Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1888

McConkey v. McCraney

Wisconsin Supreme Court · Decided April 17, 1888 · Ouriam

71 Wis. 576; 37 N.W. 822; 1888 Wisc. LEXIS 171

Cases that cite this one

5 later published cases cite this decision.

Schmidt v. Stolowski (Wis. 1905)
Electric Appliance Co. v. Warren (Wis. 1902)
Fred Miller Brewing Co. v. Capital Insurance (Iowa 1900)
Zimmerman v. Gerdes (Wis. 1900)
Vandement v. Trisler (Court of Common Pleas of Ohio, Hamilton County 1896)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Per OuriaM;

It is clear that the service of the summons and complaint, as shown by the record, was a void service. The sheriff failed entirely to ‘serve the papers as required by subd. 4, sec. 2636, R. S., when the defendant cannot be found. It is equally clear that the clerk had no authority to enter judgment out of term, had the service been made as required by said section. See sec. 2891, R. S. That the service was void and gave the court no jurisdiction of the person of the defendant, see Weis v. Schoerner, 53 Wis. 72; Hall v. Graham, 49 Wis. 553; Matteson v. Smith, 37 Wis. *578333; Sayles v. Davis, 20 Wis. 302; Pollard v. Wegener, 13 Wis. 569. That the clerk has no power to enter judgment out of term when the process is not personally served on the defendant, see Northrup v. Shephard, 26 Wis. 220; Moyer v. Cook, 12 Wis. 335; Morrison v. Austin, 14 Wis. 601; Northrup v. Shephard, 23 Wis. 513.

The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the cause is remanded.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.