Olin Hatfield "Chilly" Chilson (November 22, 1903 – September 28, 1991) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Colorado The United States District Court for the District of Colorado (in case citations, D. Colo. or D. Col.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ap ...

Education and career

Born on November 22, 1903, in

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo County, Colorado ...

, Chilson received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1927 from the University of Colorado Law School. At Colorado, he played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and was captain of the

1925 Colorado Silver and Gold football team The 1925 Colorado Silver and Gold football team was an American football team that represented the University of Colorado as a member of the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) during the 1925 college football season. In its sixth season under head ...

. He was also captain of the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

teams at Colorado. Chilson entered private practice in

La Jara, Colorado La Jara is a statutory town in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The population was 818 at the 2010 United States Census. Geography La Jara is in the San Luis Valley region of Colorado. U.S. Route 285 passes through La Jara, leading nor ...

in 1927, practicing in Greeley, from 1927 to 1928, and in Loveland, from 1928 to 1954. He was a district attorney for the Eighth Judicial District of Colorado from 1940 to 1948. He was an Assistant Secretary of the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

from 1956 to 1957. He was Undersecretary of the United States Department of the Interior from 1957 to 1958. He returned to private practice in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado from 1958 to 1960.

Federal judicial service

Chilson was nominated by President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

on February 19, 1960, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

William Lee Knous William Lee Knous (February 2, 1889 – December 12, 1959) was an American attorney serving as Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, the 31st Governor of Colorado and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for ...

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on March 1, 1960, and received his commission on March 5, 1960. He was a member of the

Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...

from 1970 to 1973. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on December 31, 1973. His service terminated on September 28, 1991, due to his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilson, Olin Hatfield 1903 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American judges American football quarterbacks Colorado Buffaloes baseball players Colorado Buffaloes football players Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball players District attorneys in Colorado Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado United States district court judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower United States Department of the Interior officials University of Colorado Law School alumni Sportspeople from Pueblo, Colorado Players of American football from Colorado Baseball players from Colorado Basketball players from Colorado