Robert F. Morrison

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Robert Francis Morrison

| image = Robert Francis Morrison.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption =

| order = 13th

| office = Chief Justice of California

| termstart = November 1879

| termend = March 1887

| nominator =

| appointer =

| predecessor = William T. Wallace

| successor = Niles Searls

| birth_date = {{birth date|1826|08|16}}

| birth_place = Kaskaskia, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1887|03|02|1826|08|16}}

| death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| spouse = {{marriage|Julia Stettinius|November 6, 1854}}

}}

Robert Francis Morrison (August 16, 1826 – March 2, 1887) was the 13th Chief Justice of California from November 1879 to March 2, 1887, when he died in office.{{cite web|title=Past & Present Justices|url=http://www.courts.ca.gov/12523.htm|publisher=California State Courts|accessdate=July 6, 2017}}

Biography

Morrison was born on August 16, 1826, in Kaskaskia, Illinois.{{cite web|title=In Memoriam: Robert Francis Morrison|url=http://www.cschs.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CSCHS-Morrison-Memorial.pdf|website=68 Cal. Rpts.|publisher=California Supreme Court Historical Society|accessdate=July 6, 2017|pages=649–654|date=March 3, 1887}} He served in the regiment commanded by his elder brother, Colonel Don Morrison, in the Mexican–American War, and fought in the Battle of Buena Vista. After the war, Morrison returned to St. Louis, Missouri, and read law in the office of his brother, who was a successful attorney. He attended legal lectures at Harvard Law School before returning West.

Arriving in 1850 in Sacramento, California, Morrison practiced law in a firm with his brother, Murray Morrison, and J. Neely Johnson, later governor of California. Morrison was elected district attorney of Sacramento County, California.{{cite news|title=News of the Morning|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18570707.2.4&srpos=9&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22robert+f.+morrison%22-------1 |accessdate=July 16, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=13|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=7 July 1857|page=2}} In 1856, Morrison moved to San Francisco and practiced law with various attorneys, including Delos Lake, who was appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of California on August 17, 1864. Morrison served as Assistant United States Attorney with Lake.{{cite news|title=Appointment |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18671121.2.7&srpos=46&e=-------en--20--41--txt-txIN-%22robert+f.+morrison%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 16, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=5195|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=21 November 1867|volume = 34|page=2}} In October 1869, Morrison was elected Judge of the Fourth Judicial District in California and was re-elected in 1875.{{cite news|title=The Lawyers' Primaries|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18690714.2.5&srpos=18&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22robert+f.+morrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 16, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=7055|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=14 July 1869|volume = 21|page=1}}{{cite news|title=The Supreme Court, From Chief Justice Hastings to Chief Justice Beatty|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18950622.2.62&srpos=2&e=22-06-1895-22-06-1895--en--20-SFC-1--txt-txIN-supreme+court-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=22|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=22 June 1895|volume = 78|page=5}}{{cite news|title=The Litigant Law|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18720523.2.17&srpos=14&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22robert+f.+morrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 16, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=7496|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=23 May 1872|volume = 43|page=2|quote=The San Francisco Examiner announces that it will contest for its right to continue the publication of the advertisements required by the District Courts of the county of San Francisco for the whole term of office of Robert F. Morrison, Judge of the Fourth Judicial District, which lasts about four years longer.}}

In October 1879, when adoption of a new constitution required elections, Morrison successfully ran for Chief Justice under the Democratic Party and Workingmen's Party tickets, narrowly defeating Augustus Rhodes.{{cite news|title=Will Honor Judge Rhodes|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19040625.2.23&srpos=35&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22robert+f.+morrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 16, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=25|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=25 June 1904|volume = 96|page=2|quote=In 1879, when the new constitution was adopted, he was a candidate for Chief Justice, but was defeated by Robert F. Morrison by a small majority.}}{{cite news|title=Official Returns of the Election|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18791020.2.12&srpos=10&e=------187-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22s.+b.+McKee%22----1879---1|accessdate=July 21, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=191|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=20 October 1879|volume = 8|page=2}}{{cite news|title=The State Government, Associate Justices|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014381/1880-01-10/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1789&sort=date&date2=1924&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=17&words=D+J+Thornton&proxdistance=5&state=California&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=J.+D.+thornton&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=2|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=Sacramento daily record-union|publisher=Library of Congress Historic Newspapers|date=January 10, 1880|page=3}} In August 1886, former Chief Justice David S. Terry petitioned the Legislature to remove the increasingly ill Morrison from the court.{{cite news|title=Hands Off! Leave the Supreme Court Alone|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18860804.2.29&srpos=36&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22robert+f.+morrison%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 16, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=141|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=4 August 1886|volume = 55|page=4}} In February 1887, Morrison suffered a stroke and died a week later at his rooms at the Occidental Hotel on March 2, 1887.{{cite news|title=Chief Justice Morrison Ill|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18870226.2.91&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22robert+f.+morrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 16, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=13693|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=26 February 1887|volume = 42|page=8}} On April 19, 1887, Governor Washington Bartlett appointed Niles Searls as the next chief justice.{{cite news|title=The New Chief Justice, Niles Searls Appointed to Fill the Vacant Seat|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18870420.2.21&srpos=13&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22robert+f.+morrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 16, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=13746|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=20 April 1887|volume = 42|page=1}}{{cite news|title=Judge Searls is Dead|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SU19070430.2.96&srpos=46&e=-------en--20--41--txt-txIN-%22robert+f.+morrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 16, 2017|work=Sacramento Union|issue=67|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=30 April 1907|page=8|quote=On April 19, 1887, (Searls) accepted from Governor Bartlett the appointment of chief justice of the supreme court, made vacant by the death of Hon. Robert F, Morrison.}}

Personal life

On November 6, 1854, he married Julia Stettinius (September 2, 1832 – December 18, 1895) in St. Louis, Missouri.{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=J. Edward|title=History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1|date=1963|publisher=Bender Moss Co|location=San Francisco, CA|pages=128–130|url=http://library.courtinfo.ca.gov/included/docs/SCJC_Vol_1.pdf|accessdate=August 14, 2017|archive-date=December 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227124913/http://library.courtinfo.ca.gov/included/docs/SCJC_Vol_1.pdf|url-status=dead}}

References

External links

{{cite web|title=Robert F. Morrison|url=http://www.cschs.org/history/california-supreme-court-justices/robert-f-morrison/|publisher=California Supreme Court Historical Society|accessdate=July 6, 2017}}
{{cite web|title=In Memoriam: Robert Francis Morrison|url=http://www.cschs.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CSCHS-Morrison-Memorial.pdf|website=68 Cal. Rpts.|publisher=California Supreme Court Historical Society|accessdate=July 6, 2017|pages=649–654|date=March 3, 1887}}
[http://www.courts.ca.gov/12523.htm Past & Present Justices]. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

Robert F. Morrison

Biography

Personal life

References

External links

See also