John Langdon Rand (October 28, 1861 – November 19, 1942) was an American politician and jurist in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He served as the 22nd Chief Justice of the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, he served in the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

prior to his judicial career.

Early life

John Rand was born October 28, 1861, in

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

, to John Sullivan Rand and the former Elvira Wallis Odiorne.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. John junior was educated in Portsmouth and attended Smith Preparatory School there before enrolling at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

. Rand graduated from Dartmouth in 1883 and moved to

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two su ...

where he was a professor at

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Whitman was the first college in the Pacifi ...

until 1885. That year he was accepted in Washington's, then still a territory,

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

.Colmer, Montagu, and

Charles Erskine Scott Wood Charles Erskine Scott Wood or C.E.S. Wood (February 20, 1852January 22, 1944) was an American author, civil liberties advocate, artist, soldier, attorney, and Georgist. He is best known as the author of the 1927 satirical bestseller, ''Heavenly D ...

. ''History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon''. Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co, 1910. p. 85.

Legal career

Then in 1886 he moved to

Baker City, Oregon Baker City is a city in and the county seat of Baker County, Oregon, United States. It was named after Edward D. Baker, the only U.S. Senator ever killed in military combat. The population was 10,099 at the time of the 2020 census. History Pl ...

, and was accepted into the

Oregon State Bar The Oregon State Bar Association (OSBA) is a public corporation and instrumentality of the Oregon Judicial Department in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1890 as the private Oregon Bar Association, it became a public entity in 1935 that regulat ...

and began serving as that city's attorney until 1888. From 1888 to 1890 he served as the county’s district attorney. Then in 1902 he was elected to a four-year term as a Republican to the

representing

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

, Harney, and Malheur counties.Oregon Legislative Assembly (22nd) 1903 Regular Session.
Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on January 22, 2008. After his stint in the Senate, Rand returned to private law practice. On October 18, 1921, John Rand was appointed by

Oregon Governor The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...

Ben W. Olcott Ben Wilson Olcott (October 15, 1872July 21, 1952) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 16th Governor of Oregon. Early life Olcott was born in Keithsburg, Illinois. He was educated at a Keithsburg elementary ...

to replace justice Henry L. Benson on the Oregon Supreme Court after Benson died in office.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon – Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 22, 2008.Oregon State Archives: Oregon Governor's Records Guides.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 22, 2008. He won a full six-year term in the 1922 elections, and was re-elected in 1928, 1934, and 1940. While on the bench of the state supreme court he served as chief justice from 1927 to 1929, 1933 to 1935, and 1939 to 1941 before dying in office on November 19, 1942. Rand was involved in a prolonged legal and political controversy in the late 1920s. The controversy began with a complex legal battle over the estate of E. Henry Wemme, a wealthy immigrant to Oregon. One attorney in the case, former state senator

George W. Joseph George W. P. Joseph (May 10, 1872 – June 17, 1930) was an attorney and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of California, his family relocated to Oregon when he was young. There he would practice law and serve in the Or ...

, accused opposing counsel Thomas Mannix of engaging in a mining deal with Justice Rand, while the case was being heard. Ultimately both Joseph and Mannix were disbarred, prompting Joseph to successfully seek the Republican nomination for

Governor of Oregon The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...

Family

On July 23, 1895, Rand married Edith G. Packwood, and they had two sons. Edith was the daughter of William H. Packwood who served at the

Oregon Constitutional Convention The Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857 drafted the Oregon Constitution in preparation for the Oregon Territory to become a U.S. state. Held from mid-August through September, 60 men met in Salem, Oregon, and created the foundation for Oregon ...

in 1857.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, John L. 1942 deaths 1861 births Dartmouth College alumni Oregon state senators Chief Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Politicians from Baker City, Oregon Politicians from Portsmouth, New Hampshire District attorneys in Oregon Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court

Early life

Legal career

Family

See also

References