Augustus Loring Rhodes (May 25, 1821 – October 23, 1918) was the 10th Chief Justice of California.

Biography

Educated at Hamilton College, Rhodes studied law and then moved to Bloomfield, Indiana, being admitted to the bar there in 1846. He served one term as the prosecuting attorney for the circuit court (1849), and departed for California in 1854. Settling in San Jose, he became

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

in 1859 and then

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

for the

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in 1860. In 1863, a constitutional amendment meant all of the seats of the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

were open for election. In October 1863, Rhodes was elected to the

, and served from January 2, 1864, until 1880. He served as the 10th Chief Justice from 1870 to 1872. His first term expired January 1, 1872, and the Court referred the issue of whether he would continue to serve as Chief Justice to a panel of three San Francisco attorneys. They decided that Article 6, Section 3, of the 1862 state Constitution required the justice with the shortest remaining term to serve, and so

Royal Sprague Royal Tyler Sprague (January 23, 1814 – February 24, 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. In 1838 he began to study la ...

replaced Rhodes as chief justice. In October 1871, Rhodes was elected to a ten-year term. A new Constitution adopted in 1879 required elections for all Supreme Court positions. In 1879, he ran for Chief Justice but lost to

Robert F. Morrison 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. Biography Morrison was born on August 16, 1826, in Kaskaskia, Illinois. He serve ...

. From 1899 to 1907, he served as a Superior Court judge in Santa Clara County. The vacancy on the trial bench caused by Rhodes's retirement (at the age of 88) was filled by

John E. Richards John Evan Richards (July 7, 1856 – June 25, 1932) was an American attorney who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California, California Supreme Court from 1924 until 1932. Biography Richards was born on July 7, 1856, t ...

. Rhodes remained active to an advanced age; he gave an address at the annual convention of the California Bar Association in June 1918, four months before his death at the age of 97.

Personal life

On September 30, 1846, Rhodes married Elizabeth Greene Cavins (April 7, 1829 – December 25, 1901), a judge's daughter in

Greene County, Indiana Greene County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 33,165. The county seat is Bloomfield. The county was determined by the US Census Bureau to include the mean center of U.S. population in 1930. History Gree ...

. They had six children: Mary Rhodes (Barstow) (born 1848), who married the son of her father's law partner; James H. Rhodes (born 1849); Samuel R. Rhodes (born 1854), who became a doctor; Margaret Rhodes (1857-1870); Edward Livingston Rhodes (1860-1945), who joined his father's law firm of Rhodes & Barstow after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, and later served as a justice of the peace in Chino, California; and Augusta E. Rhodes (born 1868).

References

External links

Augustus L. Rhodes
California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved July 18, 2017.

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Augustus L. 1821 births 1918 deaths People from Oneida County, New York People from Bloomfield, Indiana People from San Jose, California U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Justices of the Supreme Court of California Chief Justices of California 19th-century American judges 20th-century American judges Superior court judges in the United States District attorneys in California Republican Party California state senators Indiana lawyers

Biography

Personal life

References

External links

See also