W. A. Field to D. W. Middleton, 7 May 1869

May 7, 1869. D. W. Middleton, Esq. Clerk Supreme Court U. S. Sir: There is a suit originally brought in the District Court of the United States for the District of Ky., for the confiscation, under laws relating to the rebellion, of the life-interest of one Blanton Duncan, in certain land, in which, in the District Court, as I am informed, judgment was rendered for the U. S. The case, I am informed, was carried by writ of error from the District Court to the Circuit Court but whether it has been carried by writ of error from the Circuit Court to the Supreme Court, and if such writ of error has been brought, whether it was returnable at the last term of the Supreme Court, or the December term of 1869, I do not know. Nor do I know the title of the case. It was the subject-matter of quite a long debate in Congress at the last session, or the last but one. It occurs to me that you may know the name of the case, and can inform me whether it stands on the docket of your Court, or whether a writ of error returnable at the next December term of the Supreme Court has actually been brought. If you can give me this information you will greatly oblige me. Very Resp. yours, W. A. Field, Assistant Attorney General.