SILVER BOW COUNTY, MONTANA
J.  Justin Bourquin
Transcribed by:  Lorene  Frigaard

Extracted from:  Montana-The Land and the People, by Robert 
George Raymer, M.A.  Montana Biography, By Special Staff of 
Writers.  Issued in Three Volumes,  Volume II, illustrated.  
The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York, 1930, 
pages 59-60.

J.  JUSTIN BOURQUIN.  

During a decade of years J. Justin Bourquin has pursued 
the practice of law at Butte, where he has been known not 
only for his skill and assiduity as a legist, but also for 
the urbanity of his manners, his literary taste and talent, 
and as a public spirited citizen.  He has gained 
professional eminence by none of the arts of the 
charlatan, neither has he sought it in special lines of 
practice.  He has been content to follow the beaten 
track in which lawyers educated in the highest science of 
the law, and loyal to its ethical code, seek rather to 
merit recognition by their knowledge and skill than to 
gain notoriety by the more questionable methods by which 
less meritorious legists find a short cut to fame and 
fortune.

J. Justin Bourquin was born at Helena, Montana, 
November 11, 1896, and is a son of Hon. George M. 
and Mary  (Ratigan) Bourquin.  His father, a native 
of Pennsylvania, migrated to Montana in young manhood 
and took up his residence at Helena, where he soon 
became a leading member of the bar.  Eventually he was 
recognized as of judicial timber, and at the present 
occupies a position on the Federal bench.  He and Mrs. 
Bourquin, a native of Connecticut, still reside at 
Helena and are the parents of three children:  Hon. 
George, district judge of Silver Bow County; Marion 
M., who is engaged in the practice of law at San 
Francisco, California; and J. Justin.

J. Justin Bourquin received his early education in the 
grade school at Butte, and after his graduation from 
high school entered the University of Montana, where he 
received the degree of Bachelor of Arts.  He subsequently 
prosecuted a law course and was graduated from the 
institution with the degree of Bachelor of Laws as a 
member of the class of 1920.  He immediately entered 
upon the practice of his calling at Butte, and in 1921 
was made deputy county attorney of Silver Bow County, 
a position which he retained until 1924, when he 
resigned to engage in private professional work.  
He carries on a general law business, with law offices 
at 55 West Broadway and is in the enjoyment of a large 
and representative clientage.  Mr. Bourquin occupies a 
recognized position in his calling and is a member of 
the Silver Bow County Bar Association, the Montana 
State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.  
He is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and in 
his political beliefs maintains an independent stand and 
open mind, voting rather for the man than for the party.

On September 1, 1923, Mr. Bourquin was united in marriage 
with Miss Alice Nagle, of Anaconda, Montana, and to this 
union there has been born one son, J. Justin, Jr."



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