Royal Sprague

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Royal Tyler Sprague

| image = Royal T. Sprague, 1870.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption =Sprague in 1870

| order = 11th

| office = Chief Justice of California

| termstart = January 2, 1872

| termend = February 24, 1872

| nominator =

| appointer =

| predecessor = Augustus Rhodes

| successor = William T. Wallace

| office2 = Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California

| termstart2 = January 3, 1867

| termend2 = January 1, 1872

| nominator2 =

| appointer2 = Direct election

| predecessor2 = John Currey

| successor2 = Isaac S. Belcher

| office3 = 4th President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate

| termstart3 = January 1855

| termend3 = December 1855

| nominator3 =

| appointer3 =

| predecessor3 = Benjamin F. Keene

| successor3 = Delos R. Ashley

| birth_date = {{birth date|1814|01|23}}

| birth_place = New Haven, Vermont, US

| death_date = {{death date and age|1872|02|24|1814|01|23}}

| death_place = Sacramento, California, US

| spouse = {{marriage|Francis Blocksom|May 30, 1844}}

}}

Royal Tyler Sprague (January 23, 1814 – February 24, 1872)Sacramento Daily Union, January 1, 1873, State & County Statistics (For the year 1872) was the 11th Chief Justice of California.

Biography

Sprague taught elementary school in Potsdam, New York and later opened a school in Zanesville, Ohio.{{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=104–106|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}} In 1838 he began to study law and was admitted to the bar in Ohio. The finding of gold in the Sierra Nevada prompted Sprague to become a "Forty-Niner". After arriving in California in September 1849, Sprague worked a claim on Clear Creek on the Sacramento River.{{cite news|title=Death of Justice Sprague|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=RRF18720229.2.15&srpos=6&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22royal+t.+sprague%22-------1|accessdate=July 10, 2017|work=Russian River Flag|issue=16|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=29 February 1872|page=2}} He settled in Reading's Springs, now Shasta, California, and once again became an attorney.

In 1852, he was elected to the California State Senate representing the 18th District, and in 1855 served as its President pro tempore.{{cite news|title=The Legislature|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18520106.2.9&srpos=21&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22royal+t.+sprague%22-------1|accessdate=July 10, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=247|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=6 January 1852|volume = 2|page=2}}

In 1867, Sprague was elected to the Supreme Court of California as a Democrat;Appleton's annual Cyclopaedia (1867), Volume 7, 1869. he was chosen to be Chief Justice in January 1872 and died the next month.{{cite news|title=Death of Chief Justice Sprague|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18720226.2.3.2&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22royal+t.+sprague%22-------1|accessdate=July 10, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=7421|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=26 February 1872|volume = 42|page=1}}Old Shasta, Town of Shasta Interpretive Association with Al M. Rocca, 2005, Arcadia Publishing, p. 21{{cite news|title=Appointment of Supreme Judge|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=RRF18720307.2.18&srpos=24&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22royal+t.+sprague%22-------1|accessdate=July 10, 2017|work=Russian River Flag|issue=17|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=7 March 1872|page=2}} He is interred in Sacramento Historic City Cemetery.{{cite web| title=Sacramento Historic City Cemetery Burial Index| publisher=Old City Cemetery Committee| url= http://www.oldcitycemetery.com/images/PDF/CemeteryIndex.pdf| date=2005| accessdate=April 6, 2011}}

A collection of his journals is in the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.[http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ Online Archive of California], Royal T. Sprague journals, collection guide.

Personal life

On, May 30, 1844, he married Francis Blocksom at Muskingum, Ohio. In 1852, Sprague returned to Ohio briefly to retrieve his wife and their family; they returned to California with him. The couple had four children: Anna Maria Sprague (1845–1879); Arthur Hale Sprague (1848–1922); Ella Sprague (1853-1855); and Frances Royal Sprague (1864–1957).[http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/735/files/transcriptshastacemeterytour.pdf Cemetery tour of Shasta] mentioning grave of Ella Sprague. Retrieved July 10, 2017.[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~shastaca/shastafam/d0003/g0000073.html#I06704 Royal Sprague genealogy]. Retrieved July 10, 2017.

References

External links

[http://www.cschs.org/history/california-supreme-court-justices/royal-t-sprague/ In Memoriam Royal T. Sprague]. 43 Cal. Rpts. 3 (1872). California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
[http://www.courts.ca.gov/12523.htm Past & Present Justices]. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

Royal Sprague

Biography

Personal life

References

External links

See also