) | Harlan | None | None | Ky. | reversed |