List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 39
This is a list of cases reported in volume 39 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1840.
Nominative reports
In 1874, the U.S. government created the United States Reports, and retroactively numbered older privately-published case reports as part of the new series. As a result, cases appearing in volumes 1–90 of U.S. Reports have dual citation forms; one for the volume number of U.S. Reports, and one for the volume number of the reports named for the relevant reporter of decisions.Richard Peters, Jr.
Starting with the 26th volume of U.S. Reports, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States was Richard Peters, Jr. Peters was Reporter of Decisions from 1828 to 1843, covering volumes 26 through 41 of United States Reports which correspond to volumes 1 through 16 of his Peters's Reports. As such, the dual form of citation to, for example, Irvine v. Lowry is 39 U.S. 293.Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of 39 U.S. (14 Pet.)
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 39 U.S. were decided, the Court comprised these nine justices:
| Portrait | Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| Roger B. Taney | Chief Justice | Maryland | John Marshall | – October 12, 1864 | ||
| Joseph Story | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | William Cushing | – September 10, 1845 | ||
| Smith Thompson | Associate Justice | New York | Henry Brockholst Livingston | – December 18, 1843 | ||
| John McLean | Associate Justice | Ohio | Robert Trimble | – April 4, 1861 | ||
| Henry Baldwin | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Bushrod Washington | – April 21, 1844 | ||
| James Moore Wayne | Associate Justice | Georgia | William Johnson | – July 5, 1867 | ||
| Philip P. Barbour | Associate Justice | Virginia | Gabriel Duvall | – February 25, 1841 | ||
| John Catron | Associate Justice | Tennessee | newly created seat | – May 30, 1865 | ||
| John McKinley | Associate Justice | Alabama | newly created seat | – July 19, 1852 |
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 39 U.S. (14 Pet.)
| Case Name | Page & year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion | Dissenting opinion | Lower Court | Disposition |
| Evans v. Gee | Catron | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ala. | dismissed | |
| Lattimer's Lessee v. Poteet | McLean | Taney | Catron | C.C.D.N.C. | affirmed | |
| Bank of the Metropolis v. Guttschlick | Barbour | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed | |
| Kane v. Paul | Wayne | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed | |
| Covington v. Comstock | McLean | none | none | C.C.D. Miss. | reversed | |
| Smith v. Chesapeake & O.C. Co. | McLean | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed | |
| Mitchell v. Lenox | Taney | none | none | N.Y. | dismissed | |
| West v. Brashear | Taney | none | none | C.C.D. Ky. | affirmed | |
| Commonwealth Bank v. Griffith | Taney | none | none | Mo. | dismissed | |
| Commercial & R.R. Bank v. Slocomb, R. & Co. | Barbour | none | none | C.C.S.D. Miss. | reversed | |
| Suydam v. Broadnax | Wayne | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ala. | certification | |
| Carr v. Duval | Catron | none | none | Ct. App. Terr. Fla. | affirmed | |
| Remington v. Linthicum | Taney | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed | |
| Frevall v. Bache | Taney | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed | |
| Peters v. Warren Ins. Co. | Story | none | none | C.C.D. Mass. | certification | |
| Atkins v. N. & K. Dick & Co. | Barbour | none | none | C.C.S.D. Miss. | reversed | |
| Runyan v. Coster's Lessee | Thompson | none | none | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed | |
| Preston v. Keene | Barbour | none | none | C.C.E.D. La. | reversed | |
| Bank of Alexandria v. Dyer | Taney | none | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed | |
| Walden's Lessee v. Craig's Heirs | McLean | none | none | C.C.D. Ky. | reversed | |
| Walden v. Bodley | McLean | none | none | C.C.D. Ky. | affirmed | |
| Edmonds v. Crenshaw | McLean | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ala. | reversed | |
| Keene v. Whitaker | Taney | none | none | C.C.E.D. La. | affirmed | |
| Taylor v. Longworth | Story | none | none | C.C.D. Ohio | affirmed | |
| Brewer's Lessee v. Blougher | Taney | none | none | C.C.D. Md. | affirmed | |
| Sprigg v. Bank of Mt. Pleasant | Thompson | none | none | C.C.D. Ohio | affirmed | |
| Rhode Island v. Massachusetts | Taney | none | McLean; Catron | original | plea overruled | |
| De Valengin's Adm'rs v. Duffy | Taney | none | none | C.C.D. Md. | affirmed | |
| Irvine ex rel. Lumberman's Bank v. Lowry | Baldwin | none | none | C.C.W.D. Pa. | certification | |
| United States v. Knight | Barbour | none | none | C.C.D. Me. | affirmed | |
| Fowler v. Brantly | Catron | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ala. | affirmed | |
| Games v. Stiles | McLean | none | none | C.C.D. Ohio | affirmed | |
| United States v. Wiggins | Catron | none | none | Fla. Super. Ct. | reversed | |
| Pollard's Lessee v. Kibbe | Thompson | McLean; Baldwin; Taney | Barbour, Catron | Ala. | reversed | |
| United States v. Wood | Wayne | none | Thompson | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | certification | |
| Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad v. Stimpson | Story | none | none | C.C.E.D. Pa. | affirmed | |
| United States v. Morris | Taney | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | certification | |
| United States v. Waterman's Heirs | Baldwin | none | none | Fla. Super. Ct. | affirmed | |
| Brown & Co. v. M'Gran | Story | none | none | C.C.D. Ga. | reversed | |
| Decatur v. Paulding | Taney | McLean, Catron | none | C.C.D.C. | affirmed | |
| United States v. Stone | Taney | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | certification | |
| United States v. Gratiot | Thompson | none | none | C.C.D. Ill. | certification | |
| Holmes v. Jennison | Thompson | Barbour; Catron | Taney | Vt. | dismissed |