State ex rel. Breckenridge v. Cook

• Decision Date: 31 October 1867
• Citation: 41 Mo. 593
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE ex rel. J. C. BRECKENRIDGE, Relator, v. JAMES COOK, Registering Officer, &c., Respondent.

41 Mo. 593

STATE ex rel. J. C. BRECKENRIDGE, Relator,

v.JAMES COOK, Registering Officer, &c., Respondent.

Supreme Court of Missouri.

October Term, 1867.

Petition for Mandamus.

“John C. Breckenridge, your petitioner, respectfully shows to this court, that he is a voter residing in Union election district, Washington county, Missouri, and has subscribed and filed with the clerk of the County Court of said county the oath of loyalty prescribed by the Constitution; that he has been a volunteer soldier and officer and served as such in the army of the United States from near the beginning to the close of the late war with the Rebels or Confederates, and was honorably discharged from the services of the United States; that at and prior to October, 1866, James J. Wilkinson had been appointed by the Governor of the State as supervisor of registration in and for said county, and duly qualified and acted as such, and as such officer he duly appointed Buel Atchinson, a resident of Breton district, officer of registration for Union election district on or previous to October, 1866; and that in October, 1866, in time and manner required by law, on due notice, the said Buel Atchinson, as such officer aforesaid, proceeded in said Union district to register the qualified voters; that your petitioner, together with fifty or more loyal Union soldiers, tool and subscribed the oath of loyalty, and did and performed all and every act required of them respectively to become registered voters in and for said district; and this petitioner says he was registered as a voter in said district, as were some fifty or more others, by said Atchinson, so acting as re gistering officer therein as aforesaid, and he is not aware of and never received notice of any objection made by any person or persons to hi being a registered voter in said district. And your petitioner further says, that after he had been so registered as a qualified voter by said Atchinson in said district, and on the last day, and in the same afternoon of the last day of the meeting of the board of appeals in and for said county at Potoi, and without any notice thereof previously given to your petitioner, or any of the other voters so registered, the said board of appeals rejected and declared null and void the entire list of registered voters, including the register of your petitioner, on the sole ground that the said Buel Atchinson, register as aforesaid, was not at the time a resident of Union district, but was a resident of Breton, an adjoining district in same county. Your petitioner says he has not since had the opportunity to become a registered voter in said district, although he is now and has for the past five years been a resident and duly qualified to be registered as a voter in said district. Your petitioner further says, that at the general election held in said county in November, 1866, Mr. Moreau was elected supervisor of registration in and for said county, and has duly qualified and been commissioned as such, and that on the ____ day of October, 1867, there having been a special election ordered for representative in Congress in place of Hon. Thomas E. Noel, deceased, and there being a vacancy in the office of registration for said Union district, the said Moreau, as supervisor of registration, duly appointed James Cook, a resident and duly qualified voter, officer of registration in and for said district, and filed said appointment with the clerk of the County Court; and the said Cook has filed the required oath and entered upon the discharge of the duties of his office. And your petitioner further says, that one week's previous notice, in form and manner required by law in such cases for general registration, was given by said Moreau, as supervisor of registration, that a registration of voters...