Jeremiah Francis Sullivan (August 19, 1851 – January 23, 1928) was 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 ...

from November 22, 1926, to January 3, 1927.Jeremiah F. Sullivan In Memoriam
201 Cal. Rpts. 775 (1928). Retrieved July 18, 2017.

Biography

Sullivan was born in New Canaan, Connecticut, one of eight children of Michael M. Sullivan and Margaret Bohane. In 1863, the family moved to the

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Sullivan graduated from

St. Ignatius College Preparatory St. Ignatius College Preparatory, commonly referred to as SI, is a private, Catholic preparatory school in the Jesuit tradition, serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 1855. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, in the Su ...

, and in 1870, received both

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and M.A. degrees from St. Ignatius College. After graduation, he

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

with the law office of Winans & Belknap to enter the bar on January 13, 1874. He then practiced in the firm of Meighan & Sullivan, and in 1877 sat on the San Francisco Board of Education. On September 2, 1879, Sullivan was elected as a judge of the

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

under the new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, and was re-elected in 1884. Among his notable cases is common law marriage and divorce case of

Sarah Althea Hill Sarah Althea Hill (March 26, 1850 – February 14, 1937) was a socialite, mistress, and mentally unstable woman with a history of violent behavior who became a national celebrity when she sued millionaire Senator William Sharon for divorce, citing ...

against Senator William Sharon of Nevada. Sullivan ruled the marriage existed and ordered a property settlement. Former Chief Justice

David S. Terry David Smith Terry (March 8, 1823 – August 14, 1889) was an American politician and jurist who served as the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court of California; he was an author of the state's 1879 Constitution. Terry won a duel aga ...

, who married Hill in 1886, then accused Sullivan in the press of taking a bribe to sway the case, which Sullivan disputed. He served on the trial bench until August 1, 1889, and then re-entered private practice with this brother, Matt I. Sullivan. Sullivan's brother had previously served as Chief Justice of California, the only instance where siblings have served on that court.Johnson, J. Edward (1966), State Bar of California, "Matt I. Sullivan",
History of the Supreme Court Justices of California, 1900–1950
''. San Francisco, CA: Bancroft-Whitney. p. 33-35. Retrieved July 18, 2017 In 1883, he served as the presiding judge of the Superior Court. In November 1886, Sullivan ran for the position of Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court under the

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, but lost to Van R. Paterson. On November 6, 1888, Sullivan ran again for the Supreme Court and narrowly lost the election to

John D. Works John Downey Works (March 29, 1847June 6, 1928) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a U.S. Senator representing California from 1911 to 1917, and an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from October 2, 1888, to January 5, 1 ...

. In December 1891, he was elected president of the Young Men's Democratic League. In 1920 to 1921, Sullivan led the effort to reform the Police Courts in San Francisco and remove unfit judges. On November 22, 1926, Governor

Friend Richardson Friend William Richardson (born William Richardson; December 1, 1865September 6, 1943) was an American newspaper publisher and politician, most famous for supporting a 1923 gun control bill aimed at Chinese and Latinos. A member of the Progressiv ...

appointed Sullivan to a vacancy left by the July 1926 death of

William P. Lawlor William Patrick Lawlor (September 17, 1854 – July 24, 1926) was an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from January 3, 1915, to July 25, 1926. Biography Lawlor was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, on September 17 ...

. On January 3, 1927, Sullivan gave up the seat to the election winner, William Langdon. After stepping down from the court, Sullivan returned to private practice with this brother, along with former Governor

Hiram W. Johnson Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866August 6, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 23rd governor of California from 1911 to 1917. Johnson achieved national prominence in the early 20th century. He was elected in 191 ...

, Theodore Roche, and Edward I. Barry.

Bar activities

Sullivan was president of the San Francisco Bar Association from 1917 to 1924, and of the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

during 1923–1924. He was among the earliest advocates for the creation of an integrated state bar as it took shape in 1917.

Honors and awards

In 1905, St. Ignatius College conferred the honorary degree of LL.D. on Sullivan. In September 1912, when St. Ignatius began its law school, Sullivan lectured in law while his brother, Matt, became the school's dean.

Personal life

On September 13, 1876, Sullivan married Helen M. Bliss in San Francisco, and they had five children. She died December 30, 1918. Sullivan died at his home on January 23, 1928. A grandson, Robert P. Sullivan, was a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (class of 1936), and a San Francisco County Superior Court judge from 1961 to 1971.

References

External links

Jeremiah F. Sullivan
California Supreme Court Historical Society. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Jeremiah F. 1851 births 1927 deaths St. Ignatius College Prep alumni University of San Francisco alumni U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Superior court judges in the United States Justices of the Supreme Court of California Lawyers from San Francisco 20th-century American judges 19th-century American judges People from New Canaan, Connecticut 19th-century American lawyers