I know, according to this site here: , in Indiana on 9/3/1857 (see note below), a man was accused of being a Federalist, sued for libel, and won a thousand dollars. The site describes
"Joshua Harlan, plaintiff, and John Allen, defendant. Judge Sparks was at the time President Judge, but was not on the bench until after the verdict was returned. The case was tried before the Associates. General James Noble was counsel for the plaintiffs, and John Test for the defendant." quod.lib.umich.edu
I can't find the name of this case, and which court it was tried in. Presumably, the name would be Harlan vs. Allen, but I've searched for that online and can't find anything. This leads to my confusion over which court it was tried in- obviously not the Supreme Court, but I don't know if it was in a county court or the Indiana state court, since I can't find the case name to search for it. What's the name and where was it tried?
My research:
- Lots of books about the fall of federalism, in which it would presumably make sense to mention how far Federalism had fallen out of the public opinion
- The site mentioned above
- Various government databases of Indiana state trials
- Just searching Google for "Harlan vs Allen"
- Just searching Google for "federalist libel Indiana case 1857", and things like it
- Searching Google for "indiana franklin county third circuit trials 1857", and things like it
- Etc.
Edit:
- Seems like it's in Franklin County, Indiana, in the 3rd Circuit, but I've tried searching for that too and can't find the name still.
- "Assuming it's the same John Allen, it's in the 3rd circuit on Sep 3rd 1857 if the doc you linked to is anything to go by." – Denis de Bernardy
- "Date is wrong. Judge Sparks appointed 1813-died April 1815. Your information is from a memoir written in 1857. The trial would have to be between 1811 and July 1813. – justCal
**NEW INFORMATION!!!!!! I also found it in the periodical Case and Comment, Volume 17 (pp 116-117). The book is a lawyer's magazine, and Volume 17 goes from June 1910-May 1911.
---So- I still have no idea what date this is or what the name is- any thoughts?