George P. Stiles (1814 – September 1, 1885) was a justice of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of the Utah Territory from 1854 to 1857. In the 1840s, Stiles had been a prominent Mormon, and had been among the advisers who encouraged

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

to destroy the press of the anti-polygamy newspaper, the ''Espositor'', in 1844.Michael Schelling Durham, ''Desert Between the Mountains: Mormons, Miners, Padres, Mountain Men, and the Opening of the Great Basin, 1772-1869'' (1997), p. 204.Norman F. Furniss, ''Mormon Conflict: 1850-1859'' (2005), p. 57-59. This act led to Smith's arrest, and his murder while in custody. Stiles later became an apostate from that group, and was excommunicated by them, setting up a significant conflict when Stiles was later appointed by President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

to the territorial supreme court in Utah.William Nester, ''The Age of Lincoln and the Art of American Power, 1848-1876'' (2014), p. 82. Stiles began his travel to

Carson Valley Douglas County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of th2020 Census the population was 49,488. Its county seat is Minden. Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ranchos, NV Micropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

in the Spring of 1854, in the company of

Orson Hyde Orson Hyde (January 8, 1805 – November 28, 1878) was a leader in the early Latter Day Saint movement and a member of the first Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus ...

and United States Marshal Heywood, the three arriving there in June.Orson Ferguson Whitney, ''History of Utah'' (1892), p. 541. Upon arriving in Utah, Stiles succeeded Associate Justice

Zerubbabel Snow Zerubbabel Snow (March 29, 1809 – September 27, 1888) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, a Mormon pioneer, and a Supreme Court Justice and Attorney General of the Territory of Utah. Biography Snow was born in St. Johnsbu ...

, whose term of office expired in 1854. Stiles, Hyde, and Heywood "were empowered by the Utah Legislature to meet with a similar commission from California, and establish in the Carson Valley region the boundary line between that State and this Territory". Once this was done, the three organized Carson County. Stiles clashed with the Mormon population, seeking to dismantle legal structures that they had erected to avoid scrutiny from the federal government. On December 29, 1856, amidst a conflict with Mormon lawyers, Stiles "had his office raided and certain of his personal papers burned".Utah State Institute of Fine Arts, ''Utah: A Guide to the State'' (1941), p. 69. In 1857, Stiles returned to Washington, D.C., and informed the government their that the Mormon population of Utah was effectively in a state of rebellion. A genealogist of the Stiles family suggests that he "was probably the Geo. P. Stiles who bore a good record as First Lieutenant of the Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Regiment, from August, 1861, to Dec. 15, 1864", during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

.Henry Reed Stiles, ''The Stiles Family in America: Genealogies of the Connecticut Family'' (1895), p. 454. After the war, Stiles "held an office in one of the Governmental Departments, at Washington, D. C.", before eventually moving to Belton, Texas, where he died.

Personal life

Stiles married J. K. Hollister of New York, with whom he had four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiles, George P. Justices of the Utah Supreme Court 1814 births 1885 deaths American Latter Day Saints United States Article I federal judges appointed by Franklin Pierce