# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 170

This is a list of cases reported in volume 170 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1898.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 170 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 170 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) |
| 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) |
| Joseph McKenna | Associate Justice | California | Stephen Johnson Field | January 21, 1898 (Acclamation) | January 26, 1898 – January 5, 1925 (Retired) |

## Notable Case in 170 U.S.
### Williams v. Mississippi

In Williams v. Mississippi, 170 U.S. 213 (1898), the Supreme Court upheld provisions of the 1890 Mississippi constitution and its statutes that set requirements for voter registration, including poll tax, literacy tests, the grandfather clause, and the requirement that only registered voters could serve on juries. The plaintiff, Henry Williams, claimed that Mississippi’s voting laws were upheld with the intent to disenfranchise African Americans, thus violating the Fourteenth Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court did not find discrimination in the state's laws because, even though the laws made discrimination possible, the laws themselves did not on the face discriminate against African Americans. The court found that any discrimination toward African Americans was performed by the administrative officers enforcing the law and that (at the time) there was no judicial remedy for this kind of discrimination.

## 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 170 U.S.

| Case Name | Page & year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
| New York Indians v. United States I | 1 (1898) | Brown | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Leyson v. Davis | 36 (1898) | Fuller | none | none | Mont. | dismissed |
| Budzisz v. Illinois Steel Co. | 41 (1898) | Shiras | none | none | C.C.E.D. Wis. | dismissed |
| Parsons v. District of Columbia | 45 (1898) | Shiras | none | none | D.C. Cir. | affirmed |
| Chicago, et al. R.R. v. Nebraska ex rel. City of Omaha | 57 (1898) | Shiras | none | none | Neb. | affirmed |
| Missouri ex rel. Laclede G.L. Co. v. Murphy | 78 (1898) | Fuller | none | none | Mo. | affirmed |
| Barrow S.S. Co. v. Kane | 100 (1898) | Gray | none | none | 2d Cir. | certification |
| The John G. Stevens | 113 (1898) | Gray | none | none | 2d Cir. | certification |
| Louisville Water Co. v. Kentucky | 127 (1898) | Harlan | none | none | Ky. | reversed |
| American Surety Co. v. Pauly I | 133 (1898) | Harlan | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| American Surety Co. v. Pauly II | 160 (1898) | Harlan | none | White | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Kipley v. Illinois ex rel. Akin I | 182 (1898) | Harlan | none | none | Ill. | dismissed |
| Kipley v. Illinois ex rel. Akin II | 183 (1898) | Harlan | none | none | Ill. | dismissed |
| Hawker v. New York | 189 (1898) | Brewer | none | Harlan | N.Y. Ct. Gen. Sess. | affirmed |
| Kirwan v. Murphy | 205 (1898) | Fuller | none | none | 8th Cir. | dismissed |
| Humes v. United States | 210 (1898) | McKenna | none | none | C.C.W.D. Tenn. | affirmed |
| Williams v. Mississippi | 213 (1898) | McKenna | none | none | Miss. | affirmed |
| Galveston, et al. Ry. Co. v. Texas | 226 (1898) | Fuller | none | none | Tex. Civ. App. | affirmed |
| Houston et al. Ry. Co. v. Texas | 243 (1898) | Fuller | none | none | Tex. Civ. App. | reversed |
| Selvester v. United States | 262 (1898) | White | Gray (part) | none | N.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| Calderon v. Atlas S.S. Co. | 272 (1898) | Brown | none | none | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| Magoun v. Illinois T. & S. Bank | 283 (1898) | McKenna | none | Brewer | C.C.N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Williams v. Eggleston | 304 (1898) | Brewer | none | none | Conn. | affirmed |
| Shaw v. Kellogg | 312 (1898) | Brewer | none | none | 8th Cir. | reversed |
| Thompson v. Utah | 343 (1898) | Harlan | none | none | Utah | reversed |
| Virginia & A.C. Co. v. Central R.R. & Banking Co. | 355 (1898) | White | none | none | 5th Cir. | affirmed |
| Smith v. United States | 372 (1898) | Peckham | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Ariz. | affirmed |
| Stuart v. City of Easton | 383 (1898) | White | none | none | 3d Cir. | affirmed |
| Jolly v. United States | 402 (1898) | Peckham | none | none | D. Ky. | affirmed |
| Havnor v. People | 408 (1898) | White | none | none | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | dismissed |
| Rhodes v. Iowa | 412 (1898) | White | none | Gray | Iowa | reversed |
| Vance v. Vandercook Co. I | 438 (1898) | White | none | Shiras (part) | C.C.D.S.C. | multiple |
| Vance v. Vandercook Co. II | 468 (1898) | White | none | none | C.C.D.S.C. | reversed |
| Andersen v. United States | 481 (1898) | Fuller | none | McKenna | C.C.E.D. Va. | affirmed |
| Plaquemines T.F. Co. v. Henderson | 511 (1898) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed |
| United States v. Winston | 522 (1898) | Brewer | none | none | 9th Cir. | affirmed |
| United States v. Garter | 527 (1898) | Brewer | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Reeder | 530 (1898) | Brown | none | none | 5th Cir. | affirmed |
| Boyden Power-Brake Co. v. Westinghouse Co. | 537 (1898) | Brown | none | none | 4th Cir. | reversed |
| Fink v. United States | 584 (1898) | White | none | none | 2d Cir. | certification |
| Wagoner v. Evans | 588 (1898) | Shiras | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Okla. | reversed |
| Provident Life Tr. Co. v. Mercer Cnty. | 593 (1898) | Brewer | none | none | 6th Cir. | reversed |
| Ledbetter v. United States | 606 (1898) | Brown | none | none | S.D. Iowa | affirmed |
| New York Indians v. United States II | 614 (1898) | per curiam | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Holloway v. Dunham | 615 (1898) | Peckham | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Okla. | affirmed |
| United States v. Salambier | 621 (1898) | Shiras | none | none | 2d Cir. | certification |
| United States v. Lies | 628 (1898) | Peckham | none | none | 2d Cir. | affirmed |
| Hayes v. United States | 637 (1898) | White | none | none | Ct. Priv. Land Cl. | affirmed |
| The Carib Prince | 655 (1898) | White | none | Brown | 2d Cir. | reversed |
| Texas & P. Ry. Co. v. Archibald | 665 (1898) | White | none | none | 5th Cir. | affirmed |
| Kingman Co. v. Western Mfg. Co. | 675 (1898) | Fuller | none | none | 8th Cir. | reversed |
| United States v. Coe | 681 (1898) | McKenna | none | none | Ct. Priv. Land Cl. | reversed |