The history of the bench of Contra Costa
County may be divided into two periods - first, the period from the time of
the organization of the State under the constitution of 1849 to the adoption
of the constitution of 1879, and second, the period from the adoption of the
constitution of 1879 to the present time.
The county of Contra Costa was organized by
an act of the first legislature, in 1850, at its first session. This act
also established the county seat at the town of Martinez, where it has ever
since remained.
The constitution of 1849 vested the judicial
powers of the State of California in a supreme court, a district court,
county courts, and justices of the peace. The California legislature, in its
first session in 1850, vested the judicial powers in accordance with the
constitution of 1849, as follows: The State was divided into nine judicial
districts, which districts were composed of the several counties, and the
county of Contra Costa was placed in the Third Judicial District, then
composed of the counties of Branceforte, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, and
Monterey.
The constitution of 1849 also provided that
the judges of the district courts should be appointed by the joint vote of
the legislature at its first meeting, and such judges to hold office for two
years from the first day of January next after their election, after which
said judges should be elected by the qualified electors of their respective
districts at the general election and hold office for the term of six years.
By the act of the legislature of 1853 the
county of Contra Costa was transferred from the Third Judicial District to
the Seventh Judicial District, which district embraced the counties of
Solano, Napa, Sonoma, and Marin, and said county continued to be in the
Seventh Judicial District until 1862, when it was again transferred from the
Seventh Judicial District to the Fourth Judicial District, which district
embraced this county and a portion of the city and county of San Francisco
lying north and east of Clay and Kearny streets. Contra Costa County
continued to be a part of the Fourth Judicial District until, by an act of
the legislature of 1863, it was annexed to the Third Judicial District,
composed of the counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Alameda, and
Contra Costa, and continued to be annexed to the said district until, by an
act of the legislature of 1864, it was annexed to the Fifteenth Judicial
District, composed of that portion of the city and county of San Francisco
included in the Twelfth Judicial District and the Fourth Judicial District
and Contra Costa County, and continued annexed to said district until the
adoption of the constitution of 1879.
The judges of the District Court were as
follows: At its first session in 1850 said legislature by joint vote elected
John Watson, and he held the office of the judge of the Third Judicial
District until 1851, when he resigned, and C. P. Hester was appointed by the
governor and filled the office until the next election, and at the next
election, in 1853, Hester was elected and continued to preside as judge of
said district until Contra Costa County was attached to the Seventh Judicial
District, when E. W. McKinstry was elected judge of said district and
continued to preside until March, 1862, when the county was annexed to the
Fourth Judicial District, with Samuel F. Reynolds then presiding, who
continued to act as such judge until April 25, 1863. At that date Contra
Costa County was annexed to the Third Judicial District, of which Samuel B.
McKee was the judge presiding, who continued to act as such judge until
April 4, 1864. Contra Costa County was then annexed to the Fifteenth
Judicial District, wherein Samuel H. Dwinelle was judge, and who through
subsequent re-elections continued to act in that capacity until January,
1880, when the constitution of 1879 changed the judicial system.
By an act of the first session of the
legislature of 1850 a county court was established in Contra Costa County,
over which from that time up to the adoption of the constitution of 1879,
the following judges presided: F. M. Warmcastle, 1850-53; J. F. Williams,
1853; R. N. Wood, 1853-55; George F. Worth, 1855-56; Thomas A. Brown,
1857-63; Mark Shepard, 1864-70; C. W. Lander, 1871-73; Thomas A. Brown,
1874-78.
The constitution of 1879 vested the judicial
powers of the State in a supreme court, a superior court, justices of the
peace, and such inferior courts as the legislature may establish in any
incorporated city or town or city and county, and also provided there shall
be in each of the organized counties or cities and counties of the State a
superior court, for each of which at least one judge shall be elected by the
qualified electors at the general State election to be held in 1879. Contra
Costa County was assigned one judge. At the election of 1879 Thomas A. Brown
was elected to that office, and presided until his death in 1886, when Judge
F. M. Warmcastle was appointed by the governor as his successor. Judge
Warmcastle held the office only until after the election of 1886, when
Joseph P. Jones was elected and continued to act as such judge until his
death, in early part of 1900. William S. Wells was then appointed by the
governor to succeed Judge Jones, and occupied the bench until January, 1909.
Judge R. H. Latimer was elected at the general election of 1908 to succeed
Judge Wells, and has continued to act as judge of said court ever since that
date. By an act of the legislature of 1913 the county of Contra Costa was
assigned two judges, and at the general election of 1914 A. B. McKenzie was
elected to preside over the second department of the court, and at present
fills that position.
MEMBERS OF THE BAR OF CONTRA COSTA
Thomas A. Brown was born on October 16, 1823,
in Greene County, State of Illinois, and is the eldest of four children of
Elam and Sarah Brown. During his infancy the family moved to Morgan County,
Illinois, where they settled on a farm about ten miles west of Jacksonville.
The family resided there until 1837, when they moved to Platte County,
Missouri, where they again settled on a farm near the town of Weston. During
1842 and 1843 the settlement of the country about the mouth of the Columbia
River, in Oregon, and emigration to California and other places west of the
Rocky Mountains were beginning to be agitated, and in May, 1843, Brown
joined a party of emigrants and crossed the mountains to Oregon. He arrived
at Willamette Falls late in the fall of that year. On that journey the party
suffered many annoyances and privations not common to travelers who now
cross the plains from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. This little
band left Westport, near the western line of Missouri. After crossing the
west boundary of Missouri the country until Fort Laramie was reached was
entirely uninhabited by white people. At that place there were a few
traders. Thence they proceeded to Fort Bridger, from there to Fort Hall, and
thence to Fort Boise near the Grande-ronde Valley on Snake River, which was
an unbroken wilderness. There were a few trappers at Fort Bridger, others at
Fort Hall and Fort Boise, and Doctor Whitman and some others at Walla Walla.
These were the only white people found on the route from the Missouri line
to Fort Vancouver. There were plenty of Indians, but not generally
troublesome. At that time Oregon was considered to be about as far away from
other civilized society as it was possible to get. There were then a few
hundred white people, generally very good people, in what is now the State
of Oregon. To illustrate the condition of things then, the only regular
communication with the United States was by sailing vessels or by the annual
immigration. Messengers bearing news required about six months to make the
trip in one direction, or twelve months to get word in return. The people
who went across the mountains in 1843 left Missouri in May of that year. The
nomination of candidates for President and Vice-President were not made
until afterward. It was not known by them who was nominated or elected
President until late in the fall of 1844, six or seven months after Polk had
been inaugurated.
While in Oregon Brown resided the greater
portion of the time at Oregon City, and was engaged chiefly in the business
of surveying and as civil engineer. He surveyed a great number of claims for
settlers in different parts of the Territory, and also several town-sites,
among others that of Portland, now the principal city of the State. The
survey of Portland was made about 1844, and while there engaged the
surveyors were compelled to live in a tent on the bank of the river, there
being up to that time no house at that place.
During the early part of the year 1847, Brown
came to California on a visit to his father and family, who had crossed the
plains during the summer of 1846, and then resided at the mission of Santa
Clara. He remained in California a few weeks, and then went back to Oregon
for the purpose of closing up his business, intending to return to
California. While making preparations to return to this State, news of the
discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill reached Oregon and resulted in a general
rush from that country to this. Brown returned to California by sea, and by
reason of bad weather did not arrive at San Francisco until late in the fall
of 1848. He remained during the winter at the mission of San Jose.
In the spring of 1849, with a party, he went
into the mines, where he remained but a few months, returning and settling
at Martinez, where he has ever since resided. During 1849 he, his brother
Warren, and his brother-in-law, N. B. Smith, engaged in mercantile business,
which they soon abandoned. During the same year Brown was appointed alcalde
of the district by the then governor of California. He held that office
until the organization of the county government in April, 1850, when he was
elected county clerk and recorder, and held that office until 1855, when he
retired from that position and was elected supervisor, holding that office
until January, 1864.
At a meeting of the members of the Contra
Costa bar in open court at the courthouse in Martinez, on Thursday, December
10, 1863, the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted,
and on motion were entered in the minutes:
"In County Court, State of California, Contra
Costa County, Hon. Thomas A. Brown presiding, December 10, 1863.
"Whereas, Hon. Thomas A. Brown being about to
retire from the bench, we, the members of the bar, deem it just and
respectful to express and record our appreciation of the integrity and
ability with which, during the last eight years, he has discharged the
various duties which have devolved upon him as the judge of this court;
therefore --
"Resolved, That it is the unanimous
sentiment of the members of this bar that Hon. Thomas A. Brown, during a
continuous term of eight years in the official capacity of judge of this
court, has earned for himself the reputation of an urbane, able, and upright
judge.
"Resolved, That it is the unanimous
request of the members of this bar that the foregoing proceeding, preamble,
and resolutions be entered in the minutes of this court."
In 1865 he was elected to the assembly, and
served during the sessions of the legislature for 1865-66 and for the years
1867-68. In the session of 1865-66, Judge Brown was chairman of the
judiciary committee in the assembly, and at the next session had the
Republican nomination for the United States Senate when Eugene Casserly was
elected.
In January, 1874, he was appointed county
judge, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Lander. On the
expiration of the term he was elected to that office, and held it until
January, 1880, when he became judge of the Superior Court. While he held the
office of county judge his practice as attorney was confined to business in
the District Courts, the Supreme Court, and the Federal Courts.
Joseph P. Jones was born in Owen County,
Indiana, January 27, 1844. In 1853, when he was nine years old, his parents
moved to Marion County, Oregon, where he attended the common schools, and
afterward entering the Willamette University, at Salem, there received a
thorough scholastic training, and finally graduated, Artium Baccalaureus,
in 1864. In 1865, he returned to Indiana, matriculated at the State
University, in Bloomington, where he entered upon the study of law, and
graduated therefrom in 1867. His legal curriculum finished, he returned to
Oregon, but shortly after located at the mines in the northern portion of
California, where he resided until December,1869. In that year he came to
Martinez, Contra Costa County, and entered upon the practice of his
profession, in which he has achieved considerable success. Upon the election
of Hiram Mills to the post of district attorney, Jones was appointed deputy
to the office and continued as such until the fall of 1875, when he was
nominated and elected on the Republican ticket to the office if district
attorney, the functions of which he held until March, 1878. After a lapse of
two years, he again entered the political arena, and in the fall of 1880 was
elected to the assembly, and served at the general and extra sessions of the
legislature, being a member of the judiciary committee, as well as chairman
of the committee on federal relations. He is now practicing his profession
in partnership with Hiram Mills, a lawyer long associated with Contra Costa,
under the style of Mills & Jones. He married in Martinez, February 2, 1870,
Jennie Frazer, a native of Oregon, and has three surviving children -
Madison R., Thomas Rodney, and Carl Richard.
F. M. Warmcastle, born November 16, 1815, at
the town of Butler, Butler County, Pennsylvania, went to Pittsburg at the
age of seventeen, remaining there some three years. He then went to
Maysville, Kentucky, and remained there until 1839, spending the winters in
the Southwest flat-boating and distributing agricultural implements. On
leaving Kentucky, he went to Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, early in 1840,
remaining there until 1841, engaged in manufacturing wagons, plows, etc.
After this he located in Platte City, the county seat of Platte County,
Missouri, read law, and in the year 1842 emigrated to Nott County, Missouri,
and was admitted to the bar at the spring session of the Circuit Court of
Savannah, the county seat of Andrew County, Missouri, Judge D. R. Atchison
presiding, Peter H. Burnett, circuit attorney. He located that year in that
portion of Nott County afterward (1844) organized as the county of Atchison,
practiced law at Linden, the county seat, and represented the county in the
Missouri legislature, as its first representative, in 1846. He joined the
volunteer service, as first lieutenant of Captain Creig's company of
Missouri mounted volunteers, in the spring of 1847, was mustered into the
service of the United States at Fort Leavenworth, and was appointed acting
assistant commissary of subsistence. The command was ordered to the Indian
country to overawe the Indian tribes, there being no military force in the
direction of Oregon, the rifle regiment raised a few years before for that
purpose having been ordered to Mexico.
He remained in the Indian country until the
winter of 1848, was mustered out of service at Fort Leavenworth, leaving for
California in 1849, overland, and was among the first immigrants to arrive
at Sacramento, about the middle of August of that year. He went to the mines
on the Yuba River, stayed there until the early rains, and, returning to
Sacramento, remained there a short time. About that time the election to
ratify the constitution of the new State came off, and the election
immediately followed for State officers and members of the legislature.
Warmcastle then went to Benicia, crossing the
Straits of Carquinez at Martinez, and from there through what is now Contra
Costa and Alameda counties, via the mission of San Jose, proceeded to the
city of San Jose, remaining there a spectator of the daily sessions of the
legislature, and becoming somewhat acquainted with many of the men who
afterward occupied official positions in the State, returning to Martinez in
February of 1850. In the spring the several counties of the State having
been organized by the legislature at its first session, he was elected
county judge of Contra Costa County, and held the position until December,
1853, when he resigned, having been elected to the assembly. At the close of
the legislative session he resumed the practice of law in Martinez.
He was married at San Francisco in February,
1855, and resided in Martinez until the fall of that year, when he located
some six miles from Martinez, on a farm that he bought in 1852 and improved.
This farm is situated one mile south of the town of Pacheco, not then in
existence. He was elected to the assembly in 1857, and in 1860 was elected
to the State's senate in the district composed of the counties of Contra
Costa and San Joaquin.
Between the years 1870 and 1874, he visited
the Eastern States twice, being absent about one and a half years. He
resided on his farm until 1877, when he was elected district attorney for
Contra Costa County, holding the office for two years, since which time he
has been engaged in the practice of the law. At present he is living in
Martinez.
Among the many attorneys who have belonged to
the bar of Contra Costa County since the organization of the county, besides
those who have held judicial positions as hereinbefore stated, are the
following: J. F. Williams, the first district attorney of this county; L.
B. Mizner, who removed to Solano County and practiced law there for a number
of years before his death; Hiram Mills, who was district attorney of the
county for fourteen years, between 1855 and 1875, afterward practicing law
until his death; Mark Shepard, who was district attorney for one term, and
then practiced law until his death; George W. Bailey for a number of years
prior to his death was a prominent member of this bar; C. W. Lander from
1869 to the time of his death, in 1874, was one of the prominent members of
this bar; L. M. Brown, a brother of the late Judge Thomas A. Brown,
practiced here from 1870 to the time of his death, in 1874; A. P. Needles,
who for a short time before moving to San Francisco was a member of the this
bar; Eli R. Chase practiced here from 1865 up to the time of his death, a
few years ago, and was district attorney for two terms; W. S. Tinning, who
has been the leader of the bar for a number of years, commenced the practice
of law here 1880 and has continued ever since. We also have had G. W. Bowie,
A. H. Griffith, W. B. Wallace, Jr.; and C. Y. Brown, all of whom have passed
away. C. Y. Brown held the office of district attorney here for a number of
years prior to his death.
The bar has grown rapidly and has now among
its members in Martinez, M. R. Jones, son of the late Judge J. P. Jones,
Ralph Wright, Rex Boyer, E. B. Taylor, Leo F. Tormey, Archie Tinning, son of
W. S. Tinning, J. E. Rodgers, A. F. Bray, and John O. Wyatt; in Richmond, T.
H. DeLap, H. V. Alvarado, J. G. Gerlach, D. J. Hall, C. S. Hannum, C.D.
Horner, H. E. Jacobs, J. M. Opsahl, Wilber S. Pierce, W. S. Robenson, H. J.
Wildgrube, Lee D. Windrem; in Antioch, A. C. Hartley, and Matthew Ward; in
Pittsburg, R. N. Wolf; in Concord, A. S. Sherlock.
Judge John H. Watson was appointed the first
district judge of the Third Judicial District, which included the counties
of Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. He died at Elko,
Nevada. He was a pioneer of California and Nevada and the founder of
Watsonville, California. He was also a State senator.
Hon. Craven P. Hester was born May 17, 1796.
Studied law at Charleston under Judge Scott, one of the judges of the
Supreme Court of Indiana. In 1821 he removed to Bloomington, Indiana, where
he continued to practice until 1849, when he crossed the plains with his
family to California. He was elected district attorney of the Third Judicial
District in October, 1850. In May, 1851, he resigned that office and was
forthwith appointed by the governor judge of the district, to fill the
vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Watson. In September
following he was elected to the same office until the next general election
in 1852, when he was re-elected for the full term of six years.
Judge E. W. McKinstry was born in Detroit,
Michigan, in 1826. He came to California in June, 1849, and engaged in law
practice at Sacramento in 1850, was in the first legislature, and was
elected adjutant-general at the age of twenty-four years. In 1851 he opened
a law office in Napa, and in the fall of 1852 he was elected district judge
for the district comprising Napa and contiguous counties, being re-elected
in September, 1858, but resigned in November, 1862. In 1863 he was the
Democratic candidate for lieutenant-governor, and was defeated with his
ticket. He went to Washoe, Nevada, in the flush of times, and in 1864, he
and John R. McConnell and W. C. Wallace were the Democratic nominees for
supreme justices of the State of Nevada.
Returning to California, and locating in San
Francisco, he was, in October, 1867, elected county judge on the Democratic
ticket for a term of four years from January 1, 1868. In October, 1869, he
was elected judge of the Twelfth District Court as an independent candidate
over the regular Democratic nominee, R. R. Provines. In 1873, again as an
independent candidate, he was elected a justice of the Supreme Court over
Samuel H. Dwinelle, Republican.
Judge McKinstry resigned from the Supreme Bench
on October 1, 1888, to become professor of municipal law in the Hastings Law
College, San Francisco, but in 1890 again took up the practice of law. He
died in San Jose, California, November 1, 1901.
Judge Samuel F. Reynolds was a native of New
York State, and died February 12, 1877, of apoplexy, at the age of
sixty-eight years. He came to California in the early days and filled the
office of district judge of the Fourth Judicial District for a term of six
years, after which he resumed active practice in the profession. He was a
prominent Odd Fellow, in which order he filled several important offices.
Samuel H. Dwinelle was born in 1822 in
Cazenovia, Madison County, New York, and came to this State in 1850,
locating in Sonora, Tuolumne County. He soon removed to San Francisco and
continued to practice law. In 1858-59 Judge Dwinelle was a law partner of E.
D. Baker. In 1865, when the Fifteenth Judicial District was created,
comprising a part of San Francisco and all of Contra Costa County, Governor
Low appointed him to the bench of that court, and at the next general
election he was chosen by the people for a full term of six years.
Judge Dwinelle presided at the first trial of
Laura D. Fair, who was convicted before him of the murder of A. P.
Crittenden, and he sentenced her to death in 1870.
Judge Dwinelle died January 12, 1886, of
apoplexy, at his home in San Francisco.
Hon. William S. Wells, at present presiding
in department four of the Superior Court of Alameda County, enjoys the
distinction of being the first superior judge in the county to receive the
Republican nomination for that office direct from the people. Judge Wells
was born in Fairfield, Solano County, June 24, 1861. His father practiced
law in Solano County, and later in San Francisco. He resided in Oakland at
the time of his death, which occurred on Christmas Day, 1878.
Judge Wells attended the public schools, and
later entered St. Augustine College, Benicia, and completed his studies at
the University of California. He was admitted to the bar in 1884, and began
the practice of his profession in Contra Costa County. In 1886 he received
the appointment of assistant district attorney of this county. He was
appointed judge of the Superior Court of this county January 26, 1899, in
place of Joseph P. Jones, deceased. Judge Wells was afterward elected to
fill the unexpired term and again for a full term, which expired in January,
1909. In April of the same year he was appointed to the Superior Court of
Alameda County.
Judge Wells is prominently known in fraternal
circles, being past grand master of Masons of California, and a member of
Oakland Lodge, No. 191. He is also a member of the B. P. O. E. and the
Woodmen of the World.
Alfred Bailey McKenzie, judge of the Superior
Court of Contra Costa County, department two, was born at Goderich, Ontario,
in 1861. He came to the United States in 1880 and followed mercantile
pursuits in New York until 1891, when he came to California, and in 1892
entered Hastings College of Law and graduated with the class of 1895,
receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of California.
In June, 1895, he commenced the practice of law at Martinez, and has resided
there ever since. In November, 1914, he was elected judge of the Superior
Court of the State of California, in and for the county of Contra Costa, for
a new department of the court, which office was created by the legislature
in 1912, to take effect at the general election of 1914. At the time of his
election to the bench he was district attorney of Contra Costa County, to
which office he was elected in 1910.
In 1897 Judge McKenzie married Melvina I.
Durham, a school teacher and a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School.
Mrs. McKenzie is a daughter of J. E. Durham, who is one of the early
settlers in Contra Costa County.
Judge McKenzie is a Republican, and was
chairman of the Republican County Central Committee during the campaign of
1908.