List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 120

This is a list of cases reported in volume 120 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 120 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. Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices.
When the cases in volume 120 U.S. were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:

Portrait	Justice	Office	Home State	Succeeded	Date confirmed by the Senate	Tenure on Supreme Court
	Morrison Waite	Chief Justice	Ohio	Salmon P. Chase		– March 23, 1888
	Samuel Freeman Miller	Associate Justice	Iowa	Peter Vivian Daniel		– October 13, 1890
	Stephen Johnson Field	Associate Justice	California	newly created seat		– December 1, 1897
	Joseph P. Bradley	Associate Justice	New Jersey	newly created seat		– January 22, 1892
	John Marshall Harlan	Associate Justice	Kentucky	David Davis		– October 14, 1911
	William Burnham Woods	Associate Justice	Georgia	William Strong		– May 14, 1887
	Stanley Matthews	Associate Justice	Ohio	Noah Haynes Swayne		– March 22, 1889
	Horace Gray	Associate Justice	Massachusetts	Nathan Clifford		– September 15, 1902
	Samuel Blatchford	Associate Justice	New York	Ward Hunt		– July 7, 1893

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 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. 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 120 U.S.

Case Name	Page and year	Opinion of the Court	Concurring opinion	Dissenting opinion	Lower court	Disposition
Wildenhus's Case		Waite	-	-	C.C.D.N.J.	affirmed
Allen v. St. Louis National Bank		Gray	-	-	C.C.S.D. Iowa	reversed
Nehmaha County v. Frank		Matthews	-	-	C.C.D. Neb.	affirmed
United States v. Symonds		Harlan	-	-	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
United States v. Bishop		Harlan	-	-	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
United States v. Philbrick		Harlan	-	-	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
United States v. Rockwell		Harlan	-	-	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
St. Tammany Waterworks v. New Orleans Waterworks		Harlan	-	-	C.C.E.D. La.	affirmed
Hayes v. Missouri		Field	-	-	Mo.	affirmed
Forsyth v. Doolittle		Field	-	-	C.C.N.D. Ill.	affirmed
Huntington v. Saunders		Miller	-	-	C.C.D. Mass.	affirmed
Heinemann v. Arthur's Executors		Blatchford	-	-	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Roberts v. Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company		Blatchford	-	-	C.C.D. Ky.	affirmed
United States v. Parker		Matthews	-	-	C.C.D. Nev.	affirmed
Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad v. Worthen		Field	-	-	Ark.	multiple
Kansas Endowment Association v. Kansas		Waite	-	-	Kan.	dismissed
Gibbs v. Crandall		Waite	-	-	C.C.W.D. La.	affirmed
United States v. Schlesinger		Blatchford	-	-	C.C.D. Mass.	affirmed
United States v. Otis		Blatchford	-	-	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
United States v. Cooper		Field	-	-	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
United States v. Saunders		Miller	-	-	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
Kirby v. Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company		Harlan	-	-	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Crescent City Livestock Company v. Butchers' Union Slaughterhouse Company		Matthews	-	-	La.	multiple
Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad v. Huntington		Field	-	-	C.C.E.D. Ark.	reversed
Hibernia Insurance Company v. St. Louis Transportation Company		Blatchford	-	-	C.C.E.D. Mo.	affirmed
United States v. Hill		Blatchford	-	-	C.C.D. Mass.	affirmed
Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Raddin		Gray	-	-	C.C.D. Mass.	affirmed
Boffinger v. Tuyes		Matthews	-	-	C.C.E.D. La.	affirmed
Meyers and Levi, Lehman, Godchaux and Company v. Block Brothers		Bradley	-	-	La.	affirmed
United States v. Ramsay		Waite	-	-	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
Everhart v. Huntsville College		Waite	-	-	C.C.N.D. Ala.	reversed
King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company v. Otoe County		Harlan	-	-	C.C.D. Neb.	reversed
United States v. Pacific Railroad		Field	-	-	Ct. Cl.	reversed
City of Quincy v. Steel		Miller	-	-	C.C.S.D. Ill.	reversed
United States v. Dunn		Miller	-	-	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
Indianapolis Rolling Mill Company v. St. Louis, Fort Scogg and Wichita Railroad Company		Miller	-	-	C.C.D. Kan.	affirmed
Beard v. Nichols		Waite	-	-	C.C.D. Mass.	affirmed
Schlesinger v. Beard		Waite	-	-	C.C.D. Mass.	reversed
Bank of Maysville v. Claypool		Waite	-	-	C.C.D.W. Va.	affirmed
Grant v. Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company		Waite	-	-	Sup. Ct. D.C.	receiver to pay costs
Winchester v. Heiskell, Scott and Heiskell		Waite	-	-	Tenn.	rehearing denied
In re Snow		Blatchford	-	-	Dist. Ct. Terr. Utah	reversed
Memphis and Little Rock Railroad v. Dow		Harlan	-	-	C.C.E.D. Ark.	multiple
Farley v. Kittson		Gray	-	-	C.C.D. Minn.	reversed
Pensacola Ice Company v. Perry		Waite	-	-	C.C.N.D. Fla.	reversed
Sherman v. Jerome		Blatchford	-	-	C.C.E.D. Mich.	reversed
United States v. Northway		Matthews	-	-	C.C.N.D. Ohio.	certification
The L.P. Dayton		Matthews	-	-	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Meriwether v. Muhlenburg (sic) County		Harlan	-	-	C.C.D. Ky.	reversed
Harmon v. Adams		Matthews	-	-	C.C.N.D. Ill.	affirmed
Durand v. Martin		Waite	-	-	Cal.	affirmed
Martin v. Thompson		Waite	-	-	Cal.	dismissed
Speidel v. Henrici		Gray	-	-	C.C.W.D. Pa.	affirmed
Rolston v. Missouri Fund Commissioners		Waite	-	-	C.C.W.D. Mo.	multiple
Grier v. Wilt		Blatchford	-	-	C.C.D. Del.	reversed
Hopt v. Utah		Field	-	-	Sup. Ct. Terr. Utah	affirmed
Plummer v. Sargent		Matthews	-	-	C.C.D. Conn.	affirmed
Rosenbaum v. Bauer		Blatchford	-	Bradley	C.C.D. Cal.	affirmed
Herron v. Dater		Matthews	-	-	C.C.W.D. Pa.	affirmed
United States v. Arjona		Waite	-	-	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	certification
Robbins v. Shelby County		Bradley	-	Waite	Tenn.	reversed
Corson v. Maryland		Bradley	Waite	-	Md.	reversed
Schuler v. Israel		Miller	-	-	C.C.E.D. Mo.	affirmed
Laclede Bank v. Schuler		Miller	-	-	C.C.E.D. Mo.	reversed
Carter County v. Sinton		Waite	-	-	C.C.D. Ky.	affirmed
Accident Insurance Company v. Crandal		Gray	-	-	C.C.N.D. Ill.	affirmed
Fletcher v. Fuller		Field	-	-	C.C.D.R.I.	reversed
People's Savings Bank v. Bates, Reed and Cooley		Harlan	-	-	C.C.E.D. Mich.	affirmed
Chicago, Burlington and Kansas City Railroad v. Guffey		Harlan	-	-	Mo.	affirmed
Schley v. Pullman's Palace Car Company		Harlan	-	-	C.C.N.D. Ill.	affirmed
Gilmer v. Stone		Harlan	-	-	C.C.S.D. Ill.	affirmed
Marsh v. Nichols		Waite	-	-	C.C.E.D. Mich.	dismissal denied
Marsh v. Shepard		Waite	-	-	Mich.	dismissal denied
City of East St. Louis v. Amy and Company		Waite	-	-	C.C.S.D. Ill.	affirmed
Gonzales v. Ross		Bradley	-	-	C.C.W.D. Tex.	reversed
Dushane v. Benedict		Gray	-	-	C.C.W.D. Pa.	reversed
Porter v. Pittsburgh Bessemer Steel Company		Blatchford	-	-	C.C.D. Ind.	reversed
Baldwin v. Franks		Waite	-	Harlan; Field	C.C.D. Cal.	reversed
Viterbo v. Friedlander		Gray	-	-	C.C.E.D. La.	reversed
Ex parte Parker		Matthews	-	-	Sup. Ct. Terr. Wash.	mandamus granted
Fourth National Bank v. Francklyn		Gray	-	-	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Bolles v. Town of Brimfield		Harlan	-	-	C.C.N.D. Ill.	reversed
New Orleans Banking Association v. Le Breton		Bradley	-	-	C.C.E.D. La.	affirmed
Goodwin v. Fox		Waite	-	-	C.C.N.D. Ill.	dismissal denied
Leather Manufacturers' National Bank v. Cooper		Waite	-	-	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Ex parte Harding		Waite	-	-	Sup. Ct. Terr. Mont.	habeas corpus denied