Edgar Ward Schwellenbach (March 16, 1887 – September 22, 1957) was a justice of the

Washington Supreme Court The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the ...

from 1946 to 1957, serving as chief justice in 1951 and 1952. Schwellenbach graduated from the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

in 1924 and gained

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in Washington the following year. He practiced law in

Port Angeles, Washington Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. With a population of 19,960 as of the 2020 census, it is the largest city in the county. The population was estimated at 20,134 in 2021. The city's har ...

for two years, and then moved to

Ephrata, Washington Ephrata ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Washington, United States. Its population was 8,477 at the 2020 census. History Ephrata was officially incorporated on June 21, 1909 and was given the county seat for the newly creat ...

. Schwellenbach was the prosecuting attorney for

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana *Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant Co ...

from 1931 to 1939, and was a superior court judge for Grant and Douglas Counties from 1939 to 1946. On September 1, 1946, Governor

Arthur B. Langlie Arthur Bernard Langlie (July 25, 1900 – July 24, 1966) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Seattle, Washington and was the 12th and 14th governor of the U.S. state of Washington from 1941 to 1945 and 1949 to 1957. To date ...

appointed Schwellenbach to a seat on the Washington Supreme Court vacated by the retirement of Justice Bruce Blake. Schwellenbach was subsequently reelected, serving until his death."State Supreme Court Justice Schwellenbach Dies Sunday At 70", ''Port Angeles Evening News'' (September 23, 1957), p. 6. At the time of his death, Schwellenbach had already announced his intent to retire that year. He died two weeks after having surgery, from which he had appeared to recover successfully. Schwellenbach was the brother of Senator

Lewis B. Schwellenbach Lewis Baxter Schwellenbach (September 20, 1894 – June 10, 1948) was a United States senator from Washington, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and the 5th United States Secr ...

."Schwellenbach Succumbs at 70", ''The Spokesman-Review'' (September 23, 1957), p. 1.

References

Justices of the Washington Supreme Court {{Washington-state-judge-stub