# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 161

This is a list of cases reported in volume 161 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1896.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 161 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 161 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| Melville Fuller | Chief Justice | Illinois | Morrison Waite | July 20, 1888 (41–20) | October 8, 1888 – July 4, 1910 (Died) |
| Stephen Johnson Field | Associate Justice | California | newly created seat | March 10, 1863 (Acclamation) | May 10, 1863 – December 1, 1897 (Retired) |
| John Marshall Harlan | Associate Justice | Kentucky | David Davis | November 29, 1877 (Acclamation) | December 10, 1877 – October 14, 1911 (Died) |
| Horace Gray | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Nathan Clifford | December 20, 1881 (51–5) | January 9, 1882 – September 15, 1902 (Died) |
| David Josiah Brewer | Associate Justice | Kansas | Stanley Matthews | December 18, 1889 (53–11) | January 6, 1890 – March 28, 1910 (Died) |
| Henry Billings Brown | Associate Justice | Michigan | Samuel Freeman Miller | December 29, 1890 (Acclamation) | January 5, 1891 – May 28, 1906 (Retired) |
| George Shiras Jr. | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Joseph P. Bradley | July 26, 1892 (Acclamation) | October 10, 1892 – February 23, 1903 (Retired) |
| Edward Douglass White | Associate Justice | Louisiana | Samuel Blatchford | February 19, 1894 (Acclamation) | March 12, 1894 – December 18, 1910 (Continued as chief justice) |
| Rufus W. Peckham | Associate Justice | New York | Howell Edmunds Jackson | December 9, 1895 (Acclamation) | January 6, 1896 – October 24, 1909 (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.
The Judiciary Act of 1891 created the United States Courts of Appeals and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district and circuit courts to these appellate courts. The Act created nine new courts that were originally known as the "United States Circuit Courts of Appeals." The new courts had jurisdiction over most appeals of lower court decisions. The Supreme Court could review either legal issues that a court of appeals certified or decisions of court of appeals by writ of certiorari.
Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.
* "# Cir." = United States Court of Appeals
** e.g., "3d Cir." = United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
* "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 161 U.S.

| Case Name | Page & year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition of case |
| Chemical Nat’l Bank v. Hartford D. Co. | 1 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | Ill. | affirmed |
| Belknap v. Schild | 10 (1896) | Gray | none | Harlan | C.C.N.D. Cal. | reversed |
| Rosen v. United States | 29 (1896) | Harlan | none | White | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| In re Emblen | 52 (1896) | Gray | none | none | original | mandamus denied |
| Harrison v. Fortlage | 57 (1896) | Gray | none | none | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| France v. Connor | 65 (1896) | Gray | none | none | Wyo. | affirmed |
| Ball v. Halsell | 72 (1896) | Gray | none | none | C.C.N.D. Tex. | affirmed |
| Smith v. United States | 85 (1896) | Gray | none | none | C.C.W.D. Ark. | reversed |
| Union P. Ry. Co. v. Callaghan | 91 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| Fishback v. Western Union Tel. Co. | 96 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | C.C.E.D. Ark. | reversed |
| New Orleans F.I. v. Glover | 101 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | C.C.E.D. La. | order vacated |
| Beebe v. United States | 104 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | C.C.M.D. Ala. | affirmed |
| Carey v. Houston & T.C. Ry. Co. | 115 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | 5th Cir. | dismissed |
| Bank of Comm. v. Tennessee ex rel. City of Memphis | 134 (1896) | Peckham | White | White | Tenn. | reversed |
| Shelby Cnty. v. Union & P. Bank | 149 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | C.C.W.D. Tenn. | reversed |
| Mercantile Bank v. Tennessee ex rel. City of Memphis | 161 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | Tenn. | affirmed |
| Phoenix F. & M. Ins. Co. v. Tennessee | 174 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | Tenn. | affirmed |
| Memphis C. Bank v. Tennessee ex rel. City of Memphis | 186 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | Tenn. | affirmed |
| Planters’ Ins. Co. v. Tennessee ex rel. City of Memphis | 193 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | Tenn. | affirmed |
| Home I. & T. Co. v. Tennessee ex rel. City of Memphis | 198 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | Tenn. | affirmed |
| District of Columbia v. Lyon | 200 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Ainsa v. United States | 208 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | Ct. Priv. Land Cl. | affirmed |
| Durham v. Seymour | 235 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | dismissed |
| Baltzer v. North Carolina | 240 (1896) | White | none | none | N.C. | affirmed |
| Baltzer & Taaks v. North Carolina | 246 (1896) | White | none | none | N.C. | affirmed |
| Lynch v. Murphy | 247 (1896) | White | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Hamilton v. Brown | 256 (1896) | Gray | none | none | C.C.W.D. Tex. | affirmed |
| Davis v. Elmira S. Bank | 275 (1896) | White | none | none | N.Y. | reversed |
| Leighton v. United States | 291 (1896) | Brewer | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Marks v. United States | 297 (1896) | Brewer | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Durland v. United States | 306 (1896) | Brewer | none | none | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Washington G. Co. v. District of Columbia | 316 (1896) | White | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Schroeder v. Young | 334 (1896) | Brown | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Utah | affirmed |
| Douglas v. Wallace | 346 (1896) | Brown | none | none | N.C. | affirmed |
| Cochran v. Blout | 350 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Smith v. McKay | 355 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | C.C.D. Mass. | dismissed |
| Graves v. Saline Cnty. | 359 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | 7th Cir. | certification |
| Spalding v. Mason | 375 (1896) | White | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Hansen v. Boyd | 397 (1896) | White | none | none | C.C.D. Minn. | conditional affirmance |
| United States v. Stanford | 412 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| City of Evansville v. Dennett | 434 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | 7th Cir. | certification |
| Swearingen v. United States | 446 (1896) | Shiras | none | none | D. Kan. | reversed |
| Union P. Ry. Co. v. O’Brien | 451 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | 8th Cir. | affirmed |
| The Delaware | 459 (1896) | Brown | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| United States v. Zucker | 475 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Spalding v. Vilas | 483 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Spalding v. Dickinson | 499 (1896) | Harlan | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Matthews v. United States | 500 (1896) | Peckham | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Ornelas v. Ruiz | 502 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | W.D. Tex. | reversed |
| Dushane v. Beall | 513 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | Pa. | reversed |
| Geer v. Connecticut | 519 (1896) | White | none | Field; Harlan | Conn. | affirmed |
| St. Louis et al. Ry. Co. v. James | 545 (1896) | Shiras | none | Harlan | 8th Cir. | certification |
| Gildersleeve v. New Mexico M. Co. | 573 (1896) | White | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. N.M. | affirmed |
| Post v. United States | 583 (1896) | Gray | none | none | D. Minn. | reversed |
| Rouse v. Hornsby | 588 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | 8th Cir. | dismissed |
| Brown v. Walker | 591 (1896) | Brown | none | Shiras; Field | C.C.W.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Southworth v. United States | 639 (1896) | Brewer | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Owens v. Henry | 642 (1896) | Fuller | none | none | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Pearsall v. Great N. Ry. Co. | 646 (1896) | Brown | none | none | C.C.D. Minn. | reversed |
| Louisville & N.R.R. Co. v. Kentucky | 677 (1896) | Brown | none | none | Ky. | affirmed |