Mr. Seward to Mr. Wright.
Sir: Herewith I transmit a copy of a letter from Messrs. Lowe & Nauerth, of Dayton, Ohio, presenting certain papers in support of an alleged claim of a client of theirs, Henry Schoenfeld, of Montgomery county, Ohio, for damages against the government of Hesse-Cassel. From these papers it appears that Schoenfeld’s father emigrated when the son was seven years old, and was naturalized in this country. When the claimant was fifteen years old he was brought to this country by his father, and became naturalized by operation of law. Here he remained until June, 1865, when he went to his native country for medical treatment. In the mean time, when arrived at the age of twenty-one, and eight years after being taken from Hesse-Cassel, he was convicted in his absence, and on ex parte proceedings, of a default to render military service, was sentenced to the payment of a fine, and in the alternative of non-payment and no property on which to levy, to imprisonment. On the 26th of July, 1865, he was arrested and imprisoned under the sentence before mentioned, was detained sometimes in prison, sometimes in the charge of guards, whom he had to find and lodge at a hotel until the 8th of September, 1865, when he obtained a decision annulling the sentence of July 17th, 1849, on which he was imprisoned. This decision recites that the former judgment was based upon the supposition that the convicted Schoenfeld was at that time a subject of the electorate; that from late inquiries such was not the case, but that the accused had emigrated many years previous with his father, who had acquired for himself a new home in America. Therefore, the decision declares, “the said accused does not owe military service here, as there are wanting the requisite premises to constitute a misdemeanor, and therefore, at the direction of the state authorities, the judgment of July 17th, 1849, is hereby annulled, with remission of cost.”
The case, upon the judgment of the authorities of Hesse-Cassel, is that of one who has been subjected to imprisonment, expense, and consequent damages, by the execution of a judicial order found to have been erroneous, and therefore reversed. He is, consequently, entitled to indemnity precisely as if he had not been born in Hesse-Cassel, and such indemnity, it is presumed, will not be withheld.
You are instructed to present the case properly to the government of Hesse-Cassel, and to request a proper consideration of it.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Joseph A. Wright, Esq., &c., &c., &c.