Mexican Central Railway Company v. Eckman

This was an action brought in the circuit court of the United States for the western district of Texas by J. W. Eckman, a citizen and resident of that district, as guardian of Alfonso Huesselmann, a minor, against the Mexican Central Railway Company, a corporation of Massachusetts, to recover damages for injuries sustained by him in the Republic of Mexico through the negligence of the company, in whose employment he then was. The complaint set out certain sections of the Constitution, of the Penal and Civil Codes, and acts of Congress and regulations thereunder, of Mexico, and averred that, 'by virtue of the general principles of right and justice, and by virtue of the laws of Mexico hereinbefore set forth,' plaintiff had a right of action in Mexico, and that the same existed in the United States; and also that the acts of negligence complained of were wrongful and actionable in the United States and in the state of Texas, as well as in the Republic of Mexico. Defendant filed a plea in abatement to the effect that Huesselmann was not then, or at the time of the infliction of the injuries, a citizen or resident of the state of Texas, but that he and his parents were citizens and residents of the state of Illinois; and that defendant was a resident and citizen of Massachusetts, and had not waived its right to be sued there, which right it pleaded, and asked that the action be dismissed. The plea was overruled, and defendant filed an answer containing seven exceptions or pleas to the jurisdiction, an exception to the complaint for insufficiency, and a general denial. All of the pleas were overruled, and the case was tried before a jury, a verdict rendered in plaintiff's favor, and judgment entered thereon. Thereupon a writ of error was allowed from this court on a certificate that the following questions of jurisdiction arose:

'First. That Alfonso Huesselmann, at the time of the filing of this suit and now being a minor under twenty-one years of age, and his father and mother both being now alive, and at the time of the filing of this suit and now being residents, citizens, and inhabitants of the state of Illinois, and never having been residents, citizens, and inhabitants of the state of Texas, nor the western district of Texas, and the defendant, the Mexican Central Railway Company, Limited, being incorporated under and by virtue of the laws of the state of Massachusetts, and at the time of the filing of this suit, and now, being a resident, inhabitant, and citizen of said state of Massachusetts, and never having been incorporated under the laws of the state of Texas, and was not at the time of the filing of this suit a resident, inhabitant, or citizen of the state of Texas or of the western district of Texas; that said J. W. Eckman, being guardian of the person and estate of said Alfonso Huesselmann at the time of the filing of this suit, and being such now, and being a resident, inhabitant, and citizen of the state of Texas and of the western district of Texas, now, and at the time of the filing of this suit; has this court jurisdiction to try said cause, and does the citizenship of said guardian, J. W. Eckman, confer jurisdiction on this court, or does the citizenship of the minor and his parents control so as to defeat the jurisdiction of this court?