Lee Et Al v. Watson

Decision Date01 December 1863
Citation1 Wall. 337,68 U.S. 337,17 L.Ed. 557
PartiesLEE ET AL. v. WATSON
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

LEE and Leavit brought assumpsit in the Circuit Court for the Kentucky District, against Watson, declaring on a promissory note for $610, with a count for $1000 money due for goods sold; $1000 money had and received; $1000 money due on account stated, &c. What damages exactly were claimed in the narr. as originally filed, did not clearly appear, but they were obviously less than $2000. Demurrer was put in to one part of the declaration and non assumpsit pleaded to the residue, and the court having sustained the demurrer, the record proceeded thus:

'On motion of the plaintiffs, and by consent of the defendants, leave is given plaintiffs to amend their declaration by striking out the amount of damages claimed in this cause, and insert $2100, which is done accordingly, and the declaration so amended.'

A jury having been summoned to try the issue raised by the plea of non assumpsit to the money counts, a verdict was found by them for the defendants; whereupon the plaintiff having taken a bill of exceptions on the trial, applied for and obtained a writ of error to this court, under that section of the Judiciary Act which provides that final judgments in a Circuit Court, when the matter in dispute exceeds the sum of $2000, may be re-examined here;* the judge, however, who had heard the case and who allowed the writ, making this indorsement upon it:

'It was not without hesitation that the bill of exceptions was allowed, and this writ of error is now sanctioned. The writ and original declaration showed that the amount in controversy did not exceed $1000; the evidence offered on the trial by the plaintiffs showed that it did not exceed $700; and if the increase of the damages by the amendment of the declaration was intended for the sole purpose of giving the Supreme Court jurisdiction, the question is whether it ought to be allowed such effect. I however concluded that the counsel may proceed, because in this mode the question will be most conveniently presented where it will be at once and finally determined.'

The question in this court now was whether the writ could be sustained; a matter which was argued by Messrs. Lee and Fisher for the plaintiffs in error, and by Mr. Fendall contra.

Mr. Justice FIELD delivered the opinion of the court:

It appears from the certificate of the presiding judge of the court below, indorsed on the writ of error, that the writ and original...

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51 cases
  • St Paul Mercury Indemnity Co v. Red Cab Co
    • United States
    • U.S. Supreme Court
    • February 28, 1938
    ...3 Cir., 55 F.2d 658. 24 The same principle applies in cases where a fixed amount is requisite to jurisdiction on appeal. Lee v. Watson, 1 Wall. 337, 17 L.Ed. 557; Cook v. United States, 2 Wall. 218, 17 L.Ed. 755. 25 Woods v. Massachusetts Protective Ass'n, D.C., 34 F.2d 501. And an amendmen......
  • George v. Lewis, Civ. A. No. 7338.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Colorado
    • April 6, 1962
    ...116 U.S. 550, 560, 6 S.Ct. 501, 29 L.Ed. 729; Schacker v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 93 U.S. 241, 242, 23 L.Ed. 862; Lee v. Watson, 1 Wall. 337, 339, 17 L.Ed. 557; New York Life Ins. Co. v. Johnson, 8 Cir., 255 F. 958, 959; Hampton Stove Co. v. Gardner, 8 Cir., 154 F. 805, 806. Therefore, whil......
  • Northern Pac. Ry. Co. v. Pacific Coast Lumber Mfrs.' Ass'n
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • October 5, 1908
    ... ... 682, it ... was held that a suit cannot properly be dismissed by a ... Circuit Court as not involving a controversy of an amount ... sufficient to come within its jurisdiction unless the facts ... appear upon the record to create a legal certainty of that ... conclusion. In Lee v. Watson, 1 Wall. 339, 17 L.Ed ... 557, it was said: ... 'By ... 'matter in dispute' is meant the subject of the ... litigation-- the matter for which the suit is brought and ... upon which issue is joined, and in relation to which jurors ... are called and witnesses examined.' ... ...
  • Lilienthal v. McCormick
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • May 5, 1902
    ... ... the jurisdiction of the circuit courts in suits for the ... recovery of money only, is the amount demanded by the ... plaintiff in good faith. ' Gordon v. Longest, 16 ... Pet. 97, 104, 10 L.Ed. 900. 4 Rose's Notes on U.S. Rep ... 147, and authorities there cited; Lee v. Watson, 1 ... Wall. 337, 339, 17 L.Ed. 557; Hilton v ... Dickinson, 108 U.S. 165, 174, 2 Sup.Ct. 424, 27 L.Ed ... 688; Barry v. Edmunds, 116 U.S. 550, 561, 6 Sup.Ct ... 501, 29 L.Ed. 729. The record shows that the amount sued for ... was claimed by complainants in good faith. The court having ... ...
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