| Case Name | Page & year | Opinion of the Court | Concurring opinion(s) | Dissenting opinion(s) | Lower Court | Disposition |
|---|
| Cole v. City of La Grange | 1 (1885) | Gray | none | none | C.C.E.D. Mo. | affirmed |
| Head v. Amoskeag Manufacturing Company | 9 (1885) | Gray | none | none | N.H. | affirmed |
| Barbier v. Connolly | 27 (1885) | Field | none | none | Cal. Super. Ct. | affirmed |
| Liverpool, New York & Philadelphia Steamship Company v. Commissioners of Emigration | 33 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Davison v. Von Lingen | 40 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | C.C.D. Md. | affirmed |
| Drennen v. London Assurance Company | 51 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.D. Minn. | reversed |
| Hollister v. Benedict and Burnham Manufacturing Company | 59 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.D. Conn. | reversed |
| Hess v. Reynolds | 73 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.E.D. Mich. | reversed |
| Polleys v. Black River Improvement Company | 81 (1885) | Miller | none | none | Wis. Cir. Ct. | dismissed |
| Pullman Palace Car Company v. Speck | 84 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.N.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Griffith v. Godey | 89 (1885) | Field | none | none | C.C.D. Cal. | reversed |
| Rowell v. Lindsay | 97 (1885) | Woods | none | none | C.C.E.D. Wis. | affirmed |
| Findlay v. McAllister | 104 (1885) | Woods | none | none | C.C.E.D. Mo. | reversed |
| Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia v. Pettus | 116 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.M.D. Ala. | reversed |
| Steele v. United States | 128 (1885) | Woods | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Ackley School District v. Hall | 135 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.D. Iowa | affirmed |
| Clawson v. United States | 143 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Utah | affirmed |
| Bicknell v. Comstock | 149 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.E.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| United States v. Mueller | 153 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Consolidated Safety-Valve Company v. Crosby Steam Gauge and Valve Company | 157 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | C.C.D. Mass. | reversed |
| Novelty sufficient to distinguish a patent from prior art can be suggested by facts demonstrating the practical value of the invention. Here, the fact that known versions of the invention were not used and the fact that the claimed invention was widely adopted quickly suggest that the claimed invention had some modicum of novelty that its contemporaries lacked. |
| Bryan v. Kennett | 179 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.E.D. Mo. | affirmed |
| Northern Liberty Market Company v. Kelly | 199 (1885) | Gray | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | reversed |
| Tucker v. Masser | 203 (1885) | Field | none | none | C.C.D. Colo. | reversed |
| A patent for a placer mining claim composed of distinct mining locations, some of which were made after 1870 and together embracing over one hundred and sixty acres, is valid. AffirmingSmelting Co. v. Kemp, 104 U.S. 636 (1881). |
| Cardwell v. American Bridge Company | 205 (1885) | Field | none | none | C.C.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| Voss v. Fisher | 213 (1885) | Woods | none | none | C.C.W.D. Mich. | reversed |
| This case was about alleged patent infringement, and the claimed invention included a stuffed pad within a horse collar. The defendant did not infringe because the contested device did not include a stuffed pad or an equivalent. |
| Caillot v. Deetken | 215 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.D. Cal. | dismissed |
| The Supreme Court cannot have jurisdiction over a case based on a writ of error that was untimely filed. In this case, the filing was untimely because it came in after the end of the Supreme Court term following the filing of the writ in the circuit court. |
| Cheong Ah Moy v. United States | 216 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.D. Cal. | dismissed |
| Price v. Pennsylvania Railroad Company | 218 (1885) | Miller | none | none | Pa. | dismissed |
| Dakota County v. Glidden | 222 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.D. Neb. | dismissed |
| Anderson County v. Beal | 227 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | C.C.D. Kan. | affirmed |
| Harvey v. United States | 243 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | Ct. Cl. | multiple |
| Central Railroad of New Jersey v. Mills | 249 (1885) | Gray | none | none | C.C.D.N.J. | affirmed |
| Looney v. District of Columbia | 258 (1885) | Gray | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| A government contractor cannot both sell the debts owed to them by the District of Columbia at a discount as a security and also sue the District for the difference in what they were owed. |
| Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway Company v. United States | 261 (1885) | Gray | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Coon v. Wilson | 268 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Spaids v. Cooley | 278 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | reversed |
| Sully v. Drennan | 287 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.S.D. Iowa | affirmed |
| Avegno v. Schmidt | 293 (1885) | Woods | none | none | La. | affirmed |
| Stone v. Chisolm | 302 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.D.S.C. | affirmed |
| Thornley v. United States | 310 (1885) | Miller | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Baylis v. Travellers' Insurance Company | 316 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.E.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Pneumatic Gas Company v. Berry | 322 (1885) | Field | none | none | C.C.E.D. Mich. | affirmed |
| Ex parte Bigelow | 328 (1885) | Miller | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | habeas corpus denied |
| Quincy v. Jackson | 332 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Santa Anna v. Frank | 339 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | not indicated | affirmed |
| McArthur v. Scott | 340 (1885) | Gray | none | Waite | C.C.S.D. Ohio | reversed |
| Hyatt v. Vincennes National Bank | 408 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | C.C.D. Ind. | affirmed |
| United States v. Jordan | 418 (1885) | Blatchford | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company v. Crane | 424 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.S.D. Iowa | affirmed |
| Prentice v. Stearns | 435 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.D. Minn. | affirmed |
| Morgan v. Hamlet | 449 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.E.D. Ark. | affirmed |
| Chase v. Curtis | 452 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway Company v. Berry | 465 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | Ark. | affirmed |
| Morgan v. United States | 476 (1885) | Matthews | none | none | Ct. Cl. | reversed |
| Provident Institution for Savings v. Jersey City | 506 (1885) | Bradley | none | none | N.J. | affirmed |
| Union Pacific Railway Company v. Cheyenne | 516 (1885) | Bradley | none | none | Sup. Ct. Terr. Wyo. | reversed |
| Erhardt v. Boaro I | 527 (1885) | Field | none | none | C.C.D. Colo. | reversed |
| Aposted but inchoate mining claim is valid only if there is an external reason to believe that there are precious metals within the land, such as an actual discovery of them. A mere guess by a speculator is insufficient.[2] |
| Erhardt v. Boaro II | 537 (1885) | Field | none | none | C.C.D. Colo. | reversed |
| A case in equity regarding an injunction to stop contested mining inErhardt v. Boaro I, a case at law. Because the Supreme Court reversed the lower court in the legal case and remanded for a new trial, it reinstated an injunction pending the result of that new trial. |
| Richards v. Mackall | 539 (1885) | Waite | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | dismissal denied |
| Peugh v. Davis | 542 (1885) | Miller | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Gumbel v. Pitkin | 545 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.D. La. | dismissal denied |
| Fussell v. Gregg | 550 (1885) | Woods | none | none | C.C.N.D. Ohio | affirmed |
| Fussell v. Hughes | 565 (1885) | per curiam | none | none | C.C.N.D. Ohio | affirmed |
| City of St. Louis v. Myers | 566 (1885) | Waite | none | none | Mo. | dismissed |
| Brown v. United States | 568 (1885) | Woods | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Chicago Life Insurance Company v. Needles | 574 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | Ill. | affirmed |
| Pearce v. Ham | 585 (1885) | Woods | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Ayers v. Watson | 594 (1885) | Bradley | none | none | C.C.W.D. Tex. | reversed |
| California Artificial Stone Paving Company v. Molitor | 609 (1885) | Bradley | none | none | C.C.D. Cal. | dismissed |
| Winona and St. Peter Railroad Company v. Barney | 618 (1885) | Field | none | none | C.C.D. Minn. | reversed |
| Kansas Pacific Railway Company v. Dunmeyer | 629 (1885) | Miller | none | none | Kan. | affirmed |
| Schmieder v. Barney | 645 (1885) | Waite | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | affirmed |
| Camp v. United States | 648 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Maxwell's Executors v. Wilkinson | 656 (1885) | Gray | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | reversed |
| Flagg v. Walker | 659 (1885) | Woods | none | none | C.C.S.D. Ill. | affirmed |
| Blake v. City and County of San Francisco | 679 (1885) | Woods | none | none | C.C.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| Fourth National Bank v. Stout | 684 (1885) | Waite | none | none | C.C.E.D. Mo. | dismissed |
| The court dismissed the appeal of a bank from a decree adjudging that it held property of another corporation in trust for the creditors of the latter and directed the bank to pay to each of the creditors. |
| Davies v. Corbin | 687 (1885) | Waite | none | none | C.C.E.D. Ark. | affirmance denied |
| Boyer v. Boyer | 689 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | Pa. | reversed |
| Soon Hing v. Crowley | 703 (1885) | Field | none | none | C.C.D. Cal. | affirmed |
| United States v. Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad Company | 711 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.D. Ind. | affirmed |
| Ex parte Fisk | 713 (1885) | Miller | none | none | C.C.S.D.N.Y. | habeas corpus granted |
| Cooper Manufacturing Company v. Ferguson | 727 (1885) | Woods | Matthews | none | C.C.D. Colo. | reversed |
| Carter v. Burr | 737 (1885) | Waite | none | none | Sup. Ct. D.C. | affirmed |
| Gregory v. Hartley | 742 (1885) | Waite | none | none | Neb. | affirmed |
| United States v. Steever | 747 (1885) | Gray | none | none | Ct. Cl. | affirmed |
| Hardin v. Boyd | 756 (1885) | Harlan | none | none | C.C.E.D. Ark. | affirmed |