Warner Cope

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = W. W. Cope.jpg

| order = 6th

| office = Chief Justice of California

| term_start = May 20, 1863

| term_end = January 2, 1864

| predecessor = Stephen J. Field

| successor = Silas W. Sanderson

| office1 = Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court

| term_start1 = September 20, 1859

| term_end1 = May 20, 1863

|appointer1=Governor John B. Weller

| predecessor1 = David S. Terry

| successor1 = Edwin B. Crocker

| pronunciation =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1824|01|31}}

| birth_place =Kentucky, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1903|1|17|1824|1|31}}

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

| death_cause =

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| spouse = {{marriage|Martha Ann Neal|April 19, 1845}}

}}

Warner Walton Cope (January 31, 1824 – January 17, 1903), also known as W. W. Cope, was the sixth Chief Justice of California.

Biography

Born in Kentucky, Cope came to California in 1850 and tried mining, but found little success. In 1853 he resumed work as an attorney, first in El Dorado County and the next year in Jackson, Amador County. In October 1858, he was elected to the California State Assembly from Amador as a Democrat.{{cite news|title=The Next Legislature|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LASTAR18581002.2.21&srpos=127&e=-------en--20--121--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=Los Angeles Star|issue=21|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=2 October 1858|page=2}}

In June 1859 he was nominated by Alvinza Hayward,"Democratic Lecompton Convention, Third Day," Sacramento Daily Union, Vol. 17, Number 2573, June 25, 1859. also of Amador County, to be the candidate of the Democratic Lecompton Party for associate justice of the Supreme Court of California.{{cite news|title=News of the Morning|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18590813.2.8&srpos=58&e=-------en--20--41--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=17|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=13 August 1859|page=3|quote=The remarks made by W. W. Cope, candidate for Supreme Judge, at the Lecompton Mass Meeting}}{{cite news|title=Democratic State Ticket|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=TCR18590813.2.8&srpos=12&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 19, 2017|work=Tulare County Record|issue=8|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=13 August 1859|volume = 1|page=2}} In September 1859, he was elected, but before his term was to begin he was appointed by Governor John B. Weller to fill a vacancy on the court starting September 20, 1859, when David S. Terry resigned to fight a duel.{{cite news|title=W. W. Cope has been appointed by Gov. Weller, as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LASTAR18591001.2.11&srpos=126&e=-------en--20--121--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=Los Angeles Star|issue=21|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=1 October 1859|page=2}}{{cite news|title=Deaths of the Day, W. W. Cope|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19030118.2.46&srpos=56&e=-------en--20--41--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=Los Angeles Herald|issue=106|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=18 January 1903|page=5}}[https://archive.org/stream/baysanfrancisco01compgoog/baysanfrancisco01compgoog_djvu.txt The Bay of San Francisco: The Metropolis of the Pacific Coast, and Its Suburban Cities. A History]. Lewis Publishing Co., 1892. Google Books. Retrieved July 8, 2017 (Stating term start date of September 15, 1859). He became Chief Justice on March 11, 1863, filling the vacancy after President Abraham Lincoln appointed Stephen J. Field to the U.S. Supreme Court.{{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=81–83|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}} Cope himself left the court at the end of that year when a constitutional amendment required new judicial elections.

In 1877, Cope was a judge on the Fourth District Court.{{cite news|title=The Late General John Wilson|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18770204.2.39&srpos=14&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 19, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=20|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=4 February 1877|page=2|quote=The Fourth District Court, on motion of Judge W. W. Cope, adjourned yesterday}} In 1880, he was a delegate to the Democratic Party state convention.{{cite news|title=Alameda County Politics|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18800425.2.12&srpos=38&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=32|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=25 April 1880|page=1}} In 1883, Cope became the California Reporter of Decisions, and in March 1885 was appointed to a four-year term as commissioner of the Supreme Court.{{cite news|title=Supreme Court Commissioners|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18850318.2.17&srpos=16&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=38|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=18 March 1885|page=1}}

After leaving the court, Cope returned to private practice{{cite news|title=The Park Commission|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18891029.2.4&srpos=64&e=-------en--20--61--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=121|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=29 October 1889|volume = 81|page=1|quote=W. W. Cope has been retained, and by consent he will make an argument before Judge Hoge when the case is called}} until about 1893, when he retired to Contra Costa County, where he raised nuts and fruit. He died in San Francisco on January 17, 1903.

Bar activities

From 1880 to 1885, Cope was president of the San Francisco Bar Association.{{cite news|title=Bar Association Officers|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18850112.2.10&srpos=6&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 19, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=38|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=12 January 1885|page=1}}{{cite news|title=In Memoriam|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18821115.2.13&srpos=100&e=-------en--20--81--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=34|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=15 November 1882|page=1|quote=The San Francisco Bar Association met yesterday afternoon, with President W. W. Cope in the chair.}}

Personal life

On April 19, 1845, Cope married Martha Ann Neal in Shelby County, Kentucky.{{cite news|title=Death Lays Claim to an Estimable Lady, Mrs. Martha A. Cope, Wife of Judge W. W. Cope, Passes Away|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19020119.2.230&srpos=17&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=19 January 1902|page=33}} He traveled to California in 1850, and his wife followed in 1856. They had three sons and three daughters.{{cite news|title=Singer for Fabiola Charity to Become Toronto Man's Bride|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19120121.2.110.3&srpos=30&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=52|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=21 January 1912|volume = 111|page=49|quote=Her grandfather was the late Justice W. W. Cope of the supreme court.}} One of his sons, Walter B. Cope, was a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge and a prominent California lawyer in the firm of Morrison, Cope & Brobeck.[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19091206.2.23 "Judge W. B. Cope Called by Death, Former Superior Judge of Santa Barbara County and Well-Known Lawyer Dies"], San Francisco Call 107(6), 6 December 1909. p. 3. California Historical Newspaper Collection. Retrieved July 8, 2017. Like his father, Walter also served as president of the San Francisco Bar Association, from 1906 to 1909.[http://www.sfbar.org/about/past_presidents.aspx BASF Past Presidents] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820035842/http://www.sfbar.org/about/past_presidents.aspx |date=2008-08-20 }}. Retrieved July 8, 2017.

References

External links

{{cite news|title=Speech of W. W. Cope at the Lecompton Mass Meeting|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18590813.2.5&srpos=85&e=-------en--20--81--txt-txIN-%22W.+W.+cope%22-------1|accessdate=July 18, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=17|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=13 August 1859|page=1}}
[http://www.cschs.org/history/california-supreme-court-justices/w-w-cope/ In Memoriam W. W. Cope]. 140 Cal. Rpts. 714 (1904). 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.