Lassen County CA Archives History - Books .....The Bench And Bar 1882
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Book Title: Illustrated History Of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

THE BENCH AND BAR.

   In July, 1862, Associate Justice Gordon N. Mott came to Susanville to hold a
term of the district court for the First Judicial District of Nevada Territory.
The counties of Storey, Washoe, and Lake (changed that year to Roop) were all in
one district, and Judge Mott, one of the three supreme judges, was assigned to
this district.

   There had never been any legal practice in this section, nor were there
living here any regularly authorized attorneys, nor any one who made any
pretense to the profession of the law, except a young man named Israel Jones,
who had read law for a brief period before coming here in 1862, but had never
been admitted to practice in any court. The men who had acted the role of
attorneys in the valley were Isaac N. Roop, John S. Ward, E. V. Spencer, Z. J.
Brown, and A. D. McDonald, who had conducted causes before the various justice
courts and boards of arbitration, at the request of their friends. The only law
books in the valley were two volumes of Wood's California Digest, and the
nearest lawyers were in Quincy, too far away to do much harm.

   Judge Mott opened his court in the old Magnolia building, on the south side
of Main street. The first business was the examination of a class of applicants
to become members of the bar, which consisted of Messrs. Roop, Ward, Spencer,
and Jones. The examination was brief, being confined more to plain, practical
business propositions, such as any intelligent business man could answer, than
to abstruse and technical points of law. The most difficult interrogation was to
define the term corporation. Just before the court convened, an attorney from
Carson City called Mr. Roop aside and instructed him on the proper answer to
this question, telling him, "A corporation is a creature of the law, having
certain powers and duties of a natural person." When the governor was called
upon to answer the question, he said, "A corporation is a band of fellows
without any soul, of whom the law is a creature, who have some powers and take a
great many more, and entirely ignore the statutory duties imposed upon them."
The whole class was admitted, and but one of them, Mr. Spencer, is now living to
practice the profession the right to which he then acquired.

   Again, in January, 1863, Judge Mott held a term of court in Susanville, but
adjourned because of no cases being on the docket. The month before, the
governor of Nevada had appointed Hon. John S. Ward to the position of probate
judge of Roop county, and he was in judicial charge here during the conflict of
jurisdiction between the authorities of Roop and Plumas counties, which ended in
the creation of Lassen county.

   The Act of April 4, 1864, combined Lassen, Plumas, Butte, and Tehama counties
in the second judicial district, of which Hon. Warren T. Sexton, of Butte
county, was judge. The first term of he court was opened in Susanville, October
10, 1864. There were present: Hon. Warren T. Sexton, judge; A. A. Smith, clerk;
James D. Byers, sheriff; and E. V. Spencer, district attorney. The first cause
entered on the record was that of John G. Newington vs. C. M. Kelley. In
January, 1870, Hon. Charles F. Lott, also of Butte county, succeeded Judge
Sexton, and held stated terms of court here until Lassen, Modoc, and Plumas
counties were erected into the twenty-first judicial district by the Act of
February 15, 1876. Governor Irwin appointed Hon. John D. Goodwin of Quincy to
preside over the new district until after the general election of 1877. At that
time Hon. G. G. Clough of Quincy was chosen judge of the district, and held the
position until the court was abolished by the new constitution, January 1, 1880.
On the twenty-sixth of November, 1879, Judge Clough made an order on the record
for the transfer of all papers and proceedings to the superior court of Lassen
county, to be made the first of January, and adjourned the district court sine die.

   In May, 1864, Hon. I. J. Harvey was appointed the first county judge of
Lassen county, by Governor Low. Court was opened by Judge Harvey on Monday, June
6, 1864. Court was held by him and his successors [see list of county officers]
until December 17, 1879, when the following final order was entered on the
record: "Ordered, that at 12 o'clock M., on the first of January, 1880, the
clerk transfer to the superior court all records, books, papers, and proceedings
of every nature herein of record or pending, etc. Court then adjourned sine die.
E. S. Talbot, county judge."

   At the election in 1879 Hon. J. W. Hendrick was chosen judge of the new
superior court of Lassen county, provided for by the new constitution as the
successor of the old district, county, and probate courts. Judge Hendrick opened
his court at Susanville January 5, 1880, and in accordance with law has kept it
open ever since, adjourning from day to day.

   Of the district judges who sat on the bench in this county, the biographies
of Warren T. Sexton, Charles F. Lott, John D. Goodwin, and G. G. Clough can be
found by reference to the index to the History of Plumas County.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

San Francisco: Fariss & Smith
(1882)

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/lassen/history/1882/illustra/benchand281ms.txt

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