Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

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.

Acquisition Information

This case came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from the city of Newport News.

Historical Information

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.

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.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Newport News (Va.) Circuit Court.

Subjects:

• Civil procedure -- Virginia -- Newport News.
• Industrial accidents -- Virginia -- Newport News.

Geographical Names:

• Newport News (Va.) -- History -- 20th century.

Genre and Form Terms:

• Decisions -- Virginia -- Newport News.
• Diagrams -- Virginia -- Newport News.
• Judicial records -- Virginia -- Newport News.
• Local government records -- Virginia -- Newport News.