# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 117

This is a list of cases reported in volume 117 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1886.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 117 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 117 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 117 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Company v. Southern Express Company | 1 (1886) | Waite | None | Miller, Field | C.C.E.D. Mo. | reversed |
| Pickard v. Pullman Southern Car Company | 34 (1886) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.M.D. Tenn. | affirmed |
| Tennessee v. Pullman Southern Car Company | 51 (1886) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.M.D. Tenn. | affirmed |
| Hagood v. Southern | 52 (1886) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.D.S.C. | reversed |
| Wright v. Kentucky and Great Eastern Railway Company | 72 (1886) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.D. Ky. | affirmed |
| Leather Manufacturers National Bank v. Morgan | 96 (1886) | Harlan | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company v. Ohle | 123 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.S.D. Iowa | affirmed |
| Tennessee v. Whitworth | 139 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.M.D. Tenn. | affirmed |
| Van Brocklin v. Tennessee | 151 (1886) | Gray | None | None | Tenn. | reversed |
| Graffam v. Burgess | 180 (1886) | Bradley | None | Miller | C.C.D. Mass. | affirmed |
| Akers v. Akers | 197 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.M.D. Tenn. | affirmed |
| Johnson v. Keith | 199 (1886) | Waite | None | None | Mo. | dismissed |
| Harwood v. Dieckerhoff | 200 (1886) | Waite | None | None | not indicated | bond increase denied |
| Tua v. Carriere | 201 (1886) | Woods | None | None | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Patch v. White | 210 (1886) | Bradley | None | Woods | Sup. Ct. D.C. | reversed |
| Barney v. Winona and St. Peter Railroad Company | 228 (1886) | Field | None | None | C.C.D. Minn. | reversed |
| Coffey v. United States | 233 (1886) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.D. Ky. | rehearing denied |
| Phelps v. Oaks | 236 (1886) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.W.D. Mo. | reversed |
| Ex parte Royall I | 241 (1886) | Harlan | None | None | C.C.E.D. Va. | affirmed |
| Ex parte Royall II | 254 (1886) | Harlan | None | None | original | habeas corpus denied |
| Applegate v. Lexington and Carter County Mining Company | 255 (1886) | Woods | None | None | C.C.D. Ky. | reversed |
| Boardman v. Toffey | 271 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D.N.J. | affirmed |
| Jefferson v. Driver | 272 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. Ark. | affirmed |
| W. and J. Sloane v. Anderson | 275 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.W.D. Wis. | affirmed |
| Fidelity Insurance Company v. Huntington | 280 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.S.D. Ohio | affirmed |
| Kleinschmidt v. McAndrews | 282 (1886) | Matthews | None | None | Sup. Ct. Terr. Mont. | reversed |
| Cherokee Trust Funds | 288 (1886) | Field | None | None | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Phoenix Insurance Company v. Erie and Western Transportation Company | 312 (1886) | Gray | None | None | C.C.E.D. Wis. | affirmed |
| Glasgow v. Lipse | 327 (1886) | Field | None | None | C.C.W.D. Va. | reversed |
| New Providence Township v. Halsey | 336 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D.N.J. | reversed |
| Rand v. Walker | 340 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Dunphy v. Sullivan | 346 (1886) | Waite | None | None | Sup. Ct. Terr. Mont. | affirmed |
| Core v. Vinal | 347 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D.W. Va. | affirmed |
| MacKin v. United States | 348 (1886) | Gray | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | certification |
| Union Pacific Railway Company v. United States | 355 (1886) | Matthews | None | None | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Sturges v. United States | 363 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Walrath | 365 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. Wis. | affirmed |
| Ex parte Phoenix Insurance Company of London, England | 367 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D. Vt. | mandamus denied |
| Van Riswick v. Spalding | 370 (1886) | Gray | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Yale Lock Manufacturing Company v. Sargent I | 373 (1886) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Kerr v. South Park Commissioners | 379 (1886) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Fulkerson v. Holmes | 389 (1886) | Woods | None | None | C.C.W.D. Va. | affirmed |
| Hoyt v. Russell | 401 (1886) | Field | None | None | Sup. Ct. Terr. Mont. | reversed |
| Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad Company v. Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Company | 406 (1886) | Miller | None | None | C.C.D. Iowa | multiple |
| Knapp v. Homeopathic Mutual Life Insurance Company | 411 (1886) | Gray | None | None | C.C.D. Mass. | affirmed |
| Marshall v. Hubbard | 415 (1886) | Harlan | None | None | C.C.E.D. Wis. | affirmed |
| Littlefield v. Florida | 419 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.N.D. Fla. | affirmed |
| Stone v. South Carolina | 430 (1886) | Waite | None | None | S.C. | affirmed |
| Union Trust Company v. Illinois Midland Railway Company | 434 (1886) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.S.D. Ill. | multiple |
| Ferguson v. Arthur | 482 (1886) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Dingley Brothers v. W.M. Oler and Company | 490 (1886) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.D. Me. | reversed |
| Turpin v. Burgess | 504 (1886) | Bradley | None | None | C.C.E.D. Va. | affirmed |
| Town of Mahomet v. Quackenbush | 508 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.S.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Bruce v. Manchester and Keene Railroad Company | 514 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D.N.H. | dismissed |
| Ex parte Fonda | 516 (1886) | Waite | None | None | Mich. Cir. Ct. | habeas corpus denied |
| New York Life Insurance Company v. Fletcher | 519 (1886) | Field | None | None | C.C.E.D. Mo. | reversed |
| Yale Lock Manufacturing Company v. Sargent II | 536 (1886) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | multiple |
| Yale Lock Manufacturing Company v. Greenleaf | 554 (1886) | Woods | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Dimock v. Revere Copper Company | 559 (1886) | Miller | None | None | N.Y. | affirmed |
| Hobbs v. McLean | 567 (1886) | Woods | None | None | C.C.S.D. Iowa | affirmed |
| Burnes v. Scott | 582 (1886) | Woods | None | None | C.C.W.D. Mo. | affirmed |
| New York Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Armstrong | 591 (1886) | Field | None | None | C.C.E.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Express Cases | 601 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. Mo. | decrees amended |
| Alabama v. Montague I | 602 (1886) | Miller | None | None | C.C.E.D. Tenn. | affirmed |
| Alabama v. Montague II | 611 (1886) | Miller | None | None | C.C.E.D. Tenn. | affirmed |
| Stewart v. Virginia | 612 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. Va. | affirmed |
| Campbell v. District of Columbia | 615 (1886) | Waite | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Long v. Bullard | 617 (1886) | Waite | None | None | Ga. | affirmed |
| District of Columbia v. McElligott | 621 (1886) | Harlan | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | reversed |
| Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Scammon | 634 (1886) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | multiple |
| Given v. Wright | 648 (1886) | Bradley | None | None | N.J. | affirmed |
| Daviess County v. Dickinson | 657 (1886) | Gray | None | None | C.C.D. Ky. | reversed |
| Phillips v. Negley | 665 (1886) | Matthews | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | reversed |
| Jackson v. Lawrence | 679 (1886) | Woods | None | None | C.C.W.D. Mo. | affirmed |
| Zeigler v. Hopkins | 683 (1886) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| Cantrell v. Wallick | 689 (1886) | Woods | None | None | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed |