United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Baltimore & Ohio R. Co. v. Joy, 173 U.S. 226 (1899)

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company v. Joy

No. 129

Submitted January 12, 1899

Decided February 20, 1899

173 U.S. 226

Syllabus

An action, pending in the Circuit Court of the United States sitting in Ohio, brought by an injured person as plaintiff to recover damages for injuries sustained by the negligence of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in operating its road in Indiana, does not finally abate upon the death of the plaintiff before trial and judgment, but may be revived and prosecuted to judgment by his executor or administrator, duly appointed by the proper court in Ohio.

A right given by a statute of a state to revive a pending action for personal injuries in the name of the personal representative of a deceased plaintiff is not lost upon the removal of the case into a federal court.

Whether a pending action may be revived in a federal court upon the death of either party and proceed to judgment depends primarily upon the laws of the jurisdiction in which the action was commenced, and in the present case is not affected in any degree by the fact that the deceased received his injuries in Indiana.

The case is stated in the opinion.