David S. Terry

David S. Terry
4th Chief Justice of California
In office
September 18, 1857 – September 12, 1859
Preceded by Hugh Murray
Succeeded by Stephen J. Field
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office
November 15, 1855 – September 17, 1857
Appointed by Direct election
Preceded by Charles Henry Bryan
Succeeded by Warner Cope
Personal details
Born (1823-03-08)March 8, 1823
Russellville, Kentucky, United States
Died August 14, 1889(1889-08-14) (aged 66)
Lathrop, California, United States
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s)
Cornelia Runnels
(m. 1852; death 1884)

Relations Benjamin Franklin Terry (brother)
Profession Attorney, politician
Military service
Allegiance United States United States of America
 Confederate States of America
Service/branch United States Cavalry
 Confederate States Army
Rank Colonel
Unit Texas 8th Texas Cavalry
Commands 37th Texas Cavalry
Battles/wars

Mexican–American War
U.S. Civil War

David Smith Terry (1823–1889) was a California jurist and Democratic politician, who was the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California,[1][2][3] and an author of the Constitution of 1879. He also won a duel with U.S. Senator David C. Broderick in Broderick's second duel in 1859. Terry died in 1889, after being shot by a bodyguard of U.S. Justice Stephen J. Field.

Biography

Terry was born in Todd County, Kentucky.[4][5] In 1831, his family moved and settled in Brazoria County, Texas, until Terry himself moved to California in 1849.[6] There, he read law, joined the bar and was active in Democratic Party politics.[7]

In 1855, a prominent incident in Terry's life came about when he took up the cause of the "Widow Sanchez".[8] Maria Encarnacion Ortega de Sanchez, the widow of a wealthy rancher, was being cheated by local authorities, including the Sheriff, William Roach, who took her fortune under the guise of guardianship. After kidnapping Roach with the help of a local gunslinger named Anastacio Garcia, they held Roach in a jail cell in Stockton until he agreed to release the widow's gold. But Roach had bribed a guard to ride to Monterey and urge Roach's family to hide the gold. The treasure was hidden somewhere in Carmel Valley by Roach's brother-in-law, Jerry MacMahon. MacMahon was killed in a barroom brawl before he could reveal the location of the money.

In August 1855, he was nominated by the American State Party, or Know Nothings, for the short term remaining on the seat held by Alexander Wells, and won the election.[9][10][11] From November 15, 1855, to September 12, 1859, he was a California State Supreme Court Justice, serving as the 4th Chief Justice of California from September 18, 1857.[12]

In 1856, the State of California declared San Francisco to be in a state of insurrection.[13] Judge Terry traveled from Sacramento to San Francisco to negotiate, where he was kidnapped by armed gunmen.[14] He managed to stab one, Sterling A. Hopkins, a member of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance, who was not tried.[15][16]

On January 8, 1858, Chief Justice Terry administered the oath of office at the inauguration of Governor John B. Weller.[17]

On June 25, 1859, the Democratic Party state convention nominated Warner Cope for Supreme Court over Terry.[18][19] Although Terry was a close friend of Democratic U.S. Senator from California David Broderick, Terry accused Broderick, a Free Soil advocate, of having engineered Terry's loss for nomination for re-election in the 1859 state elections.[20][21] Terry issued inflammatory comments at a state convention in Sacramento, which offended Broderick.[22]

On September 13, 1859, Terry and Broderick, having agreed to a duel, met just outside San Francisco city limits.[23] Terry won the coin toss to select weapons, and chose pistols.[24][25] Broderick's discharged early, leaving him open for Terry's shot.[23] At first Terry thought that he had only wounded Broderick, but the senator died three days later.[26][27] The day before the duel, Terry had resigned as Chief Justice on September 12, 1859.[12]

In June 1860, Terry was acquitted of murder.[28][29][30][31] In November 1862, he campaigned for the Breckenridge Democratic Party. But by March 1863 he left the state for Texas.[32][33][34] He fought during the American Civil War, serving in the 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment of the Confederate States Army. This unit was raised by his brother Benjamin Franklin Terry and was also known as Terry's Texas Rangers. David Terry later became Colonel of the 37th Texas Cavalry Regiment and was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga.[35] In November 1865, after the war was over, he moved to a ranch at Guadalajara, near Mazatlan, Mexico.[36][37]

In 1869, Terry came back to Nevada,[38] and by 1870 returned to Stockton and engaged in private practice.[39][40][41][42][43] From March 1878 to March 1879, he was a delegate from San Joaquin County, California, to the state Constitutional Convention.[44][45][46] Terry was chair of the Committee on Legislative Department, and his proposed language on bank directors' liability to depositors was adopted.[47][48]

In August 1879, the Democratic Party nominated Terry for California Attorney General.[49][50] The nomination triggered criticism due to his record of dueling with Broderick and fighting for the Confederacy.[51][52] Terry lost the election to Republican Augustus L. Hart.[53]

Marriage

Sarah Althea Hill

In the 1880s, Terry became entangled in a mysterious divorce case. A young woman named Sarah Althea Hill claimed that she was the legal wife of silver millionaire William Sharon. Sharon denied that they had ever married, but Hill wanted a divorce and a share of Sharon's treasure.[54] She lost her case and eventually wound up marrying Terry on January 7, 1886, in Stockton.[55]

Downfall and death

On behalf of his wife, Terry appealed the ruling on his lawsuit against silver millionaire William Sharon.[56] United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Field, a former friend of Broderick's, heard the case in 1888 as the senior justice of the Federal circuit court in California.[57] Field ruled against Mr. and Mrs. Terry in a final appeal, and jailed them both on contempt of court.[58] The Terrys vowed vengeance.

A year later, on August 14, 1889, David Terry met Field at a train station in Lathrop, near Stockton, California.[59] Field's bodyguard, United States Marshal David B. Neagle (formerly assigned to Tombstone, Arizona), shot and killed Terry.[60] Neagle was arrested by California authorities on a charge of murder.[61] The United States secured the release of Neagle on a writ of habeas corpus. The issue was resolved by In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 (1890), a United States Supreme Court decision that determined that the Attorney General of the United States had authority to appoint U.S. Marshals as bodyguards to Supreme Court Justices, and that Federal appointments superseded State law regarding conduct of bodyguards.

David S. Terry is buried at Stockton Rural Cemetery in Stockton.

His wife, Sarah Terry, became insane, and spent the rest of her life at the Stockton State Hospital for the insane, where she died in February 1936.[62][63][64] She is buried in the same gravesite as her husband. Terry's first wife, Cornelia Runnels, who died in December 1884, is also buried next to him.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Journal - State Bar of California, Volume 22". State Bar of California. 1947. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Journal: Appendix. Reports - Volume 8". California Legislature. 1887. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  3. ↑ Lawson, Kristan; Rufus, Anneli (2013). California Babylon. St. Martin's Press. p. 196. ISBN 1466854146. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  4. ↑ Shuck, Oscar Tully (1889). "Bench and Bar in California: History, Anecdotes, Reminiscences". Occident Printing. p. 281. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  5. ↑ "ABA Journal". 43 (5). ABA Journal. May 1957: 416. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ Fullmore, Zachary Taylor (1915). "The History and Geography of Texas as Told in County Names". E. L. Steck Press. p. 259. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  7. ↑ "San Joaquin Intelligence". Daily Alta California (3 (60)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 March 1852. p. 7. Retrieved September 25, 2017. David S. Terry, Esq., volunteered his services as assistant counsel.
  8. ↑ Boessenecker, John (2012). Bandido: The Life and Times of Tiburcio Vasquez. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 58–60. ISBN 0806183160. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Fortnight's News, The State". Daily Alta California (6 (163)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 June 1855. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  10. ↑ "American State Convention". Sacramento Daily Union (9 (1365)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 10 August 1855. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  11. ↑ "American Mass Meeting". Daily Alta California (6 (219)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 5 September 1855. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  12. 1 2 Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender Moss Co. pp. 52–61. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Excitement in San Francisco". Marysville Daily Herald (212). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 June 1856. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Supreme Court". Sacramento Daily Union (11 (1650)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 10 July 1856. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Release of Judge Terry". Los Angeles Star (14). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 16 August 1856. p. 3. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Release of Judge Terry". Sacramento Daily Union (11 (1675)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8 August 1856. p. 3. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Inauguration of Governor Weller". Los Angeles Star (37). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 23 January 1858. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Democratic LeCompton Convention". Sacramento Daily Union (17 (2573)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 25 June 1859. p. 1. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Democratic State Convention". Los Angeles Star (8). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 July 1859. p. 2. Retrieved September 28, 2017. On the first ballot Mr. Cope was nominated having received 163 votes; Terry 68; Aldrich 36.
  20. ↑ "News of the Morning". Sacramento Daily Union (17 (2575)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 28 June 1859. p. 2. Retrieved September 28, 2017. The remark made by Mr. Broderick about Judge Terry probably originated in some exceedingly personal and bitter remarks made by the latter before the Lecompton State Convention, in reference to the former individual and the members of the party with which he is connected.
  21. ↑ "The Late Affair in San Francisco". Sacramento Daily Union (17 (2580)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 4 July 1859. p. 4. Retrieved September 28, 2017. At the breakfast table at the International Hotel, a few days since, Broderick commented on Judge Terry's course, and denounced it in severe terms, calling Terry anything but a gentleman.
  22. ↑ "The Sad Termination". Sacramento Daily Union (17 (2644)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 17 September 1859. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  23. 1 2 Hittell, Theodore Henry (1897). History of California, Volume 4. N. J. Stone. pp. 226–228. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  24. ↑ "City Items, The Broderick-Terry Duel. Mr. Broderick Shot". Daily Alta California (11 (255)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 14 September 1859. p. 2. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Pistols From a Final Duel Are Sold for $34,500". New York Times. Associated Press. November 26, 1988. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Entombed". Daily Alta California (11 (260)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 September 1859. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Death of the Hon. D. C. Broderick". California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences (12 (9)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 23 September 1859. p. 69. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Judge Terry Admitted to Bail". Visalia Weekly Delta (1 (16)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8 October 1859. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  29. ↑ "By Telegraph to the Union". Sacramento Daily Union (18 (2707)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 November 1859. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  30. ↑ "Judge Terry's Trial in Marin County— Verdict of Not Guilty—Singular Proceedings". Sacramento Daily Union (19 (2895)). Sacramento Daily Union. 7 July 1860. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  31. ↑ "The Trial of Judge Terry". Sacramento Daily Union (19 (2896)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 9 July 1860. p. 3. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  32. ↑ "One More for Dixie" (14 (3715)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 17 February 1863. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  33. ↑ "Another One of Them". Sacramento Daily Union (24 (3735)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 12 March 1863. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Breckenridge Convention". Sacramento Daily Union (25 (3785)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 9 May 1863. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Latest Eastern News". Red Bluff Beacon (95). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 7 November 1863. p. 4. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Later from Western Mexico". Marysville Daily Appeal (118). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 November 1865. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  37. ↑ "Confederate Refugees in Mexico". Sonoma Democrat (7). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 25 November 1865. p. 2. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  38. ↑ "Reminicence of Senator Broderick". Mariposa Gazette. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 March 1871. p. 4. Retrieved September 26, 2017. David S. Terry, who was living at the last accounts in the State of Nevada.
  39. ↑ "The Upward-Bound Trip from San Francisco". Sacramento Daily Union (44 (6902)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 17 May 1873. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  40. ↑ "The Courts, Sixth District Court". Sacramento Daily Union (46 (7035)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 October 1873. p. 3. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  41. ↑ "The Geiger-Alexander Case". Russian River Flag (42). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 27 August 1874. p. 3. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  42. ↑ "Geyser Quicksilver Mines". Sonoma Democrat (30). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 May 1877. p. 4. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  43. ↑ "Merced Items". Mariposa Gazett (41). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 March 1878. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  44. ↑ "A Proclamation of the Governor". Sacramento Daily Union (7 (124)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 13 July 1878. p. 4. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  45. ↑ "Delegates to the Constitutional Convention". Pacific Rural Press (16 (3)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 20 July 1878. p. 36. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  46. ↑ "Constitutional Convention". Mariposa Gazette (16). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 5 October 1878. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  47. ↑ Debates and Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of the State of California, Convened at the City of Sacramento, September 28, 1878. Sacramento, CA: State office, J. D. Young, Superintendent State printing. 1880. p. 450. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  48. ↑ Shuck, Oscar Tully (1901). History of the Bench and Bar of California: Being Biographies of Many Remarkable Men, a Store of Humorus and Pathetic Recollections, Accounts of Important Legislation and Extraordinary Cases, Comprehending the Judicial History of the State. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. pp. 245–261. ISBN 1584777060. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  49. ↑ "News of the Morning". Sacramento Daily Union (8 (139)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 20 August 1879. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  50. ↑ "Terry for Attorney General". Daily Alta California. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 August 1879. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  51. ↑ "Terry, Here and There". Sacramento Daily Union (8 (141)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 August 1879. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  52. ↑ "Terry's Lost Cause". Sacramento Daily Union (8 (154)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 6 September 1879. p. 4. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  53. ↑ "Official Vote of Sacramento County". Sacramento Daily Union (8 (157)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 10 September 1879. p. 3. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  54. ↑ "The Sharon-Hill Contract Case". Daily Alta California (38 (12756)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 17 March 1885. p. 1. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  55. ↑ "Judge Terry and Sarah Althea Hill". Press Democrat (159). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8 January 1886. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  56. ↑ "The United States Supreme Court to Pass Upon the Sharon Will Case". Daily Alta California (42 (13943)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 November 1887. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  57. ↑ Gorham, George Congdon; Field, Henry Martyn. Biographical Notice of Stephen J. Field. Published for the family. pp. 86–87. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  58. ↑ "The Terrys". Healdsburg Tribune, Enterprise and Scimitar (25). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8 September 1888. p. 4. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  59. ↑ "David S. Terry". Sacramento Daily Union (61 (149)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 16 August 1889. p. 1. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  60. ↑ "David Smith Terry". Daily Alta California (81 (46)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 15 August 1889. p. 1. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  61. ↑ Burrill, Donald R. (2011). Servants of the Law: Judicial Politics on the California Frontier 1849-89 : an Interpretive Exploration of the Field-Terry Controversy. University Press of America. pp. 260–263. ISBN 0761848916. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  62. ↑ "California's Famous Litigant Shut Up in a Madhouse". Los Angeles Herald (38 (20)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 May 1892. p. 2. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  63. ↑ "Body of Former Bay City Belle Claimed". San Bernardino Sun (43). California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 18 February 1937. p. 23. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
  64. ↑ "Famous Belle of Early Days Dies in Obscurity". San Bernardino Sun (43). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 February 1937. p. 4. Retrieved September 26, 2017.

Further reading

  • Buchanan, A. Russell (1956). David S. Terry of California: Dueling Judge. San Marino, CA: The Huntington Press. Retrieved September 26, 2017. Questia paid subscription.
  • Potts, Charles S. (April 1934). "David S. Terry: The Romantic Story of a Great Texan". Southwest Review. 19 (3): 295–334. JSTOR 43462097.
  • Wagstaff, Alexander E. (1892). Life of David S. Terry: presenting an authentic, impartial and vivid history of his eventful life and tragic death. San Francisco, CA: Continental Pub. Co. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  • Terry, David S. (1856). Trial of David S. Terry by the Committee of Vigilance, San Francisco. San Francisco, CA: R.C. Moore & Co. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Hugh C. Murray		 Chief Justice of California
1857–1859		 Succeeded by
Stephen J. Field
Preceded by
Charles Henry Bryan		 Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
1855–1857		 Succeeded by
Warner Cope
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.