George Washington French (1823 – December 8, 1887)A Distinguished Thomaston Man Dead
, ''The Portland Daily Press'' (December 12, 1887), p. 1. was a justice of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court from 1869 to 1873.

Life and career

Born in Thomaston, Maine,Nubs of News
, ''The Bismarck Tribune'' (December 31, 1887), p. 1. French began his career of public service as a county clerk in Maine. In 1869, Dr. Burleigh, a longtime friend of both French and President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

secured the appointment of French as chief justice of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court, to succeed

Ara Bartlett Ara Bartlett (born Bethany, Pennsylvania, 1825 – died Harper, Kansas, November 17, 1883) was an American lawyer and judge who was the second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Dakota Territory. Bartlett moved to Kankakee, Illinois in 185 ...

. His tenure yielded an unflattering anecdote in

Doane Robinson Jonah LeRoy "Doane" Robinson (October 19, 1856 – November 27, 1946Hoover, Herbert T., & Larry J. Zimmerman (eds.). 1989. ''South Dakota Leaders: From Pierre Chouteau, Jr., to Oscar Howe''. Vermillion: University of South Dakota Press, p. 4 ...

's ''History of South Dakota'':Doane Robinson, ''History of South Dakota'', Vol. I (1904)
Chapter LXXVIII
p. 463-469. On March 15, 1873, President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

nominated French for a second term on the territorial supreme court, but withdrew the nomination within days and instead nominated Alanson H. Barnes to the seat. Following his service in the Dakota Territory, French served as Secretary of the Territory of Wyoming from 1875 to 1879, and later returned to Thomaston, Maine to practice law. An 1880 report erroneously identified French as having been appointed chief justice of Arizona, the appointee actually having been

C. G. W. French Charles Grafton Wilberton French (August 22, 1820 – August 13, 1891) was an American jurist and politician. Raised and educated in New England, he moved to California and served a two-year term in the California State Assembly. French followed ...

.Old Necessity
, ''Black Hills Weekly Pioneer'' (February 7, 1880), p. 1.

Personal life and death

French died after a short illness at the residence of Oliver E. Copeland, in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, at the age of 64. French had travelled there three weeks earlier to spend the winter, his wife and son having stayed in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, George W. 1823 births 1887 deaths People from Thomaston, Maine Justices of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court United States Article I federal judges appointed by Andrew Johnson Wyoming Territory officials