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Louisville, Cincinnati, and Charleston Rail-road Company, Plaintiffs in error, v. Thomas W. Letson, Defendant U.S. 497 (1844)

handle is hein.slavery/ussccases0316 and id is 1 raw text is: JANUARY TERM, 1844. TIE LOUISVILLE, CINCINNATI, AND CHARLESTON RAIL-ROAD COMPANY, PLAINTIFFS IN ERROR, V. THoM.As W LETSON, DEFENDANT. A citizen of one state can sue a corporation which has been created by, and transacts its business in, another state, (the suit being brought in the latter state,) although some of the members of the corporation are not citizens of the state in which the suit is brought, and although the state itself may be a member of the corporation. The cases of Curtis v. Strawbridge, 3 Cranch, 267, Bank United States v. De- veaux and others, 5 Cranch, 84, Commercial and Rail-road Bank of Vicks- burg v. Slocomb and others, 14 Peters, 60, reviewed and controlled. The act of Congress, passed on the 28th of February, 1839, making it lawful for a court to entertain jurisdiction and proceed to'the trial and adjudication of a sui.t between parties who may be properly before it, although there may be other defendants, any one or more of whom are not inihbitams of, or found within, the district where the suit is brought, or do not voluntarily appear thereto, is an enlargement of juris'diction as to the character of the parties. The clause, exempting absent defendants from the operation of the judgment or decree, is an exception to this enlargement of jurisdiction, and must be strictly applied. A carporatton created by, and transacting business in a state; is to be deemed an inhabitant of the- state, capable of being treated as a citizen, for all pur- poses of 'suing and being sued, and an averment of the facts of its creation and the place of transaciing business, is sufficient to give the Circuit Courts jurisdiction. Tins case was brought up, by writ of error, from the Circuit Court of the United States for the distnct of South Carolina. Letson, a citizen of New York, brought an action of covenant against the Louisville, Cincinnati, and Charleston Rail-xoad Com- pany, alleging that they had not fulfilled a contract with him relating to the construction of the road. The suit was brought in November, 1841. In April, 1842, the defendants filed a plea to the jurisdiction, which was afterwards amended -to read as follows: And the said the Lomsville, Cincinnati, and Cbarleston Rail-road Company come and say, that this court ought not to have or take further cognisance of the action aforesaid, because they say that -the said the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Rail-road Company is not a corporation whose members are citizens of South Carolina, but that some of. the members of the said corporation are citizens of South Carolina, and some of them, namely, John Rutherford and Charles Baring, are, and were at the time of commencing the said VOL. II.-63 2 T 2

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