Bio of BEST, James Irvin (Judge) (b.1835 d.1919), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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JUDGE JAMES IRVIN BEST - Vol III, pg 802-803
With his admission to the bar in 1860, Judge James Irvin Best entered upon the
practice of law, in which he was destined to render to his fellowmen signal
service in fully sustaining and upholding the legal status of the communities in
which he lived. His course at all times reflected credit and honor upon the
profession which he had chosen as a life work and in his later years he became a
member of the Minneapolis bar, where his notable ability soon gained him place
in the front rank, the profession and the public paying to him that spontaneous
tribute which is ever the recognition of superior talent and devotion to high
ideals. He was not a northerner by birth, for he first opened his eyes to the
light of day on the 23rd of August, 1835, in Waynesboro, Augusta county,
Virginia, of which state his parents were also natives.
He was descended, however, from Scotch-Irish ancestry and his grandfather,
leaving Scotland prior to the Revolutionary war, established his home in what
was then the Virginia colony.
Judge Best spent the first seventeen years of his life in his native state and
then accompanied his father and the family to Huntington county, Indiana, which
at that period was largely a frontier region. They took up their abode upon a
farm and the fu­ture jurist devoted the summer seasons to the work of tilling
the soil and caring for the crops, while in the winter months he attended the
common schools and thus prepared for teaching the common English branches. For
four years thereafter he divided his time between his pedagogic duties in the
cold season and the task of improving the homestead farm in the summer months.
As his vision of life broadened, his ambition was aroused and he entered upon
the study of law in the office of an attorney at Hunting-ton, as there was no
available law school in that section of the country at the time. In 1860 he was
admitted to the bar and at the age of twenty-five years entered alone upon the
practice of his profession in Waterloo, Dekalb county, Indiana. He after ward
entered into a partnership relation under the firm style of Best & McClellan,
his associate being C. A. O. McClellan, who was subsequently elected to the
bench. Their association, covering professional, business and financial matters,
continued throughout the entire period until Judge Best removed from the city
save for the time in which each partner served as a jurist. Mr. Best applied
himself with great thoroughness to the duties that devolved upon him and
steadily advanced in his profession, his practice increasing year by year until
he occupied a foremost position in the ranks of the legal fraternity in
northeastern Indiana. The sterling qualities which he displayed, his public
spirit and his devotion to the general welfare led to his selection for public
office and in 1872 he received the nomination of the republican party for the
office of judge of the fourteenth judicial circuit, comprising six important
counties in the northeastern part of the state. While he was the republican
candidate, he was also endorsed by the democrats and was thus unanimously chosen
for the office of judge, serving upon the bench with ability and distinction
until 1876, when ill health forced him to resign. He then joined his former
partner, Judge McClellan, and others in organizing the Dekalb County Bank and
gave much attention to its successful management, at the same time resuming the
private practice of law, in which he soon again gained a large clientele.
Once more, however, he was called to office, being chosen supreme court
commis­sioner in 1882 and so continuing to serve until 1886, covering the work
of the supreme court of Indiana as reported in Volumes 73 to 101 inclusive, in
which volumes the opinions of Commissioner Best will disclose not only a due
familiarity with adjudicated cases, but a profound respect for the science and
principles of the law and just determi­nation of controversies submitted.
It was while residing in Indiana, on the 28th of May, 1863, that Judge Best was
united in marriage to Miss Sarah C. Nimmons, a daughter of P. B. and Mary Ann
(Brink) Nimmons, both of whom were natives of the state of New York. Judge Best
held membership in the Methodist church and in every community in which he and
Mrs. Best made their home they occupied a position of social prominence. They
became residents of Minneapolis in 1886 and the city enjoyed the benefit of his
ripe experience and seasoned powers in the practice of law to the time of his
demise, which occurred September 6, 1919. A most fitting tribute was paid to him
by Judge Willard R. Cray, who said: "His uniform courtesy and kindness, coupled
with quickness of perception and sound judgment, peculiarly qualified him for
the position of counsel and trusted adviser. In this line of work it was, while
a member of this bar, that his professional qualities were best known, and here
it was that important questions involving large and sub­stantial interests were
entrusted to his judgment and direction. Judge Best was a modest man, not
obtrusive nor self-assertive. His modesty at times would impress those
unacquainted with the man as being almost a shrinking from responsibility, and
yet he never failed to take hold of any proposition or case with a definite
determination not only to investigate but to present in court, if necessary, the
full merits of the con­troversy. Devoted to his profession, regular in his
habits of living, he found little time or occasion to plan for vacations, and
yet he was fond of nature and country life, and until almost his latest years he
seldom omitted to spare for recreation and pleasure some time for a race or in
the pursuit of game in the open fields. As a practicing lawyer, he was always
dignified, and never gave way to anger or discourtesy. In the trial of causes
and in arguments before the court he was invariably patient, main­tained his
respect for the law, his duty to the court and to his client, and his position
as a lawyer and officer of the court; with clear speech emanating from
self-respecting manhood and high character and a mind incapable of cherishing
animosities or re­flections. He was a man of unblemished purity not only in his
acts and work, but in thought and speech, whose private life and character as
well as that which was public, official and professional were above reproach; an
excellent example of noble Christian manhood, cheerful, unassuming upon all
occasions, upright in every sense of the word, faithful to every public and
private duty, loving and lovable in the home, of strong and enduring friendship,
respected in all the walks of life, leaving a memory which commends itself to us
as a splendid example of what was accomplished by a man of dig­nified character
and true worth, of whom it was said in his Indiana home that he was a true type
of eminent self-made men. I would not on this occasion unduly magnify his good
qualities, nor indulge in fulsome or unwarranted tribute to the memory of our
departed friend, whose modesty, if he were here today, would almost seem to
silence any attempted eulogy; and yet the life and character of Judge James I.
Best furnishes us with a standard to which we might all well desire to measure."
His life story, as indicated, was interwoven with the history of three states.
Virginia gave him his early impetus through his educational opportunities there:
Indiana provided him with the chance of advancement and Minnesota tested his
ripened powers and honored him for his splendid attainments in the profession
which he had chosen as his life work. He did with resolute will and
conscientious purpose whatever his hand found to do and to an understanding of
uncommon acuteness and vigor he added a thorough and conscientious preparatory
training, while in his practice he exemplified all the higher elements of the
truly great lawyer. He was constantly inspired by an innate, inflexible love of
justice and a delicate sense of personal honor, which con­trolled him in all of
the private as well as the public relations of life.