Judge William Strong arrived
by water in August, 1850, and Judge Nelson
in April, 1851. On the same ship with Strong
came General Edward Hamilton, territorial
secretary, who subsequently took up his
residence at Portland and became an active
member of the bar there. He was associated
for some years with Benjamin Stark, under
the firm name, Hamilton & Stark.
Judge Strong's district was the Third and
was wholly included within the present State
of Washington, and he took up his residence
at Cathlamet on the Columbia. Chief Justice
Thomas Nelson had the first district, but
when the controversy about the "Steamboat
Code" and the location of the State capitol
was at its height, his district was cut down
by the legislature to Clackamas county,
only. He was a man of rather small stature,
mild in manners, but firm in his opinions,
and prompt and accurate in his decisions on
questions of law. He was thoroughly
educated, having graduated at Williams
college and taken a course of medical
lectures and spent some time in European
travel before adopting the law as his
profession.
At this time the administration of justice
by the Courts was much interfered with by
the violent political controversies and
partisan warfare that divided the judges as
well as the body of the people. Amory
Holbrook, of Portland, the District Attorney
of the Second District, was absent in the
"States," and the Legislature essayed to
appoint Reuben P. Boise, afterward a
resident of Portland, in his place, but
Chief Justice Nelson refused to recognize
the authority of the Legislature in that
respect and appointed S. B. Mayre, also of
Portland, to act in that capacity at the
Spring Term, 1852. On the expiration of
Judge Pratt's term, in the Autumn of that
year, C. F. Train was appointed in his stead
by the President, but he never came to
Oregon.33
With a change of the administration at
Washington, came a change in the offices of
the Territory of Oregon, and instead of the
existing judges, Pratt was appointed Chief
Justice, with Matthew P. Deady and Cyrus
Olney as associates. Pratt's name was
withdrawn and that of George H. Williams was
substituted. The new Judges held one term of
Court, when Deady was removed and Obadiah B.
McFadden was appointed in his stead, but he
was removed to the new Territory of
Washington almost immediately after, and
judge Deady was reinstated.34
His was the Southern Oregon District.
Williams had that east of the Willamette,
and Olney, west of that river. Each of these
Judges held Court at different times at
Portland, for Multnomah County was now
organized by the Legislature of 1854-55, and
each of them has been a prominent figure at
the Bench and Bar of Portland.
In 1853, the Legislature provided for two
terms of the Supreme Court annually, to be
held at Salem on the first Monday of
December and at Portland on the first Monday
of June. The first term of the Supreme Court
held by the new Judges was at Portland.
Judges Deady and Olney repaired thither and
opened Court on the 20th day of June, 1853.
The Clerk, Allan P. Millar, was absent on a
trip to to the East, and Ralph Wilcox35
was appointed Clerk "until further order,
and, as the records, books and papers of the
Court were not at hand, an order signed "C.
Olney " and "M. P. Deady," without official
designation, was carried by J. W. Nesmith,
the Marshal, to Allan M. Seymour, the Deputy
Clerk under Millar, at Oregon City,
directing him to turn over the records. The
next day the Marshal returned without the
books and with a report that Seymour refused
to produce them, whereupon an order of
attachment was issued and Seymour was
brought to Portland in the custody of
Nesmith. Alexander Campbell filed
interrogatories as Prosecuting Attorney, in
behalf of the Territory, and Amory Holbrook
attempted to be heard as Counsel for the
prisoner, but the Court refused to hear him
until the books were produced. Seymour said
he was willing to deliver them to Millar's
successor, on receiving a proper receipt
upon being duly ordered to do so, but as
they were in his custody and he had been
ordered by Millar to take this course, he
should decline until the proper receipt was
tendered him. Seymour was ordered confined
in the County jail, and attempted to procure
his release by habeas corpus, but
Olney, before whom the application for the
writ had been made in chambers, adjourned
the hearing to the open Court, and on the
return of the writ ordered him to jail,
whereupon he agreed to surrender therecords
and go with the Marshal to the place where
they were concealed. The Marshal brought the
books to Court and the whole matter was
dropped on Seymour's paying the costs, it
appearing that he was acting under advice of
Millar's sureties, and the Court taking into
consideration his youth and his good
intention. A number of appeal cases were
heard at this term of Court, many being from
Portland, as the law business there was
already assuming importance, and among other
business was the admission to the Bar of
Benjamin Stark, Esq.36
After the organization of Multnomah county,
with Portland as the county seat, law
business there increased greatly in volume
and importance. The growth of the population
and the business of the place accomplished
this result. The first term of the District
Court there was held by Judge Olney in a
wooden building at the corner of Front and
Salmon streets, known as Nos. 161 and 163
Front street, a small and ill-constructed
building which was rented of Coleman Barrell,
until, 1867, when the present Court House
was erected. The term was opened April 16,
1855, though as early as the 9th of February
previous some confessions of judgment had
been entered by the clerk in two cases
against John M. Breck and William Ogden, in
favor of Thomas F. Scott and John McCarty
respectively. The first case called by Judge
Olney was the case of Thomas V. Smith
against William N. Horton; Messrs. Logan and
Chinn appeared as attorneys for the
plaintiff and asked for a non-suit, which
was granted. The same disposition was made
of a number of other cases, in some of which
the same attorneys appeared and in others,
Campbell & Farrar appeared. On the second
day of the term defaults were entered in a
large number of cases, the attorneys who
appeared, besides those already mentioned,
being Hamilton, Stark, McEwan, Wait and
Marquam. A jury case was tried, William W.
Baker, plaintiff, vs. George J. Walters,
defendant, the verdict being returned in
favor of the defendant. At the same term a
number of cases for retailing spirituous
liquors on Sunday were disposed of and one
case wherein the defendant was accused of
selling a gun to an Indian. Peter Espelding
was admitted to citizenship.37
The first County Court in Multnomah County
began its term January 17, 1855. G. W.
Vaughn was County Judge, and Ainslie R.
Scott and James Bybee, Commissioners.38
When the State was organized, the first term
of the County Court was opened on the 4th
day of July, 1859, with Hon. E. Hamilton as
County Judge.
In addition to the leading members of the
Portland Bar at this period, already
mentioned, were W. W. Chapman and Amory
Holbrook. The first of these to come to
Portland was W. W. Chapman, who still lives,
the oldest member of the Bar of the city.
Frequent mention of him has been made in the
preceding pages. Of late years he has not
been engaged in active practice, but at the
period of which we now speak he was
prominent not only in legal affairs but in
political as well. At the Bar, he was ever
polite and dignified, a gentleman of the old
school.
Holbrook, a young man of medium height, fair
and good looking, came to Oregon in March,
1849, and was at this time in his prime. His
abilities as an orator were of no mean order
and his quick perception and ready knowledge
of law combined to make him one of the
foremost figures of the times. He was a
member of the Legislature afterwards and a
candidate for United States Senator, but his
temperament, volatile and variable, led him
to habits that interfered with the career of
more than one of the brilliant lights of the
Bar in these earlier days of its history.
Moreover, he was noted for a certain biting
humor which gave vent to numerous sharp
sayings, which, though repeated with
enjoyment by those who were not the subjects
of his caustic sarcasm, made bitter enemies
of others. His abilities as a lawyer never
waned until his death at middle age cut him
off. David Logan was perhaps the greatest
jury lawyer of his time. Like Holbrook, he
had, as a contemporary has remarked, but one
enemy, and that was himself. He was born in
1824 at Springfield, Illinois, and was a son
of an eminent lawyer and judge of the
Supreme Court of that State. He came to
Oregon in 1850, and settled in Lafayette but
removed to Portland soon after. He was
defeated as a candidate for the Legislature,
in 1851. He served as a member in 1854, and
ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for
Congress in 1860 and again in 1868. He was a
member of the Constitutional Convention.
Logan had a large practice and was very
popular. He was shrewd and sharp-witted and
for twenty years held front rank at the
Portland Bar. He was of medium size, light
complexion, and had curly hair and a light
mustache. Another lawyer of this period
worthy of special mention is Alexander
Campbell, who was particularly well drilled
in the principles of common law. He placed
great dependence upon his books, carefully
preparing his cases, and appearing in Court
with an armful of authorities on every
occasion. He removed to California, after a
few years in Oregon, and became a judge of
the Supreme Court of that State and a
leading member of the San Francisco Bar.
Mark A. Chinn and W. H. Farrar were bright
men, and each was a partner of Logan for a
time. Simon B. Mayre, a partner of Chapman
in those days, had a good name. Benjamin
Stark was in partnership with Hamilton,
under the firm name, Hamilton & Stark for
some time, as has already been mentioned. He
was a member of the legislature in 1853 and
1860 and was appointed United States Senator
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
E. D. Baker, in 1861. He was accused of
disloyal sentiments and some delay was
occasioned before he took the oath, but was
finally admitted. ,As one of the owners of
the townsite and a wealthy man he attained
some prominence, but for many years has
resided in the State of Connecticut.
P. A. Marquam was also one of the first
members of the bar of Portland, and served
as county judge for some years. Of late
years he has retired from practice, devoting
himself to his private business affairs,
which he has managed with success.
Judge Olney made Portland his place of
residence, and though a somewhat peculiar
man he was highly respected and was a modest
and unassuming gentleman. He had a
noticeable faculty for taking up all the
circumstances and details of a case and
arranging them in logical sequence into a
persuasive argument. He was a member of the
State Constitutional Convention, and later
he removed to Clatsop county, and
represented his district in the legislature
in 1864. Gradually he retired from active
legal practice, spending his last days
quietly upon his farm. George H. Williams
and he had been Circuit Judges in adjoining
circuits in Iowa, where both were elected at
the first State election of that State in
1847. Olney came to Oregon, where he was
appointed by President Pierce, Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court; and Williams,
on being likewise appointed Chief Justice,
followed him a few months after. ' They
remained close friends until the death of
Olney, and continued on the bench together
until 1858, when both resigned.
During this period the Supreme Court,
consisting of these two judges and Mathew P.
Deady, passed upon many interesting and
important questions, and by the decisions
made in the District Courts as well as when
the judges sat together as a Supreme Court,
the practice was settled and many serious
questions were set at rest. The cases that
affected the town site are elsewhere treated
of at length, and nothing more need be said
here than that at this time and for many
years afterward some of the most important
litigation that engaged the attention of the
Bench and Bar of Portland arose from this
source.
One case that might be mentioned arose in
Polk County in 1853, By writ of habeas
corpus a colored man and his wife were
brought before Judge Williams, and it
appeared that they had been brought as
slaves from Missouri, by Nathaniel Ford, and
were being held by him as such in Oregon.
After careful inquiry the Court decided that
there could be no slavery in the Territory
of Oregon, and that the slaves were freed
when brought to free soil.
Many cases arose under the Donation Land
Law, and in one of them39
it was decided that an Indian wife of a
white man was a married woman within the
meaning of the Act, and capable of holding a
half section of land, which decision it may
be supposed affected not a few of the very
early settlers in the Territory.
On the resignation of Judge Olney, Reuben P.
Boise40 was
appointed Associate Judge of the Territory,
and Judge Williams having also resigned,
Judges Deady and Boise remained the only
judges until the admission of the State in
1859.41 At the
election of June, 1858, to provide officers
for the new State, Matthew P. Deady, R. E.
Stratton, R. P. Boise and A. E. Wait were
elected Judges of the Supreme Court, and on
the 20th of May, 1859, they met at Salem and
drew lots for their terms of office. Boise
and Stratton drew the six year terms and
Wait the four year term, the latter
becoming, by virtue of the Constitution,
Chief Justice. Deady having in the meantime
been appointed by the President, Judge of
the District Court of the United States for
the District of Oregon, did not qualify for
the State Court, and P. P. Prim, of Jackson
County was appointed in his stead, and at
the election of 1860 was continued in office
by vote of the people.42
These judges under the constitution were
Judges of the Circuit Courts and sat
together as a Supreme Court at stated
intervals Of these, Wait represented the
Fourth District, which included Multnomah
County. He resigned in 1862 to run for
Congress, but was defeated and settled down
to the practice of his profession at
Portland, and in the meantime William W.
Page was appointed judge and held Court from
May to September, 1862. In the election of
that year, E. D. Shattuck was elected over
Page, who was a candidate, and in the same
year Joseph G. Wilson was appointed to the
newly created Fifth District,43
and the Court as thus constituted continued
until 1867 without change in its personnel.
Soon after the creation of the State,
provision was made by Congress for extending
the judicial system of the United States
over Oregon. A District Court was provided
for, and Matthew P. Deady was appointed
judge,44 a
position which he has since filled with
dignity, until now, with the exception of
one or two, he has been longer upon that
bench than. any of the Federal Judges of the
United States.
33 Judge Nelson left June, 1853, after two years in Oregon.
34 It seems that Deady's removal and McFadden's substitution was owing to the fact that some political opponents of Deady's caused his commission to be made out with the use of a political nickname that had been made use of in some of the newspapers, instead of his proper name, and this was the cause for issuing another commission to McFadden, but the change, and the reasons for it were so unpopular in Oregon that Deady was soon reinstated.
35 Wilcox was a native of New York, where he graduated in a medical college, subsequently removing to Missouri, was married in 1845 and emigrated to Oregon in 1846. He was a County Judge of Tualitin County in 1847, and afterwards a member of the Legislature several terms. After holding the office of Clerk of the Supreme Court a short time, he was appointed in 1856 to the office of Register of the U. S. Land Office at Oregon City, which office he held until 1858, and was then again elected County Judge of Washington County and again a member of the Legislature. July 3, 1865, he was appointed Clerk of the U. S. District Court at Portland, a position he held until April 18, 1877, when he died by his own hand. He was a genial man, a universal favorite with the bar, and though he had some weaknesses, he merited his popularity.
36 The attorneys of the Territorial Supreme Court admitted before that time were : December Term, 1851, John B. Preston, David B. Brennan, Simon B. Mayre, A. Campbell, Alexander E. Wait, William T. Matlock, Cyrus Olney. E. Hamilton, W. W. Chapman, J. B. Chapman, Columbia Lancaster. December Term, 1852: J. G. Wilson, Milton Elliott, James McCabe, Reuben P. Boise, G. N. McConaha, J. A. B Wood, David Logan, Addison C. Gibbs, M. P. Deady, A. L. Lovejoy, A. Holbrook, - - B. F. Harding, L. F. Grover, G. K. Shiel, E. M. Barnum, James K. Kelly, R. E. Stratton, S. F. Chadwick, L. F. Mosher, C. Sims, M. A. Chinn, Delazon Smith, N. Huber. (Vol. 2, Sup. Ct. Records.)
37 The
first jury in Multnomah County consisted of
J. S. Dickenson; Clark Hay, Felix Hicklin,
K. A. Peterson, Edward Allbright, Thomas H.
Stallard, William L. Chittenden, George
Hamilton, William Cree, Robert Thompson,
William H. Fresh, Samuel Farnam, William
Hall, William Sherlock, W. P. Burke, Jacob
Kline, Jackson Powell, John Powell.
38 The following is a list
of the Judges of the County Court of the
State of Oregon for Multnomah County: E.
Hamilton, 1858-1862; P. A. Marquam,
1862-1870; E. Hamilton, 1871-74 ; J. H.
Woodward, 1875-78 ; S. W. Rice, 1879-82 ; L.
B. Stearns, 1883-85 ; J. C. Moreland,
1885-86 ; John Catlin, 1886-90.
39 Randolph vs. Otis, 1 Or. 153.
40 Boise who lived for some time at Portland has spent most of his life upon the bench of the Supreme and Circuit Courts of Oregon, and is at present Circuit Judge in the Third District. As a judge he has deserved honor, being recognized as fearless and upright, and by reason of his many years of experience, as well as his early education, is well fitted for his position.
41 The following Portland lawyers were members of the Constitutional Convention: M. P. Deady, J. K. Kelly, A. L. Lovejoy, Cyrus Olney, John H. Reed, L. F. Grover, Geo. H. Williams, David Logan, Reuben P. Boise and E. D. Shattuck.
42 By the Act of June 3, 1859, a term of the Supreme Court was directed to be held at the Seat of Government on the first Monday of December following, and there-after at the Seat of Government, on the second Monday in December, and at Portland on the second Monday in July annually. By Act of October 17, 1862, one term was ordered to be held at the Seat of Government annually on the first Monday of Sep-temper. This was again changed in 1872, 1878, 1880 and 1889, no provision being made for holding Court at Portland, but the Act of 1889 providing for one term each year at Pendleton.
43 Act approved October 11, 1862, entitled "Au Act to create the Fifth Judicial District, and increase the number of Justices of the Supreme Court."
44 His commission was dated March 9, 1859.