Plumas County CA Archives History - Books .....District Court 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com January 2, 2006, 10:56 pm Book Title: Illustrated History Of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties DISTRICT COURT. Section 12 of the Act of March 18, 1854, organizing Plumas county, provided that " the county of Plumas shall be and remain a portion of the Ninth Judicial District. The District Judge of the said district shall hold at least three terms of his court annually in Plumas county, and shall, as soon as practicable after this Act takes effect, notify the people of the said county of the time of holding said terms." It was also provided by the Act of May 6, 1854, that all indictments hi the county of Butte for offenses committed in the territory set off to Plumas should be certified to the proper court of Plumas county. The ninth district was then composed of the counties of Shasta, Butte, Colusa, and Plumas, and the judge was Joseph W. McCorkle, who had been appointed in 1853 by Governor Bigler to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge George Adams Smith. In accordance with the provisions of the statute, Judge McCorkle appointed the nineteenth day of June, 1854, for opening the first term of the district court in Plumas county, meeting at the American valley, the temporary county seat designated by the statute. P. H. Harris, of Butte county, R. I. Barnett, a miner living on Nelson creek, and Tom Cox, a miner residing on Grub flat, were present to greet the judge and aid in inaugurating the first term of the district court held in Plumas county. The following is a transcript of the proceedings: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, JUNE TERM, A. D. 1854. STATE OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF PLUMAS. June Term, A. D. 1854. American Valley, June 19th, 1854. 2 o'clock P. M. Court meets pursuant to appointment of the Hon. J. W. McCorkle, District Judge of the 9th Judicial District, the Hon. J. W. McCorkle presiding. And now the sheriff returns the venire for twenty-four trial jurors, with the following-named persons summoned, to wit: Newton Judd, J.. D. Ritche, Charles M. Butts, Hugh J. Bradley, H. P. Russell, Jacob Vandike, Saml. S. Stinson, S. H. Mather, H. W. Hays, Geo. W. Robison, Peter Day, Geo. Farrier, T. C. Fowler, Joseph Boler, David Potts, Stephen Goodridge, Franklin Peade, J. Rodgers, A. Anderson, William Demerest, Joseph Adams, Thos. Powell, John Emerson, William Robertson. There being no cause for a trial jury at the present term of court, the court discharges all the trial jurors from further attendance at the present term. And now comes P. H. Harris, Esq., an attorney of this court, and upon affidavit of R. I. Barnett, Esq., herein filed, setting forth that he was admitted as an attorney and counselor at law in the state of Missouri prior to his emigration to this state, and moves the court to admit said Barnett as an attorney and counselor of this court. Whereupon, it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that R. I. Barnett, Esq., is duly qualified as required by law, it is ordered by the court that he be admitted and duly sworn in as an attorney and counselor at law of this court. And now comes P. H. Harris, Esq., an attorney of this court, and upon affidavit of Thomas Cox, Esq., being filed, setting forth that he was admitted as an attorney and counselor at law in the state of North Carolina, prior to his emigration to this state, and moves the court to admit said Thomas Cox as an attorney and counselor at law of this court. Whereupon, it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that Thomas Cox, Esq., is duly qualified as required by law, it is ordered by the court that he be admitted and duly sworn as an attorney and counselor at law of this court. Court adjourns till the 20th instant, 9 o'clock A. M. 9 o'clock A. M., June 20, A. D. 1854. The court meets pursuant to adjournment. In the matter of F. W. SHAFFER vs. W. V. KINGSBURY and W. W. HALL. (After hearing this case and giving judgment for the plaintiff, the court took a recess until two o'clock p. M., at which time it again opened.) And now at this time comes John R. Buckbee, and makes application for license to practice as an attorney and counselor at law in this court, and after due examination in open court, and being duly sworn according to law, it was ordered by the court that the said John R. Buckbee be admitted to practice as an attorney and counselor at law in this court. Court adjourned until next term in course. J. W. McCORKLE, Dist. Judge. In the fall of 1854 Hon. William R. Daingerfield was elected to fill the unexpired term of Judge Smith, and held court in Quincy the following summer. By the Act of April 16, 1855, Plumas was annexed to the fourteenth district, with Sierra and Nevada counties, of which Hon. Niles Searles, of Nevada City, was the judge. Court was held here by Judge Searles at the stated terms till October, 1857, when Hon. C. E. Williams succeeded him, the Act of March 31, 1857, having placed Plumas in the fifteenth district, with Butte, Colusa, and Tehama counties. That fall a hard-fought struggle occurred between Warren T. Sexton and J. E. N. Lewis for the position of judge of the fifteenth district. They were both Democrats, and upon Mr. Sexton becoming successful in receiving the nomination, the friends of Mr. Lewis "bolted," and that gentleman ran independently. It is said that $15,000 were spent in conducting this exciting contest, which resulted in the election of Judge Sexton. He held court here until this county was taken from his district by the Act of January 27, 1859, and with Sierra county erected into a new district, the seventeenth. Hon. Peter Van Clief, of Downieville, was appointed judge of the new district by Govenor Weller. He was succeeded the same fall by Hon. Robert H. Taylor, elected by the people. Judge Taylor presided till 1862, when he went to Nevada, and Hon. L. E. Pratt succeeded him. After the creation of the county of Lassen, the Act of April 4, 1864, combined Butte, Tehama, Plumas, and Lassen counties in the second judicial district, of which Hon. Warren T. Sexton was judge, and so remained till he was succeeded by Hon. Charles F. Lott, in January, 1870. The Act of February 15, 1876, created the twenty-first district, embracing the counties of Plumas, Lassen, and Modoc, and Governor Irwin appointed Hon. John D. Goodwin to preside until after the judicial election in 1877. At that time the Hon. G. G. Clough was elected, and held the position until the court was abolished by the new constitution January 1, 1880. By the provisions of the new state constitution which took effect on the first of January, 1880, the district court was abolished, and all its powers were conferred upon the new superior court. On the twenty-ninth day of December, 1879, the district court convened in Quincy for the last time, Hon. G. G. Clough presiding. There were also present, as members of the bar, Judge John D. Goodwin, Judge E. T. Hogan, William W. Kellogg, and District Attorney R. H. F. Variel. No business was transacted, but speeches were made by the members of the bar in commendation of the course pursued by Judge Clough while presiding the past two years. He responded in a happy manner, and then the following order was spread upon the record: It is hereby ordered that all books, papers, and proceedings in this court, or belonging thereto, be transferred on the first day of January, A. D. 1880, to the superior court of the county of Plumas. Ordered that this court do now adjourn sine die. G. G. CLOUGH, Dist. Judge. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties San Francisco: Fariss & Smith (1882) File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ca/plumas/history/1882/illustra/district110gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 8.3 Kb