Thomas Snell &Amp; Others v. Daniel A. Dwight &Amp; Others. Josiah Dunham v. Herbert W. Presby &Amp; Others

Decision Date27 November 1876
Citation121 Mass. 348
CourtUnited States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
PartiesThomas Snell & others v. Daniel A. Dwight & others. Josiah Dunham v. Herbert W. Presby & others

Suffolk. Petitions that in each of these cases (which are reported 120 Mass. 9, 285) the record might be amended so as to show "the questions decided by this court, under the laws of the United States, adversely to the plaintiff, and on which the decision of this court, dismissing the bill, is grounded" -- to the end that the plaintiff might be enabled to take the case by writ of error to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Each case was a suit in equity for an account of an alleged partnership, which was denied in the answer. The illegality of the transaction alleged in the bill was also, in the first case, set up in the answer; and in the second case, though not set up in the answer, was argued by counsel at the suggestion of the court.

In the first case, the rescript was dated March 1, 1876, and ordered the clerk of this court in Suffolk to make in the docket the following entry: "Bill dismissed." The "brief statement of the grounds and reasons of the decision," indorsed upon the rescript, was as follows: "This bill seeks directly to enforce an illegal contract, and to secure its fruits to the plaintiffs, and cannot be maintained." In accordance with the rescript, the clerk, on the same day entered upon the docket of the court in Suffolk, "Bill dismissed," and no other order or decree was entered in the case.

In the second case, the rescript was dated May 6, 1876, and in like manner ordered the clerk to make in the docket this entry "Bill dismissed." The "brief statement of the grounds and reasons of the decision," indorsed upon the rescript, was as follows: "It appears, by the master's report, that, by means of the permit obtained by Johnston, and through the agency of Harney, the cotton was obtained beyond the lines of the military forces of the United States. Such a transaction was strictly prohibited by the laws and regulations of the United States in force at the time." The clerk accordingly, on the same day, entered upon the docket, "Bill dismissed." And on May 16 1876, the following decree was entered: "This case came on to be heard at this term, and thereupon, upon consideration thereof, it is ordered, adjudged and decreed that the complainant's bill be dismissed."

These petitions were presented to the Chief Justice on November 14, 1876, and were reserved for the consideration of, and argued before, the full court.

Petitions denied.

A. A. Ranney, for the plaintiffs.

E. F. Hodges, for Dwight and others.

E. C. Bumpus, for Presby.

Gray C. J. Ames & Endicott, JJ., absent.

OPINION

Gray C. J.

To sustain the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States to revise, by writ of error, a final judgment or decree of the highest court of a state, such judgment or decree must have necessarily involved a decision against a right claimed under the Constitution, laws or treaties of, or an authority exercised under, the United States, and the point decided must distinctly appear upon the record. U.S. Rev. Sts. § 709. Maxwell v. Newbold, 18 How. 511. Boggs v. Mining Co. 3 Wall. 304. Railroad Co. v. Rock, 4 Wall. 177. The ground of the decision, upon a question raised by the pleadings, may be shown by statements in the judgment or decree itself, or by a certificate entered as part of the record by order of the court. Armstrong v. Athens County, 16 Pet. 281, 285. Parmelee v. Lawrence, 11 Wall. 36. Caperton v. Bowyer, 14 Wall. 216. Brown v. Atwell, 92 U.S. 327. But an opinion of the court, stating the grounds and reasons of its decision, is no part of the record, if not incorporated in the judgment or decree, though required by the laws of the State to be filed for the information of the parties. Williams v. Norris, 12 Wheat. 117. Cousin v. Blanc, 19 How. 202. Rector v. Ashley, 6 Wall. 142.

These petitions come too late. By our practice, an entry upon the docket, in a suit in equity, of "Bill dismissed," is of itself a final decree; and a more formal order, though convenient and proper for the...

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17 cases
  • Abbott v. Bean
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
    • September 9, 1936
    ...272 Mass. 154, 172 N.E. 335. The opinion of this court in the earlier case, though not strictly a part of the record thereof ( Snell v. Dwight, 121 Mass. 348), may be examined find the ground on which the case was decided (Coyle v. Taunton Safe Deposit & Trust Co., 216 Mass. 156, 161, 103 N......
  • New York Cent. & H.R.R. Co. v. T. Stuart & Son Co.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
    • June 29, 1927
    ...v. Sunter, 204 Mass. 448, 453, 90 N. E. 561. Neither the opinion nor the rescript had the effect of a final decree. Snell v. Dwight, 121 Mass. 348, 349; Reidy v. Kennedy, supra; Renwick v. Macomber, 233 Mass. 530, 532, 124 N. E. 670. The final decree dismissing the bill was entered because ......
  • Churchill v. Churchill
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
    • September 16, 1921
    ...v. Mills, 213 Mass. 585, and cases collected at 587, 100 N. E. 1113. Compare Merrill v. Beckwith, 168 Mass. 72, 46 N. E. 400, and Snell v. Dwight, 121 Mass. 348. The better and more satisfactory practice respecting interlocutory matters is that a decree be entered, but orders of that nature......
  • Lee v. Imperial Elevator Co.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of North Dakota
    • March 6, 1916
    ...of the order dismissing, made in the docket by the trial judge, is a sufficient order or record. 6 Enc. Pl. & Pr. pp. 874, 885; Snell v. Dwight, 121 Mass. 348; Winslow v. Otis, 5 Gray, 360; Taft v. Transp. Co. 56 N.H. 417; Dunham v. Carson, 37 S.C. 269, 15 S.E. 960. Such act amounts to a wi......
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