Sheldon v. Sill
United States Supreme Court
49 U.S. 441, 8 How. 441 (1850)
- Written by Jamie Milne, JD
Facts
Michigan resident Thomas Sheldon (defendant) executed a bond in favor of Eurotas Hastings, the president of the Bank of Michigan. As security, Sheldon and his wife, Eleanor Sheldon (defendant), executed a mortgage on their Michigan property. Hastings, a Michigan resident, assigned the bond and mortgage to William Sill (plaintiff), a New York resident. Sill later sued the Sheldons to recover on the bond and mortgage. Sill brought the action in the United States Circuit Court for the District of Michigan, a federal trial court. Sill claimed that the court had jurisdiction based on diversity because the Sheldons and Sill were citizens of different states. The Sheldons argued that diversity jurisdiction did not apply because diversity existed only as a result of Hastings’s assignment of the bond and mortgage to Sill. The circuit court concluded that it had jurisdiction and entered judgment in Sill’s favor. The Sheldons appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Grier, J.)
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