# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 121

This is a list of cases reported in volume 121 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1887.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 121 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 121 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) |

## Notable Case in 121 U.S.
### Ex parte Bain

In Ex parte Bain, 121 U.S. 1 (1887), the Supreme Court held that when an indictment is filed with a federal court, no change can be made in the body of the instrument by order of the court or by the prosecuting attorney without resubmitting the case to the grand jury. Even though a court may deem a change immaterial, the instrument, as revised, is no longer the indictment of the grand jury which presented it. Bain was overruled in part by the Court in United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625 (2002).

## 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 121 U.S.

| Case Name | Page and year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| Ex parte Bain | 1 (1887) | Miller | None | None | C.C.E.D. Va. | habeas corpus granted |
| Worden v. Searls | 14 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.E.D. Mich. | reversed |
| Richmond v. Irons | 27 (1887) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | reversed |
| Merchants' Insurance Company v. Allen | 67 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| First National Bank v. Shedd | 74 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.W.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Carper v. Fitzgerald | 87 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. Va. | dismissed |
| United States v. McDougall's Administrator | 89 (1887) | Harlan | None | None | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Royall v. Virginia | 102 (1887) | Waite | None | None | Va. | reversed |
| Grant v. Phoenix Life Insurance Company | 118 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Town of Bloomfield v. Charter Oak National Bank | 121 (1887) | Gray | None | None | C.C.D. Conn. | reversed |
| Mercantile National Bank v. City of New York | 138 (1887) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| National Newark Banking Company v. City of Newark | 163 (1887) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.D.N.J. | affirmed |
| Town of Concord v. Robinson | 165 (1887) | Harlan | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | reversed |
| Katzenberger v. City of Aberdeen | 172 (1887) | Waite | None | None | N.D. Miss. | affirmed |
| Laidly v. Huntington | 179 (1887) | Waite | None | None | D.W. Va. | reversed |
| Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway Company v. Dunn | 182 (1887) | Waite | None | None | Minn. | case advanced |
| Estes and Doan v. Gunter | 183 (1887) | Waite | None | None | N.D. Miss. | dismissed |
| Barron v. Burnside | 186 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | Iowa | reversed |
| McConihay v. Wright | 201 (1887) | Matthews | None | None | D.W. Va. | affirmed |
| Francklyn v. A. & W. Sprague Manufacturing Company | 215 (1887) | Bradley | None | None | C.C.D.R.I. | affirmed |
| City of Fargo v. Stevens | 230 (1887) | Miller | None | None | Mich. | reversed |
| Covington Stockyards Company v. Keith | 248 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D. Ky. | stay denied |
| Penn v. Calhoun | 251 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.S.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Menard v. Goggan | 253 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. Tex. | reversed |
| United States v. Phillips | 254 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.W.D. Tex. | dismissed |
| Cleveland Rolling Mill Company v. Rhodes | 255 (1887) | Gray | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | reversed |
| Hinckley v. Pittsburgh Bessemer Steel Company | 264 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| United States v. Le Bris | 278 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D. Minn. | certification |
| Parkinson v. United States | 281 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D. Nev. | reversed |
| Church v. Kelsey | 282 (1887) | Waite | None | None | Pa. | affirmed |
| Louisiana National Bank v. Whitney | 284 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. La. | dismissed |
| Dugger v. Tayloe | 286 (1887) | Waite | None | None | Ala. | affirmed |
| Thatcher Heating Company v. Burtis | 286 (1887) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Minneapolis Agricultural and Mechanical Association v. Canfield | 295 (1887) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.D. Minn. | affirmed |
| Huiskamp Brothers v. Moline Wagon Company | 310 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.W.D. Mo. | reversed |
| Maxwell Land-Grant Case | 325 (1887) | Miller | None | None | C.C.D. Colo. | affirmed |
| Fisher v. Kelsey | 383 (1887) | Harlan | None | None | C.C.E.D. Mo. | affirmed |
| Lehigh Water Company v. Borough of Easton | 388 (1887) | Harlan | None | None | Pa. | affirmed |
| Noonan v. Caledonia Gold Mining Company | 393 (1887) | Field | None | None | Sup. Ct. Terr. Dakota | affirmed |
| Winslow, Lanier and Company v. Nash | 404 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.N.D. Ohio | affirmed |
| Laughlin v. Mitchell | 411 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.S.D. Miss. | affirmed |
| Carson v. Dunham | 421 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D.S.C. | affirmed |
| Milwaukee and Northern Railway v. Brooks Locomotive Works | 430 (1887) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.E.D. Wis. | affirmed |
| Ouachita Packet Company v. Aiken and Company | 444 (1887) | Bradley | None | None | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| Albany and Rensselaer Company v. Lundberg | 451 (1887) | Gray | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Boynton v. Ball | 457 (1887) | Miller | None | None | Ill. | reversed |
| The John H. Pearson | 469 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D. Mass. | reversed |
| Carpenter v. Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company | 474 (1887) | Miller | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Bragg v. Fitch | 478 (1887) | Bradley | None | None | C.C.D. Conn. | reversed |
| McCoy v. Nelson | 484 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.D. Colo. | reversed |
| Wright v. Roseberry | 488 (1887) | Field | None | None | Cal. | reversed |
| Robinson v. Anderson | 522 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| Wilson's Executor v. Deen | 525 (1887) | Field | None | None | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Stanley v. Albany County | 535 (1887) | Field | None | None | C.C.N.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Frost v. Spitley | 552 (1887) | Gray | None | None | C.C.D. Neb. | reversed |
| Metropolitan Railroad Company v. Moore | 558 (1887) | Matthews | None | None | Sup. Ct. D.C. | reversed |
| McGowan Pump Company v. American Pressed Tan Bark Company | 575 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.S.D. Ohio | affirmed |
| Hartranft, Collector of Customs for the District of Philadelphia v. J.H. Wiegmann and Son | 609 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Hartranft, Collector of Customs for the District of Philadelphia v. Winters | 616 (1887) | Blatchford | None | None | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed |
| Snow v. Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company | 617 (1887) | Matthews | None | None | C.C.N.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Peninsular Iron Company v. Stone | 631 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.S.D. Iowa | reversed |
| Lawrence v. Morgan's Railroad and Steamship Company | 634 (1887) | Waite | None | None | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| New Jersey Steamboat Company v. Brockett | 637 (1887) | Harlan | None | None | C.C.N.D.N.Y. | affirmed |