Henry Kent McCay

How Judge McCay rules, drawn from 3 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Judge McCay no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

Court
United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
Position
district
Status
Retired 1886
Served
1882–1886
Appointed by
Chester A. Arthur (Republican)
Commissioned
1882-08-04
Education
College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), A.B., 1839; Read law, 1842
Signed orders read
3

How Judge McCay decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

McCay enforced the express terms of the instrument creating a property interest instead of extending a general statutory protection beyond the estate the grantor actually conveyed.

“She only gets the estate on these terms, and to say that she shall not exercise the power thus expressly granted is to confer on her an estate never contemplated by the grantor.”

Procedural preferences

He declined extraordinary equitable intervention when the governing process had not finished and the challengers could present the same objections through a statutory contest.

“Every question made in this bill may be made before the statutory tribunal provided in the act, to-wit, the ordinary”

Cautions

He distinguished a junior lien from ownership of the property and would not give a mortgagee every personal defense available to the titleholder.

“He has no title to the land. He has nothing but a mortgage lien.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Saenger v. Nightingale
· 1883-04-15
Foreclosure claim (complainant) Denied

“I am therefore of tho opinion that a decree ought to be entered for the defendants, the children of P. M. Nigh tíngale, denying the prayer of plaintiff’s bill.”

Ætna Ins. v. Brodinax
· 1883-04-15
Foreclosure claim (complainant) Granted

“Ordered that a decree of foreclosure for the amount due be entered upon the minutes of the court.”

Weil v. Calhoun
· 1885-12-16
Preliminary injunction (plaintiffs) Denied

“For these reasons I am compelled, by my conscientious convictions of duty, to refuse to stay, by my single will, the declaration of the result of this election.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The reviewed decisions predate electronic case-level dockets. The profile therefore makes no claim about complete caseload mix, case duration, administrative dispositions, or motion timing.

A historical record

Judge McCay no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.