John McCourt (February 26, 1874 – September 12, 1924) was an American attorney 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 51st 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.United States District Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the District of Oregon. A native of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, he was also a state court judge and member of the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of the ...

Early life

John McCourt was born on February 26, 1874 in Listowel, Ontario, Canada.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. His parents, James McCourt and Emma Farnscomb, and the rest of the family moved to California when John was young. There he received his primary education before he moved to

in 1890. In Oregon he attended

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

in the literary department.Last Names -- Mcb to Mcm.
Salem Pioneer Cemetery. Retrieved on January 22, 2008. He then switched to the

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

where he graduated in 1896 and began practicing law in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

. He passed the

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 ...

in June 1896.

Legal career

In 1898, McCourt was elected and served as a Republican from

Marion County, Oregon Marion County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. The population was 345,920 at the 2020 census, making it the fifth-most populous county in Oregon. The county seat is Salem, which is also the state capital of Oregon. The ...

in the

during a special session. He returned the following year for the regular legislative assembly. McCourt then moved to

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

in 1900 where he practiced law in Pendleton until 1908. On March 17, 1908 he was appointed as United States Attorney for the District of Oregon and served in Portland, Oregon until 1913 when he entered private practice. In November 1918 he was appointed as circuit judge for

Multnomah County, Oregon Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thou ...

. On October 8, 1921,

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 ...

appointed him to the state supreme court to replace Charles A. Johns.Oregon State Archives: Governor's Records Guides.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 22, 2008.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 22, 2008. McCourt then won election to a full six-year term in 1922, but died in office on September 12, 1924. He died in Salem of septic poisoning from an infection of the teeth and is buried at the

Salem Pioneer Cemetery Salem Pioneer Cemetery (also known as the I.O.O.F. Cemetery or Oddfellows Cemetery) is a cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States. Overview Salem Pioneer Cemetery is one of two historic cemeteries located next to each other at the intersection ...

Family

His father was born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and his mother in

. John McCourt married on June 28, 1898 to Vera Boothby. The couple had two boys together. McCourt is buried in Salem’s Pioneer Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCourt, John Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Oregon state court judges 1874 births 1924 deaths Members of the Oregon House of Representatives Willamette University College of Law alumni Burials at Salem Pioneer Cemetery Politicians from Salem, Oregon United States Attorneys for the District of Oregon Lawyers from Salem, Oregon 19th-century American lawyers