Elmer Scipio Dundy

Elmer Scipio Dundy (March 5, 1830 – October 28, 1896) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. He was the namesake of Dundy County, Nebraska.

Elmer Scipio Dundy
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska
In office
April 9, 1868 – October 28, 1896
Appointed byAndrew Johnson
Preceded bySeat established by 15 Stat. 5
Succeeded byWilliam Douglas McHugh
Personal details
Born
Elmer Scipio Dundy

(1830-03-05)March 5, 1830
Trumbull County, Ohio
DiedOctober 28, 1896(1896-10-28) (aged 66)
Omaha, Nebraska
Educationread law

Biography

Born on March 5, 1830, in Trumbull County, Ohio, Dundy read law in 1853. He entered private practice in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, and Falls City, Nebraska Territory (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).[1] 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.[2]

Federal judicial service
Dundy, c. 1895.

Following the admission of the State of Nebraska to the Union on March 1, 1867, Dundy was nominated by President Andrew Johnson on April 4, 1868, to the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, to a new seat authorized by 15 Stat. 5. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 9, 1868, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on October 28, 1896, due to his death in Omaha, Nebraska,[2] 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 and other Ponca 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.[3][4] The next year, Dundy was part of the lower court panel that heard Elk v. Wilkins, 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 rejected Elk's petition, holding that Indians born in tribal relations in the United States could only become citizens under specific federal laws.[5] 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.

Dundy County

Dundy was the namesake of Dundy County, Nebraska.[6][7]

"Skip" Dundy

Dundy's son, Elmer Scipio Dundy Jr., better known as "Skip" Dundy, was born in Falls City, Nebraska in 1862.[8] Skip Dundy grew up to become a promoter on Coney Island, due to in part the stories told by Buffalo Bill Cody who was a familiar visitor in the Dundy home.[9]

References
  1. David H. Price, The public life of Elmer S. Dundy, 1857-1896, University of Nebraska at Omaha - 1971, pages 143 - 144
  2. Elmer Scipio Dundy at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  3. Elmer S. Dundy, J (1879). "United States, ex rel. Standing Bear, v. George Crook, a Brigadier-General of the Army of the United States" (PDF). The Independent Workers Party of Chicago. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  4. Seelye, J.E.; Littleton, S.A. (2013). Voices of the American Indian Experience. Voices of the American Indian Experience. Greenwood. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-313-38116-4. Retrieved May 13, 2019. Standing Bear agreed, and in April 1879, he sued for a writ of habeas corpus in the US. District Court ... On May 12, Judge Elmer Dundy ruled that the United States had showed no basis for the arrest and holding of the Poncas. The tribe was ...
  5. Elk v. Wilkins, 112 U.S. 94, 99 (1884).
  6. Gannett, H. (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Bulletin (Geological Survey (U.S.))). U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 110. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  7. Fitzpatrick, L.L.; Fairclough, G.T. (1960). Nebraska Place-Names. A bison book. University of Nebraska Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-8032-5060-4. Retrieved May 13, 2019. Dundy county was named in honor of Judge Elmer S. Dundy (1830–1896) of the United States circuit court, a former resident of Falls City, Nebraska. Its boundaries were defined by an act approved February 27, 1873.
  8. Elder, D.C.; Rothmund, C.; International Academy of Astronautics; American Astronautical Society (2001). History of rocketry and astronautics: proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth and Twenty-Ninth History Symposia of the International Academy of Astronautics : Jerusalem, Israel, 1994, Oslo, Norway, 1995. AAS history series. Published for the American Astronautical Society by Univelt, Incorporated. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-87703-478-0. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  9. Dando-Collins, S. (2009). Standing Bear Is a Person: The True Story of a Native American's Quest for Justice. Hachette Books. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-7867-3812-0. Retrieved May 13, 2019. When Buffalo Bill came to dinner at Dundy's Lincoln home, young Skip Dundy would listen wideeyed to his tales of ... With a partner, Frederick Thompson, he developed Coney Island's Luna Park and Manhattan's Hippodrome Theater.

Sources
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