Isaac Atwater (May 3, 1818 – December 22, 1906) was an American jurist.

Biography

Born in

Homer, New York Homer is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Cortland County, New York, Cortland County, New York (state), New York, United States of America. The population was 6,405 at the 2010 census. The name is from the Greek literature, Gr ...

, Atwater graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and then received his law degree from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

. Atwater was admitted to the New York bar in 1848. In 1850, Atwater moved to St. Anthony,

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota and wester ...

, and continued to practice law. Atwater owned and published the newspaper ''St. Anthony Express''. He helped establish the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

while sitting on the board of regents. Atwater served on the Minneapolis City Council and the board of education. He also helped incorporate a business that would build the first bridge between Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Atwater served on the

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the Supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court wa ...

from 1858 to 1864. Atwater also wrote about the history of Minnesota. Atwater died in Minneapolis, Minnesota.''Minnesota Reports-Minnesota Supreme Court Cases July 20-December 28, 1906'', volume 99, "Proceedings in Memory of Associate Justices Young and Atwater", pp. XVI–XXII

Publications

''History of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Part I''
(1893)
''History of the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Part II''
(1893)

Notes

1818 births 1906 deaths People from Homer, New York Politicians from Minneapolis Yale Law School alumni New York (state) lawyers Writers from New York (state) Writers from Minneapolis Editors of Minnesota newspapers School board members in Minnesota Minneapolis City Council members Justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court Lawyers from Minneapolis 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges {{Minnesota-politician-stub