KENDALL
v.
AMERICAN AUTOMATIC LOOM COMPANY

U.S. | 1905-05-29
No. 541
198 U.S. 477 Supreme Court of the United States (1905) Positive Treatment
Also reported at: 49 L. Ed. 1133 · 25 S. Ct. 768 · SCDB 1904-051 · 1905 U.S. LEXIS 1080
Cited by 7 cases

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Synopsis

A West Virginia corporation incorporated to do business in other states challenged service of process made upon its treasurer in New York, where the corporation was not conducting any business. The Supreme Court affirmed that service upon a corporate officer is invalid to establish jurisdiction over a foreign corporation unless that corporation is actively doing business within the state where service is made.

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Opinion of the Court
Mr. Justice Peckham,

Mr. Justice Peckham,

after making the foregoing statement, delivered the opinion of the court.

It is objected, in the first place, by the appellee that the appellant had no statutory right to appeal directly to this court from the order setting aside the service of the subpoena. It is asserted that the case does not involve the jurisdiction of the court below within the meaning of section 5 of the act of March 3, 1891, inasmuch as the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court as a Federal court is not questioned, the jurisdiction being denied upon grounds alike applicable to any other judicial tribunal, state or Federal, under the same circumstances. This case is, however, on that point governed by that of Board of Trade v. Hammond Elevator Co., decided this day (ante p. 424), where it is held that the order is reviewable by this court under the section above mentioned.

Regarding the case as properly here, the question is whether the service made upon the treasurer of the appellee corporation was a valid service upon the corporation itself. We think it was not. It is perfectly apparent that the corporation was, at the time of the service on the treasurer, doing no business whatever within the State of New York, and that it had never done any business there since it was incorporated in the State of West Virginia. While we have lately held that, in the case of a foreign corporation, the service upon a resident director of the State where,ithe service was made was a good service where that corporation was doing business within that State, Pennsylvania Lumbermen’s &c. Co. v. Meyer, 197 U. S. 407, yet such service is insufficient for a court to acquire jurisdiction over the corporation where the company was not doing any business in the State, and was situated like this company at the time of the service upon the treasurer. Conley v. Mathieson Alkali Works, 190 U. S. 406.

The order of the Circuit Court was right, and is

Affirmed.

Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus

Citator

Cited By

  • Emp'rs Reinsurance Corp. v. Bryant, 299 U.S. 374 (U.S. 1937)
    …the defendant be properly served with process within the district.” Shepard v. Adams, 168 U. S. 618; Remington, v. Centred Pacific R. Co., 198 U. S. 95; Board of Trade v. Hammond Elevator Co., 198 U. S. 424; Kendall v. American Automatic Loom Co., 198 U. S. 477; Mechanical Appliance Co. v. Castleman, 215 U. S. 437; Merriam Co. v. Saalfield, 241 U. S. 22; Stewart v. Ramsay, 242 U. S. 128. Pollard v. Dwight, 4 Cranch 421, 428-429; Texas Transportation Co. v. Seeligson, 122 U. S. 519, 522; Cates v. Allen, 14…
  • Riverside and Dan River Cotton Mills v. Menefee, 237 U.S. 189 (U.S. 1915)
    …hat there was no power to render the judgment, and that the same conclusion was required as the result of the following additional cases in this court: Old Wayne Life Association v. McDonough, 204 U. S. 8; Kendall v. American Automatic Loom Company, 198 U. S. 477; Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Spratley, 172 U. S. 602; St. Clair v. Cox, 106 U. S. 350; Barrow Steamship Company v. Kane, 170 U. S. 100; Construction Co. v. Fitzgerald, 137 U. S. 98. To the judgment thus rendered (161 N. Car. 164) th…
  • Stevirmac OIL & GAS Co. v. Dittman, 245 U.S. 210 (U.S. 1917)

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