Cases
Habeas petitions described a broad range of carceral, institutional, and interpersonal confinement over the long nineteenth century, including those used to demand due process, resist enslavement, challenge child removal and reservation confinement, avoid deportation, present child custody claims and protest child marriage, and to challenge institutionalization and detention in private and state institutions. As a legal mechanism borrowed from British common law and guaranteed as a civil right in US federal and state constitutions, habeas provides a lens on a diverse community of legal actors.
Our encoding practice allows us to identify petitions in these three categories and to indicate where those categories overlap. In addition to these three general categories, our team has identified the specific carceral charge being challenged as well as the particular forms of institutional and interpersonal confinements being questioned.
You may also browse or search petitions by location and/or jurisdiction to learn more about the myriad complaints petitioners brought before judges in Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington between 1812 and 1924. Each case entry includes a full citation, a summary, links to people with a role in the case, a list of other people named, and any sites of significance. Visitors wanting access to full case files can contact the cited repository for information about obtaining copies. Those without institutional affiliations may request image scans from Dr. Jagodinsky directly. The Glossary defines the attributes used to structure data from the habeas petitions. The Code Book explains the relational structure of the data and functionality of the database website.
Featured story: The Habeas Corpus and Divorce Proceedings of Katie Mayes
Basic Search
Simply enter the word you wish to find and the search engine will search for every instance of the word in the journals. For example: Fight. All instances of the use of the word fight will show up on the results page.
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Subsequent Searches
Because of the creative spellings used by the journalists, it may be necessary to try your search multiple times. For example: P?ro*. This search brings up numerous variant spellings of the French word pirogue, "a large dugout canoe or open boat." Searching for P?*r*og?* will bring up other variant spellings. Searching for canoe or boat also may be helpful.
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State
- Washington 7
- Nebraska 6
Petition Subtype
- Carceral: assault 13
- Carceral: drunk and disorderly 1
- Carceral: refusal or inability to pay fine 1
- Carceral: refusal to pay bail 1
Court Name
- King County Superior Court (Seattle Washington) 4
- Douglas County District Court (Omaha Nebraska) 3
- Third Judicial District Court For The Territory Of Washington (Seattle Washington) 3
- Us Circuit Court For The Omaha Division Of The District Of Nebraska (Omaha Nebraska) 2
- Lancaster County District Court (Lincoln Nebraska) 1
- Us Court Of Appeals For The Eighth Circuit (Omaha Nebraska) 1
Type of Source
- Case File 12
- Docket 6
- Complete Record 1
- Journal 1
Points of Law Cited
- Act of Congress, May 27, 1902 2
- Wilcox v. Jackson, 13 Peters 498 2
- 10 Stat. at Large, 277-8 1
- 14. Stat. at Large, 667 1
- 188 U.S. 432 1
- 22 Stat. at Large, 342 1
- 24 Stat. 388 1
- 29 Stat. 506 1
- Act of Congress, 22 Stats. 342 1
- Act of Congress, August 7, 1882 1
- Act of Congress, February 8, 1887 1
- Allen v. Louisiana, 102 U.S. 80 1
- Baldin v. Franks, 120 U.S. 678 1
- Beck v. Flournoy Life Stock Co., 65 Fed. 30 1
- Boske v. Comingore, 177 U.S. 276 1
- City of Seattle Ordinance no. 800 Provision 1, Section 1 1
- Dawes Act 1
- Draper v. United States, 164 U.S. 244 1
- In re Heff, 197 U.S. 488 (1905) 1
- In re Hirsch, 74 Fed. 931 1
- In re Hultman, 70 Fed. 699 1
- In re Lewis, 83 Fed. 159 1
- In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 1
- James v. Bowman, 190 U.S. 127 1
- Ohio v. Thomas, 173 U.S. 276 1
- Regulations of the Indian Office 1
- Regulations of the Indian Office, April 1, 1904 1
- Smiley v. Kansas, 196 U.S. 447 1
- Trade-Mark Cases, 100 U.S. 82 1
- Treaty with the Chippewa, February 22, 1855 1
- United States v. Harris, 106 U.S. 629 1
- United States v. Ju Toy (1905) 1
- United States v. Reese, 92 U.S. 214 1
- United States v. Thurston County, 143 Fed. 289 1
- U.S. v. Claypox, 35 Fed. 575 1
- U.S. v. Flournoy Life Stock Co., 71 Fed. 576 1
- U.S. v. Sandefuhr, 145 Fed. 49 1
- Van Lear v. Eisele, 126 Fed. 823 1
- Virginia Coupon Cases, 114 U.S. 269 1
People
- Estelle, Lee S. 2
- Goss, Charles A. 2
- Greene, Roger Sherman 2
- Lane, A. W. 2
- Ludlow, James P. (deputy clerk) 2
- McGraw, John Harte (J. A. McGraw) 2
- Munger, William H. 2
- Murphy, John Francis 2
- Sloan, Thomas L. 2
- Thummel, George H. (clerk) 2
- Trieber, Jacob 2
- Warner, William P. (U.S. marshal) 2
- Koepfli, C. A. (Clerk); Corcoran, William (Deputy); Brewster, J. M. (Deputy Clerk) 1
- Morris, J. P. (Notary); Hawkins, J. E. (Notary) 1
- Ah, Ken 1
- Alfonso, Joe (Alleged Assault Accomplice) 1
- Baker, Ben S. 1
- Baker, E. (clerk) 1
- Bannick, Claude George (Claud) 1
- Bartek, Joseph 1
- Blackbird, Ellis (Omaha Tribal Council member) 1
- Bolen, Gilbert (assaulted) 1
- Bolen's son (former employer of Conley and complainant) 1
- Brailey, Edwin F. 1
- Briggs, John 1
- Brightman, 1
- Britt, (N. F.) 1
- Broadwell, Frank A. (clerk). 1
- Broski, Tony 1
- Brown, Fred C. 1
- Burr, Lionel C. 1
- Caldwell, Hugh M. 1
- Carey, P. J. (clerk) 1
- Castro, Salvatore 1
- Chandler, Frederick B. (Notary Public) 1
- Coddington, F. (witness, notary public) 1
- Commons, George G. (witness) 1
- Commons, John M. 1
- Conley, Ethel 1
- Conley, William E. 1
- Conser, Frank M. (clerk) 1
- Coons, John B. (resident of Winnebago Reservation) 1
- Coons, Susan (resident of Winnebago Reservation) 1
- Corcoran, Michael (Cochoran) 1
- Corrigan, William P. 1
- Cudihee, Edward (Cudahee) 1
- Cudihee, Edward (Delivered Writ) 1
- Daily, Michael 1
- Daughtery, Patrick (Pat Doherty) 1
- Decora, Charles A. (witness) 1
- Decora, Peter 1
- Dickinson, Daniel W. (notary public) 1
- Dickinson, David W. (notary public) 1
- Dillion, Albert (deputy sheriff) 1
- Emory, George Meade 1
- Evans, Press (Priss) 1
- Fisher, James 1
- Frater, Archibald Wanless 1
- Fremont, Ezra (judge, Omaha Tribal Council member) 1
- Garrison, John B. (witness) 1
- Gilman, Luthene Claremont (notary public) 1
- Gowen, Samuel 1
- Grant, G. A. (Deputy) 1
- Gruver, L. E. (clerk) 1
- Hall, Charles L. 1
- Hall, J. M. 1
- Halverstadt, 1
- Hamilton, William (Omaha Tribal Council member) 1
- Hanford, Cornelius Holgate 1
- Harmon, H. T. (Deputy Clerk) 1
- Harris, J. D. (deputy) 1
- Haymaker, Franklin (resident of Winnebago Reservation) 1
- Hebley, Lee (police judge) 1
- Helsley, Lee (Helsely) 1
- Herman, Louis (witness) 1
- Hess, C.F. (defendant in previous case) 1
- Hires, B. F. 1
- Hitchcock, E. A. (U.S. Secretary of the Interior) 1
- Hodge, Robert T. 1
- Holmes, M. M. (Clerk); Smith, I. N. (Deputy Clerk); McGraw, John Harte (Sheriff); Harrington, JW (Notary Public); Jones, WB (Deputy) 1
- Hopkins, Robert M. (Clerk) 1
- Humes, Thomas J. 1
- Jefferson, (resident of Winnebago Reservation) 1
- Jordan, John D. (clerk) 1
- Kinaler, J.C. 1
- King, John 1
- King, John (judge) 1
- Krebs, Frank 1
- La Flesche, Noah (Omaha Tribal Council member) 1
- Leslie, Charles 1
- Levering, Levi (witness, judge) 1
- Littell, Thomas T. 1
- Little Chief, Julia (resident of Winnebago Reservation) 1
- Lyon, Harry (Omaha Tribal Council member) 1
- MacDonald, A. C. 1
- Maloney, Stephen (Steve) 1
- McCauley, Harrison (Omaha Tribal Council member) 1
- McClay, Samuel (sheriff) 1
- McCutcheon, F. P. 1
- McCutchon, F. P. (justice of the peace) 1
13 results
Download JSON Download CSVIn the matter of the application of Ah Ken for writ of Habeas Corpus
- Earliest record date: February 1, 1887
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Unknown
In the Matter of the Application of Frank Krebs and Pat Daugherty for a Writ of Habeas Corpus.
- Earliest record date: October 8, 1889
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Writ dismissed
- Fate of bound party: Ordered to be re-sentenced
In the matter if the application of N. F. Britt for a Writ of Habeas Corpus
- Earliest record date: November 19, 1890
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Unknown
In the matter of the application of Frank E. Shupe for a writ of Habeas Corpus
- Earliest record date: June 9, 1891
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Released from custody
In the matter of the Application of Priss Evans for a writ of habeas corpus
- Earliest record date: March 10, 1901
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Released from custody
In the Matter of the Application of George Nelson for a Writ of Habeas Corpus
- Earliest record date: November 21, 1901
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Released from custody
In the matter of the application of Charles Green Rainbow, James Fisher and Peter Decora for a writ of habeas corpus
- Earliest record date: March 16, 1905
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault | Carceral: refusal to pay bail
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Released from custody
In the matter of the application of William Walker for a Writ of Habeas Corpus
- Earliest record date: February 5, 1906
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault | Carceral: drunk and disorderly
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Released from custody
In the application of Ethel Conley on behalf of William E. Conley for writ of Habeas Corpus
- Earliest record date: December 11, 1911
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Released from custody
Habeas Corpus of C.W. Skutt against Robert Hodge, Sheriff
- Earliest record date: September 30, 1912
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Unknown
In the Matter of the Application of Salvatore Castro for Writ of Habeas Corpus
- Earliest record date: December 22, 1913
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Released from custody
Habeas Corpus of Tony Sullivan et al against Claude Bannick Chf. of Pol.
- Earliest record date: February 18, 1914
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault
- Petition outcome: Unknown
- Fate of bound party: Unknown
In the Matter of the Application of Samuel Gowen and Donald Webster for a Writ of Habeas Corpus
- Earliest record date: February 24, 1883
- Petition type(s): Carceral: assault | Carceral: refusal or inability to pay fine
- Petition outcome: Writ allowed
- Fate of bound party: Released from custody
