Ralph Lazier Berkshire

Ralph Lazier Berkshire (born Bedford County, Pennsylvania, April 8, 1815[1] or 1816;[2] died Morgantown, West Virginia, November 8, 1902) was a lawyer, judge, and politician important in the early history of West Virginia. He served as Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia from June 20, 1863 to December 31, 1866 and again from September 10, 1868 to December 31, 1872.

Berkshire's family moved to Monongalia County, then in the state of Virginia, in 1817. Raised on the family farm, Berkshire's first career was as a carpenter in Morgantown. He began to study law in 1838 and was admitted to the bar in 1841. He was appointed prosecuting attorney for Monongalia County in 1847 and won election to that position in 1852. He failed to be elected as the Whig candidate for circuit court judge in 1861, but succeeded in a second election after secession.

Berkshire was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals in 1863; the judges drew lots and he drew the shortest term of office, four years. He was defeated for re-election in 1866, but was appointed to serve out the remainder of William A. Harrison's term after his resignation in September 1868, and he won an election in 1868 for a new term. However, new elections were held in 1872 under the new constitution of that year, and Berkshire failed to be elected to a term on the new court.[3]

Berkshire served as a delegate to the first Wheeling Convention of 1861. Berkshire was elected to the state senate from Monongalia County in 1874. In 1888 he was a delegate-at-large to the Republican national convention.

Berkshire was a Republican.

References

  1. ↑ date on gravestone
  2. ↑ Prominent Men of West Virginia, George Wesley Atkinson, Alvaro Franklin Gibbons, Wheeling, WV: W. L. Callin, 1890, p. 253
  3. ↑ http://www.courtswv.gov/public-resources/press/Publications/2016_CourtBrochure.pdf The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, "Drawing Lots": A Historical Perspective of the West Virginia Supreme Court, Rory L. Perry II, Morgantown Printing and Binding, 2016, p. 15-16



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