Supreme Court Cases Involving US Treaty Signers
Johnson & Graham's Lessee v. McIntosh, 21 U.S. 543 (1823)
Johnson v. M’Intosh is one of the pillars of property law in the United States. In his majority opinion for this case, John Marshall set forth the infamous “Doctrine of Discovery” as a foundation for land titles in the US. The Johnson named in the title of the case was a partner in the Illinois Wabash Company, which had purchased land in present-day Illinois just prior to the Revolution. Though not named in the case, treaty signer Robert Morris – an inveterate land speculator – was an investor in the Illinois Wabash Company in its early years.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/21/543/
Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832)
In 1831, a missionary named Samuel Worcester
was arrested by Georgia authorities for living among the Cherokee without a state license. (In 1830 Worcester had signed the infamous Choctaw Treaty at Dancing Rabbit Creek). This case and Johnson v. M’Intosh (above) are two of the three “Marshall Trilogy” decisions that profoundly shaped US-Indian relations.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/31/515/
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856)
By declaring that all restrictions on slavery were unconstitutional, the infamous Dred Scott case turned the entire United States into a slave state. A number of treaty signers were involved in the Dred Scott story. The Sanford referred to in the title was treaty signer John F. A. Sanford, (pictured above) who claimed to own Dred and Harriet (Robinson) Scott. Sanford had acquired the Scotts from his sister, who was married to treaty signer John Emerson. Another brother-in-law of Emerson, treaty signer Henry Bainbridge, had leased Dred Scott’s labor for three years in Missouri. Treaty signer Lawrence Taliaferro
had owned Harriet Robinson, and officiated at her marriage to Dred Scott. And treaty signer Henry Sheffie Geyer
was Sanford’s attorney before the Supreme Court. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/393/ |
For a fuller overview of this case, see "Missouri's Dred Scott Case" (Missouri State Archives website), here.
|
|
Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. 87 (1810)
In the Yazoo Land Fraud of the late 1700’s, the Georgia legislature sold millions of acres – much of the current State of Mississippi – to four corporations. Virtually every legislator was bribed to authorize the sale. The political fallout of this sale was so great that the sales were cancelled by the next legislature, but much of the land had been resold to smaller-scale land owners. The resulting legal battle over land titles culminated in the US Supreme Court case of
Fletcher v. Peck; the Court ruled that the original sale was valid. No individual land owners are mentioned in
Fletcher v. Peck, but many treaty signers were involved in the Yazoo Land Fraud. Treaty signer George Walton was a governor of Georgia during the scandal and approved the sale. Other treaty signers who invested in the Yazoo lands included
William Hull, Robert Morris, Oliver Phelps, John Smith T., William Blount,
and
William Constable. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/10/87/
Brown v. Gilman, 17 U.S. 255 (1819)
This US Supreme Court case, related to the Yazoo Land Fraud, does mention a treaty signer by name: William Hull, the former Governor of Michigan Territory, who purchased some of the 11,000,000 acres claimed by the New England Land Company.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/17/255/
Forsyth v. Reynolds, 56 U.S. 15 How. 358 358 (1853)
This case involved the title to land in Peoria, Illinois. The litigants referred to in the title of the decision were treaty signer John Reynolds, the former Illinois Senator and US Representative; and two sons of treaty signer Thomas Forsyth. Treaty signers John L. Bogardus
and Jacques Mette
were also named in the suit. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/56/358/
Pine River Logging Co. v. United States, 186 U.S. 279 (1902)
Treaty signer Joel Bassett
was an Indian agent and timber baron in Minnesota. In 1889, he illegally harvested 17 million board-feet of lumber from the White Earth Reservation. Years later, Bassett and his partners were sued for damages by the federal government and lost their appeal to the Supreme Court. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/186/279/
Smith T. v. Honey, 28 U.S. 469 (1830)
In 1827, treaty signer John Honey
sued treaty signer John Smith T.
for infringing on a patent for a device that sorted lead shot, and was awarded $100 in Missouri courts. The highly litigious Smith T. appealed the case to the US Supreme Court.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/28/469/
Pendleton & Webb v. Wambersie, 8 U.S. 73 (1807)
In 1786, treaty signer James Seagrove
and several partners purchased 185,000 acres of land in Georgia. One of the partners sold his share in the enterprise to someone who then transferred the share to a man named Wambersie. The partnership then sold 60,000 acres of the land to a company in Holland, without paying Wambersie his share. The Supreme Court ruled that Wambersie could demand information on the sale.
http://supreme.justia.com/us/8/73/case.html
Ex Parte Bollman and Ex Parte Swartwout, 8 U.S. 75 (1807)
Treaty signer Samuel Swartwout
was arrested in the roundup of co-conspirators who were involved in the Aaron Burr scandal. He was released by the Supreme Court in an 1807 case that included testimony from treaty signers James Wilkinson
and William Eaton.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/8/75/
Long v. O'Fallon, 60 U.S. 116 (1856)
This Supreme Court case dealt with the conveyance of property titles that were complicated by mortgages, wills, land transfers to meet debts and other matters. The case lists a long chain of claims to parcels of land in Missouri; the owners at various times included treaty signers Alexander McNair
and John O’Fallon.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/60/116/
Gilfillan v. McKee, 159 U.S. 303 (1895)
Before the Civil War, the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations hired lawyer John T. Chocrane to help them settle millions of dollars in claims against the US federal government. Cochrane was to be paid one third of the eventual settlement, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The distribution of Chochrane’s payment, however, was complicated by the Chickasaw’s alliance with the Confederacy during the Civil War; by Cochrane’s hiring of other lawyers who made claims to his fees; and by Chochrane’s death before the settlement was made, which brought his heirs into the dispute over money. Several cases related to this dispute reached the Supreme Court. Treaty signers John Cochrane, John B. Luce
and John H. B. Latrobe
are mentioned in Gilfillan v. McKee. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/159/303/
McKee v. Latrobe, 159 U.S. 327 (1895)
Treaty signers John T. Cochrane
and John H. B. Latrobe
are also important players in this Supreme Court case, related to the Chickasaw and Choctaw legal payments mentioned above.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/159/327/
United States v. Segui, 35 U.S. 10 Pet. 306 306 (1836)
The family of treaty signer Bernard Segui
received a grant of thousands of acres in Florida from the Spanish government, before the area became part of the US. This Supreme Court case was related to the validity of the Segui family’s claim to the land in the US property system.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/35/306/
Fitzsimmons and Others v. Ogden & Others (February 4, 1812)
In the late 1700s treaty signer Robert Morris purchased millions of acres in western New York. He sold most of it to the Holland Land Company but retained half a million acres for himself. As with many of his ventures, the results of Morris’ speculation in New York resulted in litigation, and he is the central figure in the case of Fitzsimmons & Others v. Ogden & Others.
http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep011/usrep011002/usrep011002.pdf
Pratt v. Law & Campbell, 13 U.S. 456 (1815)
Lee v. Munroe & Thornton, 11 U.S. 366 (1813)
Campbell v. Pratt, 18 U.S. 429 (1820)
These three Supreme Court cases related to the purchase and sale of 7,000 lots in Washington, D.C. by treaty signer Robert Morris.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/13/456/
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/11/366/
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/18/429/
Meigs v. McClung's Lessee, 13 U.S. 11 (1815)
This Supreme Court case related to the location of a US land claim established by treaty with the Cherokee nation in 1805. Treaty signers Return J. Meigs, Jr. (who conducted the original survey for the US) and Daniel Smith were commissioners for the treaty and a letter from them is quoted in the proceedings.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/13/11/
McArthur v. Browder, 17 U.S. 488 (1819)
Treaty signer Duncan McArthur
entered into a dispute with a Revolutionary War soldier who claimed a military bounty of land that was also claimed by McArthur.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/17/488/
| 
