List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 76

This is a list of cases reported in volume 76 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1870.

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.

John William Wallace

Starting with the 66th volume of U.S. Reports, the Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States was John William Wallace. Wallace was Reporter of Decisions from 1863 to 1874, covering volumes 68 through 90 of United States Reports which correspond to volumes 1 through 23 of his Wallace's Reports. As such, the dual form of citation to, for example, Michigan Bank v. Eldred is 76 U.S. 544.
Wallace's Reports were the final nominative reports for the US Supreme Court; starting with volume 91, cases were identified simply as " U.S. ".

Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of 76 U.S. (9 Wall.)

The Supreme Court is established by Article Three of [the United States Constitution|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.
To prevent President Andrew Johnson from appointing any justices, a hostile Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866, eliminating three of the 10 seats from the Supreme Court as they became vacant, and so potentially reducing the size of the court to seven justices. The vacancy caused by the death of Justice John Catron in 1865 had not been filled, so after Justice James Moore Wayne died in July 1867 there were eight justices left on the court at the start of the term when the cases in 76 U.S. were decided; however Justice Robert Cooper Grier resigned at the end of January 1870, temporarily reducing the Court to seven justices. Newly confirmed justices William Strong and Joseph P. Bradley joined the Court in March 1870, in the final weeks of the session. This brought the Court back to nine justices, the number set by the Judiciary Act of 1869.

Fluctuations in Supreme Court membership, 1864-1870

Justice	Departure from the Court	Arrival on the Court	Number of active justices after his arrival or departure
Chase	-	15 December 1864	10
Catron	30 May 1865	-	9
Wayne	5 July 1867	-	8
Grier	31 January 1870	-	7
Strong	-	14 March 1870	8
Bradley	-	23 March 1870	9

Justices during at least part of the Court session reported in 76 U.S. (9 Wall.)

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 76 U.S. (9 Wall.)

Case Name	Page and year	Opinion of the Court	Concurring opinion	Dissenting opinion	Lower Court	Disposition
Neale v. Neale		Davis	none	none	Sup. Ct. D.C.	affirmed
Reese v. United States		Field	none	none	C.C.D. Cal.	reversed
McGoon v. Scales		Miller	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	affirmed
Haver v. Yaker		Davis	none	none	Ky.	affirmed
Gut v. Minnesota		Field	none	none	Minn.	affirmed
Basset v. United States		Miller	none	none	C.C.N.D. Ohio	affirmed
United States v. Dewitt		Chase	none	none	C.C.E.D. Mich.	certification
Filor v. United States		Field	none	none	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
City of Chicago v. Sheldon		Nelson	none	none	C.C.N.D. Ill.	affirmed
United States v. Anderson		Davis	none	none	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
United States v. Grossmayer		Davis	none	none	Ct. Cl.	reversed
Smith v. Morse		Field	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
United States v. Keehler		Miller	none	none	C.C.D.N.C.	certification
Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company v. Fremont County		Nelson	none	none	Iowa	affirmed
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company v. Smith		Miller	none	Clifford	Mo.	affirmed
Pelham v. Rose		Field	none	none	C.C.D. Ind.	certification
Cheever v. Wilson		Swayne	none	none	Sup. Ct. D.C.	reversed
Norris v. Jackson		Miller	none	none	C.C.N.D. Ill.	affirmed
The Grapeshot		Chase	none	none	C.C.D. La.	reversed
Latham's Appeal		Chase	none	none	Ct. Cl.	dismissed
The Johnson		Clifford	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Bonner v. United States		Davis	none	none	Ct. Cl.	reversed
The Harriman		Swayne	none	none	C.C.D. Cal.	affirmed
In re Howard		Field	none	none	C.C.D. Iowa	mandamus denied
Frisbie v. Whitney		Miller	none	none	Sup. Ct. D.C.	reversed
Hickman v. Jones		Swayne	none	none	N.D. Ala.	reversed
The Star of Hope		Clifford	none	none	C.C.D. Cal.	reversed
The Steamboat Burns		Miller	none	none	Mo.	dismissed
Linthicum v. Ray		Field	none	none	Sup. Ct. D.C.	affirmed
Ex parte Zellner		Nelson	none	none	original	mandamus denied
Barney v. Schmeider		Miller	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	reversed
Swain v. Seamens		Clifford	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	affirmed
Justices v. Murray		Nelson	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	reversed
St. Louis Public Schools v. Walker		Miller	none	none	Mo.	affirmed
Burnett v. Caldwell		Swayne	none	none	N.D. Ga.	affirmed
Lobrano v. Nelligan		Davis	none	none	La.	affirmed
Secretary of the Interior v. McGarrahan		Clifford	Miller	none	Sup. Ct. D.C.	reversed
Lynch v. Bernal		Field	none	none	Cal.	affirmed
Bennett v. Hunter		Chase	none	none	Va.	affirmed
Bigelow v. Forrest		Strong	none	none	Va.	affirmed
First National Bank v. Kentucky		Miller	none	none	Ky.	affirmed
Jones v. Bolles		Bradley	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	affirmed
Mephams v. Biessel		Swayne	none	none	C.C.D. Mo.	affirmed
Bank of Washington v. Nock		Clifford	none	none	Sup. Ct. D.C.	affirmed
Bushnell v. Kennedy		Chase	none	none	C.C.D. La.	reversed
Noonan v. Bradley		Field	none	Clifford	C.C.D. Wis.	reversed
City of Davenport v. Lord		Swayne	none	none	C.C.D. Iowa	affirmed
Washington County v. Durant		Strong	none	none	C.C.D. Iowa	affirmed
The Fairbanks		Clifford	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	reversed
Flanders v. Tweed		Nelson	none	none	C.C.D. La.	reversed
United States v. Hosmer		Swayne	none	none	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
The Maggie Hammond		Clifford	none	none	C.C.D. Md.	affirmed
Copelin v. Phoenix Insurance Company		Strong	none	none	C.C.D. Mo.	affirmed
Lionberger v. Rouse		Davis	none	none	Mo.	affirmed
City of Kenosha v. Lamson		Nelson	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	affirmed
Ingle v. Jones		Swayne	none	none	Sup. Ct. D.C.	affirmed
Hoe v. Wilson		Swayne	none	none	Sup. Ct. D.C.	reversed
The Nonesuch		Chase	none	none	N.D. Fla.	dismissed
The Gray Eagle		Bradley	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	affirmed
The Gregory		Field	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
The Keokuk		Davis	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	reversed
The Alleghany		Strong	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	affirmed
The Northern Belle		Miller	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	affirmed
United States v. Padelford		Chase	none	none	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
Michigan Insurance Bank v. Eldred		Clifford	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	reversed
United States v. Adams I		Nelson	none	none	Ct. Cl.	reformation denied
Hornthall v. Keary		Clifford	none	none	C.C.S.D. Miss.	reversed
Gates v. Osbornes		Clifford	none	none	C.C.N.D.N.Y.	reversed
Litchfield v. Richards		Miller	none	none	C.C.D. Iowa	affirmed
Thomson v. Union Pacific Railroad		Chase	none	none	C.C.D. Kan.	certification
Merryman v. Bourne		Swayne	none	none	C.C.D. Cal.	affirmed
Public Schools v. Walker		Chase	none	none	N.D. Ga.	reargument denied
Ex parte Morris		Swayne	none	none	M.D. Ala.	mandamus granted
United States v. Ayres		Nelson	none	none	Ct. Cl.	dismissed
Worthy v. Moore County		Chase	none	none	N.C.	dismissed
United States v. Merrill		Clifford	none	none	Ct. Cl.	reversed
Irvine v. Irvine		Strong	none	none	C.C.D. Minn.	affirmed
The Corsica		Bradley	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
The City of Paris		Swayne	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
United States v. Rocha		Nelson	none	Clifford	S.D. Cal.	affirmed
The Suffolk County		Miller	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Green v. United States		Bradley	none	none	C.C.S.D. Ohio	reversed
Downham v. City of Alexandria		Chase	none	none	Va. County Ct.	dismissal denied
United States v. Adams II		Bradley	none	none	Ct. Cl.	remanded
Herndon v. Howard		Chase	none	none	C.C.W.D. Tex.	procedural ruling
The Quickstep		Davis	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
The Syracuse		Swayne	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Aetna Insurance Company v. Weide		Nelson	none	none	C.C.D. Minn.	affirmed
The Portsmouth		Strong	none	none	C.C.N.D. Ill.	affirmed
The Protector		Bradley	none	none	C.C.S.D. Ala.	dismissal denied
Meade v. United States		Clifford	none	none	Ct. Cl.	affirmed
City of Chicago v. Greer		Strong	none	none	C.C.N.D. Ill.	affirmed
Poweshiek County v. Durant		Nelson	none	none	C.C.D. Iowa	affirmed
Wise v. Allis		Miller	none	none	C.C.D. Wis.	certification
Wilkins v. Ellett's Administrator		Nelson	none	none	C.C.W.D. Tenn.	reversed
Walker v. Walker's Executor		Davis	none	none	C.C.D. Mass.	various orders
The Guy		Chase	none	none	C.C.E.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Watkins v. United States		Clifford	none	none	C.C.D. Md.	affirmed
Butler v. Maples		Strong	none	none	C.C.W.D. Tenn.	affirmed
Gleason v. Florida		Chase	none	none	Fla.	dismissed
Carpenter v. Williams		Miller	none	none	Mo.	dismissed
Pierce v. Cox		Chase	none	none	Sup. Ct. D.C.	dismissed
Rubber Company v. Goodyear I		Swayne	none	none	C.C.D.R.I.	affirmed
Rubber Company v. Goodyear II		Swayne	none	none	C.C.D.R.I.	filing denied
Rubber Company v. Goodyear III		per curiam	none	none	C.C.D.R.I.	affirmed
Bourne v. Goodyear		Chase	none	none	C.C.S.D.N.Y.	affirmed
Bischoff v. Wethered		Bradley	none	none	C.C.D. Md.	affirmed