Hugh Campbell Murray (April 22, 1825 – September 18, 1857) was an American lawyer and the third

Chief Justice 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 ...

Biography

Murray was born in

St Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

before his family moved to

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the ...

when he was a child. Little is known of his schooling except that he almost certainly studied Latin. In 1846 he began studying at the law firm of N.D. Strong in Alton.Whittlesey (1941) p. 365. On March 8, 1847, following the outbreak of the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 14th Infantry Regiment. After the end of the war he resigned his commission on March 31, 1848, and returned to Alton to study. After completing his studies he was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

and moved to California, where he gained a large circle of friends and a lucrative practice as a lawyer. On January 8, 1850, at the age of 24, he was elected a member of the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

ayuntamiento ''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain: * ca, ajuntament (). * gl, concello (). * eu, udaletxea (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin Amer ...

(town council), and continued to work as a lawyer. On April 20, 1850, he was made a Judge of the

San Francisco Superior Court The Superior Court of California of the County of San Francisco is the Superior Courts of California, state superior court with jurisdiction over the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco. History In 1976 the Court helped to create the ...

. On October 11, 1851, at the age of 26, he was made an associate justice 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 ...

, the youngest ever appointed.Whittlesey (1941) p. 366. In March 1852, upon the resignation of

Henry A. Lyons Henry Augustus Lyons (October 5, 1809 – July 27, 1872) was the second Chief Justice of California, appointed to the court by the California State Legislature at the formation of the state. He was the first Jewish justice on the court. Ba ...

, he became Chief Justice at the age of 27, the youngest ever Chief Justice of California.Whittlesey (1941) p. 367. He was subsequently elected to another term as chief justice. As Chief Justice, his annual salary in 1854 was US$8,000. As Chief Justice, he was noted for his dislike of changing the law through his decisions and for his irascible temper. Having heard that a man had called him "the meanest Chief Justice ever," Murray found the man and beat him with his cane.Whittlesey (1941) p. 368. He was consequently fined by the city recorder of Sacramento the sum of $50 plus costs. Murray wrote the majority opinion of the court in '' People v. Hall'', 4 Cal. 399 (1854), which Charles J. McClain describes as "containing some of the most offensive racial rhetoric to be found in the annals of California appellate jurisprudence." On September 18, 1857, he died in office of

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

.Whittlesey (1941) p. 370. He is interred in

Sacramento Historic City Cemetery The Sacramento Historic City Cemetery (or Old City Cemetery), located at 1000 Broadway, at 10th Street, is the oldest existing cemetery in Sacramento, California, Sacramento, California. It was designed to resemble a Victorian garden and sect ...

. In the October 1857 election,

Stephen Johnson Field Stephen Johnson Field (November 4, 1816 – April 9, 1899) was an American jurist. He was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from May 20, 1863, to December 1, 1897, the second longest tenure of any justice. Prior to this ap ...

was elected to fill his seat.

Civic activities

He was a member of the

Society of California Pioneers The Society of California Pioneers, established in 1850, is dedicated to the study and enjoyment of California art, history, and culture. Founded by individuals arriving in California before 1850 and thriving under the leadership of several gener ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Hugh C. Murray In Memoriam
8 Cal. Rpts. iii (1857). California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved July 18, 2017.

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Hugh 1825 births 1857 deaths American military personnel of the Mexican–American War 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Chief Justices of California Justices of the Supreme Court of California Superior court judges in the United States People from Alton, Illinois Lawyers from San Francisco Lawyers from St. Louis United States Army officers U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American judges Tuberculosis deaths in California 19th-century American lawyers Military personnel from Illinois

Biography

Civic activities

See also

References

Bibliography

External links