Connally Findlay Trigg

How Judge Trigg rules, drawn from 15 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

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

Court
United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
Position
district
Status
Deceased
Served
1862–1880
Appointed by
Abraham Lincoln (Republican)
Commissioned
1862-07-17
Education
Read law (1833)
Signed orders read
15

How Judge Trigg decides

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

What persuades

When interpreting a Civil War confiscation statute, Trigg looked beyond isolated technical terms to the statute as a whole and Congress's evident purpose.

“we must look to the whole body of the act, ascertain the intention of congress in passing it”

Procedural preferences

Trigg distinguished between relief available to a person served with a bankruptcy injunction and the standing required to attack the underlying adjudication.

“any one served might by petition or on motion, have a wrongful injunction dissolved, but that he would have no right to contest or vacate the adjudication”

Cautions

In an insurance-beneficiary dispute, Trigg treated delay as consequential where vested rights would otherwise remain uncertain through later premium payments.

“The time of the execution of Ackerman’s will was too late for the appointment”

Signed rulings

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

In re Seay
· 1870-11-16
Bankruptcy discharge application (bankrupt) Granted

“it is ordered that a discharge issue to the bankrupt in accordance therewith.”

In re Murphy
· 1874-07-01
Motion to set aside bankruptcy adjudication (Alonzo Murphy) Granted

“I cannot refuse the application to set the default and subsequent adjudication aside, and to allow Alonzo Murphy to show cause why he should not be adjudicated a bankrupt.”

Herron v. Runkle
· 1866-04-11
Request for injunction (plaintiffs) Denied

“the court could not enjoin against the commission of such trespass, and that the parties must be left to their remedies at law.”

In re Milliken
· 1874-07-01
Petition for writ of habeas corpus (Milliken) Granted

“issued a writ of habeas corpus for Milliken, and on its return discharged him from custody”

Hall v. Scovel
· 1874-07-01
Objections to register report (parties contesting the register's report) Granted in part

“The repo# of the register is confirmed in all things, except this, that the owner of the land is entitled to the rents until the day of sale to Scovel, and not till the day of confirmation of the sale.”

In re Hurst
· 1879-10-15
Petition for writ of habeas corpus (Miller Hurst) Granted

“It is, therefore, ordered that the said Miller Hurst be discharged from said imprisonment and released from custody”

In re Wood
· 1871-07-01
Claim to avoid bankruptcy transfer (bankruptcy assignee) Denied

“the bill was dismissed, the assignee taking an appeal.”

Karr v. Whittaker
· 1871-07-01
Motion to dismiss bankruptcy petition (defendants) Granted

“Held, that the petition must be dismissed;”

Mason v. Peabody
· 1871-07-01
Tax refund claim after jury trial (plaintiff distillers) Granted

“The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiffs.”

United States v. One Thousand Five Hundred Bales of Cotton
· 1869-08-15
Civil forfeiture claim (United States) Denied

“The second charge in the information —to wit, that the cotton had been purchased in a state or district in insurrection, and was being thence transported into some one of the loyal states, in violation of the act of July 13, 1861—was decided in favor of the claimant”

Eiseman v. Judah
· 1877-02-23
Claim to insurance proceeds (guardians of the minor children) Denied

“Without giving any other construction to any part of the will, the construction contended for by complainants must be refused.”

Cross bill for insurance proceeds (Abram, Delia, Leo and Carrie Judah) Granted

“It follows that the defendants, Abram, Delia, Leo and Carrie Judah are entitled to two-fifths of the proceeds of the Globe policy”

Ex parte McCann
· 1865-07-01
Petition for writ of habeas corpus (McCann) Denied

“I have, therefore, no power or jurisdiction, under the law, to grant the prayer of the petitioner in this ease, and consequently the writ must be denied.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The reviewed decisions predate representative 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 Trigg 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.