Enos v. Sowle

Decision on the question of jurisdiction.

This is a libel for a marine trespass, or what is in the technical language of Admiralty called a cause of damage, brought by the libellant for certain wrongs and injuries, alleged by him to have been inflicted by the libellee.

The libel alleges that libellant is a native of the Western Isles; that, being at New Bedford, in America, in November, 1851, he shipped as cabin boy on board of the “Montreal,” Nathaniel W. Sowle, master; that, soon after sailing, Sowle attempted to commit sodomy upon him, which he resisted; that subsequently, upon the arrival…