Milton John Helmick (1885–1954) was Attorney General of New Mexico from 1923 to 1925, a judge in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

from 1925 to 1934, and the judge of the

United States Court for China The United States Court for China was a United States district court that had extraterritorial jurisdiction over U.S. citizens in China. It existed from 1906 to 1943 and had jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters, with appeals taken to the U ...

from 1934 to 1943.

Early life

Milton John Helmick was a native of Colorado. Helmick attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and then took a law degree from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

in 1910.

Career

Milton John Helmick served as Attorney General of New Mexico from 1923 to 1925 and from 1925 to 1934 as judge for the 2nd District of

. In 1934, Helmick was appointed to a 10-year term as the Judge for the

in Shanghai, China replacing

Milton D. Purdy Milton Dwight Purdy (November 3, 1866 – February 11, 1937) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota and later was a Judge of the United States Court for China. Education and career B ...

. On December 8, 1941, Japanese troops occupied the United States consulate in Shanghai where the court was based. Helmick was interned for about half a year before being repatriated to America. His appointment as judge formally came to an end in May 1943 after the Treaty for Relinquishment of Extraterritorial Rights in China was ratified. Helmick returned to China in 1944 to study the new Chinese legal system to prepare for dealing with the system after the defeat of Japan. Helmick then worked for the

Standard Vacuum Oil Company The Standard Vacuum Oil Company was an American joint venture by Standard Oil of New Jersey and Socony-Vacuum Oil (aka Mobil) established in 1931 to make and market products in the Far East.Drucker, Peters F. Management, p. 724. Around World War I, ...

in Shanghai from 1945 to 1951. In 1953, Helmick was appointed Judge of the United States Consular Court for Casablanca and Tangiers where he tried one of the few cases of

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

against an American citizen in the 20th Century.

Retirement and death

Helmick retired in January 1954 and died in San Francisco in October 1954 at the age of 69.Albuquerque Journal, November 3, 1954

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helmick, Milton 1954 deaths Judges of the United States Court for China New Mexico attorneys general 20th-century American judges Stanford University alumni University of Denver alumni 1885 births United States district court judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt

Early life

Career

Retirement and death

Further reading

References