John E. Carland Biography


	This biography appears on page 1115 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm


				JUDGE JOHN E. CARLAND. 

	Judge John E. Carland is now a resident of Washington, D. C., but 
for a considerable period was a prominent representative of the legal 
profession and of the judiciary in South Dakota. He was born in Oswego 
county, New York, December 11, 1854, and received his professional 
training in the law school of the State University of Michigan at Ann 
Arbor, being admitted to the bar by the supreme court of that state in 
October, 1875. He afterward spent two years in gaining practical 
experience in the office of Hon. John G. Hawley, a distinguished 
attorney of Detroit, Michigan, and in August, 1877, he removed to 
Bismarck, North Dakota, where he entered upon the private practice of 
law. His ability there was soon recognized and he became city attorney, 
which position he filled for about four years, while for one year he 
was county attorney. In April, 1885, he was elected mayor of Bismarck, 
but in May following received the appointment of United States district 
attorney for the territory of Dakota and accordingly resigned the 
mayoralty in order to accept the other position, which he continued to 
fill for about three years, or until March, 1388. At that date he was 
honored with appointment of associate justice of the supreme court of 
the territory of Dakota and became judge of the fourth judicial 
district, remaining in that connection until April. 1889, when he 
resigned. In May of the same year he was elected a member of the 
constitutional convention which framed the organic law of North Dakota. 
His party nominated him for the chairmanship of the convention but it 
was in the minority and therefore he was not elected. He took a 
prominent part in the deliberations of the convention, however, and was 
appointed chairman of the judicial department. 

	When the convention was over and the important work of its 
members was concluded Judge Carland removed to South Dakota, settling 
in Sioux Falls, where he entered into partnership with T. B. McMartin 
to enter upon the practice of law under the firm style of McMartin & 
Carland. That relation was maintained until the 23d of September, 1893, 
after which Judge Carland practiced alone, handling some of the most 
important litigation ever heard in the courts of the state. He was also 
employed on very important cases in the United States courts and gained 
prominence by winning an important verdict in the case of Fullerton 
against the Homestake Mining Company. Later he was appointed assistant 
United States attorney to conduct the case of the United States against 
the Homestake Mining Company, in which the government brought suit to 
recover seven hundred thousand dollars for the illegal cutting of 
timber belonging to the government. 

	On the 3d of September, 1896, he received the appointment of 
United States district judge for the district of South Dakota, an 
appointment which was very gratifying to the people generally and to 
the members of the bar as well, for they realized the feet that they 
had gained an able and upright judge for federal court service, one in 
whom all had the greatest confidence, resting upon his marked ability 
and professional integrity. He had long been numbered among the eminent 
lawyers of the state and he possessed in marked degree a judicial 
temperament, having the ability to readily analyze every case and 
situation and recognize the relation of fact to legal principles. Later 
he was appointed United States circuit judge and now resides in 
Washington, D. C. 

	Judge Carland has ever been a genial, kind-hearted man, whose 
many sterling traits and characteristics have won him the esteem of 
all. He has left the impress of his individuality for good upon the 
history of South Dakota, especially in its judiciary department, and 
his record is well worthy of emulation by those who are called upon for 
judicial service.