Newport News (Va.) Judgment: W.H. Baumeister versus Newport News Publishing Company, 1906 June

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Newport News (Va.) Judgment: W.H. Baumeister versus Newport News Publishing Company, 1906 June. Local government records collection, Newport News (Va.) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Summary

Creator:
Newport News (Va.) Circuit Court.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Newport News (Va.) Judgment: W.H. Baumeister versus Newport News Publishing Company, 1906 June. Local government records collection, Newport News (Va.) Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Newport News (Va.) Judgment: W.H. Baumeister versus Newport News Publishing Company, 1906 June, is a trespass on the case suit concerning damages for physical injuries received while Baumeister was an employee of the Newport News Publishing Company. Mr. Baumeister was a pressman and received injuries to an arm that required an amputation while attempting to fix a printing press. Baumeister alleged that the publishing company had not provided safe working conditions and improperly lit the area underneath the press thereby causing his accident. The suit papers contain Baumeister's original filing, answers from the publishing company, jury instructions, jury verdicts, exceptions to court decisions, appeal bonds and verdicts, depositions, and diagrams of the press room and the press.

Biographical / historical:

Newport News was located in Warwick County, which is now extinct. The origin of the name is uncertain but the phrase "Newportes News" appeared in documents as early as 1619 and probably commemorated Christopher Newport, who made five voyages to Virginia between 1607 and 1619. Newport News was a small settlement until late in the nineteenth century, when it became the eastern terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. It was established in 1880 and incorporated as a city by act of the General Assembly in 1896 without ever having been incorporated as a town. Newport News was enlarged by consolidation with the city of Warwick in 1858.

A trespass on the case suit is a common law legal action for injuries resulting from an unlawful act of some kind.

Acquisition information:
This case came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from the city of Newport News.
Physical location:
Library of Virginia
Physical description:
.225 cu. ft. (1 box and 1 oversize folder)