Report of the Case of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, versus John Smith, Esq. Marshal of the United States for the District of Pennsylvania . . . by a member of the Bar of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pa: David Hogan, 1809. Paperback. Very Good -. Title page continued: "Containing The Speeches of the Attorney General and Jared Ingersoll, Esq. on behalf of the Commonwealth, and William Lewis, Esq. on the part of the Defendant. And also the opinion of the Honorable William Tilghman, Esq. Chief Justice of the State of Pennsylvania." iv, [1], 6-52 p.; 21 cm. Printed by T.T. Stiles. Disbound from a nonce volume. Early American Imprints, 2nd series (Shaw & Shoemaker), 18494. This report is part of a lengthy and complicated matter involving a Revolutionary War privateer, Gideon Olmstead, who fought for over three decades for a larger share of a British ship taken during the war, and Elizabeth Sergeant & Esther Waters, the daughters and heirs of David Rittenhouse, Pennsylvania's treasurer during the Revolution. Rittenhouse had been charged with protecting the prize money until the matter was resolved. However, even after federal courts ruled in favor of Olmstead, Pennsylvania refused to relinquish its claim to the money. In 1809 the United States Supreme Court in U.S. v. Peters (9 U.S. (5 Cranch) 115 (1809)), in a nationalistic Marshall Court decision, made it the first case to strike down a state statute. In response, Gov. Snyder ordered the militia "to protect the daughters of Rittenhouse," who lived in adjoining houses at Arch and 7th Streets, which they did for five weeks in March and April 1809. When the U.S. Marshal, John Smith, tried to serve the writ, he was stopped by crossed bayonets. After he entered Sergeant's house through a rear window and arrested her, Gov. Snyder finally paid the sum to the marshal, striking a blow to the doctrine of state supremacy. This report relates to the unsuccessful attempt to force the marshall to release Elizabeth Sergeant, Pennsylvania Chief Justice, William Tilghman ruling that although he thought he had the power to discharge them if the federal court did not have jurisdiction, he determined that in this case the federal court did have jurisdiction and so she should remain in custody of the U.S. marshall. A very scarce early 19th-century American legal report. In Very Good- Condition: disbound; scattered foxing and soiling (first several leaves are the most heavily foxed); trimmed too closely at the foot of p. 39, with slight loss of text; old dampstain along upper edge of some leaves.