Elmer Scipio Dundy (March 5, 1830 – October 28, 1896) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Nebraska United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. He was the namesake of Dundy County,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

Biography

Born on March 5, 1830, in

Trumbull County Trumbull County is a county in the far northeast portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 201,977. Its county seat and largest city is Warren, which developed industry along the Mahoning River. Trumbull Coun ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, Dundy

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

in 1853. He entered private practice in Clearfield,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and Falls City,

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Nebraska. The Nebrask ...

( unorganized territory until May 30, 1854) from 1853 to 1858. He was a member of the Council of the Territory of Nebraska from 1858 to 1862. In June, 1861 Elmer Dundy married Ohio native Mary H. Robison and they had a son a year later, Elmer Scipio Dundy Jr., followed by 3 daughters: Mary Mae, Luna, and Enid Alva (died at one year of age). He resumed private practice in Falls City from 1862 to 1863. He was a Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska Territory from 1863 to 1868.

Federal judicial service

Following the admission of the State of

to the Union on March 1, 1867, Dundy was nominated by President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

on April 4, 1868, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 15 Stat. 5. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on April 9, 1868, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on October 28, 1896, due to his death in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, Nebraska, at which time Dundy was the longest-serving judge appointed by Johnson.

Notable cases

On May 12, 1879, Dundy ruled in the case '' Standing Bear v. Crook'' that

Standing Bear Standing Bear (–1908) (Omaha-Ponca language, Ponca official orthography: Maⁿchú-Naⁿzhíⁿ/Macunajin;U.S. Indian Census Rolls, 1885 Ponca Indians of Dakota other spellings: Ma-chú-nu-zhe, Ma-chú-na-zhe or Mantcunanjin pronounced ) was ...

and other

Ponca The Ponca people are a nation primarily located in the Great Plains of North America that share a common Ponca culture, history, and language, identified with two Indigenous nations: the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma or the Ponca Tribe of ...

were "people" who able to bring petitions for habeas corpus, and that Indians who had severed their relationships with their tribes could not be ordered to a reservation against their will. The next year, Dundy was part of the lower court panel that heard ''

Elk v. Wilkins ''Elk v. Wilkins'', 112 U.S. 94 (1884), was a United States Supreme Court landmark 1884 decision with respect to the citizenship status of Indians. John Elk, a Winnebago Indian, was born on an Indian reservation within the territorial bounds o ...

'', which asserted that Indians who had left their tribes and submitted to the jurisdiction of the United States were American citizens. In 1884, the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

rejected Elk's petition, holding that Indians born in tribal relations in the United States could only become citizens under specific federal laws.Elk v. Wilkins, 112 U.S. 94, 99 (1884). It was not until 1924 that all Indians born in the United States were declared citizens with the passing of the

Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, (, enacted June 2, 1924) was an Act of the United States Congress that declared Indigenous persons born within the United States are US citizens. Although the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constituti ...

Dundy County

Dundy was the namesake of Dundy County, Nebraska.

"Skip" Dundy

Dundy's son, Elmer Scipio Dundy Jr., better known as "Skip" Dundy, was born in

Falls City, Nebraska Falls City is a city in and the county seat of Richardson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 4,133 at the 2020 census, down from 4,325 in 2010 and 4,671 in 2000. History The site of Falls City is located on the north side of ...

in 1862. Skip Dundy grew up to become a promoter on

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

, due to in part the stories told by

Buffalo Bill Cody William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age o ...

who was a familiar visitor in the Dundy home.

References

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dundy, Elmer Scipio 1830 births 1896 deaths Nebraska state court judges Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska United States federal judges appointed by Andrew Johnson 19th-century American judges People from Trumbull County, Ohio Dundy County, Nebraska United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law