Solomon P. McCurdy

{{Short description|American judge (1820–1890)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}

Solomon P. McCurdy (1820–1890){{Cite web|url=https://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/toc/fy0707/83198831.html|title=A compendium of documents pertaining to the McCurdy family of Kentucky and Utah|website=catdir.loc.gov|access-date=January 26, 2023}} was a justice of the Supreme Court of the Utah Territory from 1864 to 1868.{{cite web|url=https://archives.utah.gov/research/agencyhistories/868.html |title=Supreme Court: Agency History #868|publisher=Utah Division of Archives and Records Service|access-date=January 26, 2023}}

A record of the collected papers of Abraham Lincoln noted that "Lincoln's endorsement is written on a letter from Austin A. King and others, January 5, 1864, recommending Judge Solomon P. McCurdy of Missouri" for the Utah territorial supreme court.{{Cite web|url=http://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln7|title=Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7.|first=Abraham|last=Lincoln|date=January 26, 2001}} Lincoln nominated McCurdy to the seat, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on April 21, 1864."From Washington", The Portland Daily Press (April 22, 1864), p. 3. In 1868, President Andrew Johnson sought to elevate McCurdy to chief justice of the court, but the nomination was rejected by the Senate."Nominations Rejected by the Senate", Daily Missouri Republican (July 28, 1868), p. 3.

McCurdy thereafter remained in Utah. In June 1874, a newspaper reported an altercation in which a drunken soldier attacked McCurdy, described in the report as "an elderly and very inoffensive gentleman", and threw him into a ditch. Locals interceded to apprehend the soldier and take him to be locked up, and McCurdy was not seriously injured."A Well Known Citizen Brutalized by a Soldier", Deseret News (June 11, 1874), p. 3.

McCurdy had a son, William N. McCurdy, who was a star player for the Corinne Base Ball Club in 1869, and one of only a handful of non-Mormon players on the team.Larry R. Gerlach, "[https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume52_1984_number2/s/143349 The Best in the West? Corinne, Utah's First Baseball Champions]", Utah Historical Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 2 (1984), p. 123.