William Richard Gorsline (January 28, 1824March 30, 1879) was an associate justice of the Colorado Territorial

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

from 1866 to 1870. He previously served as a circuit court judge in Wisconsin and a district judge in Colorado.

Early life

Gorsline was born in

Manlius, New York Manlius is a town in Onondaga County, east of the city of Syracuse, New York, United States. The population was 33,712 at the 2020 census, making it the third largest suburb in metropolitan Syracuse. In 2005, the town was ranked 98th on CNN's ...

, on January 28, 1824. He was orphaned and an uncle raised him. He did well in school and began studying law in his hometown. In 1845, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory, and continued studying law with Frank Randall and was admitted to the bar later that year. He then opened up his own law office in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. In 1845 and 1846, he served as the register of deeds for

Sheboygan County Sheboygan County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is named after the Sheboygan River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 118,034. Its county seat is Sheboygan. The county was created in 1836 and organized in 1846. At th ...

. From 1850 to 1851, he served as a county judge in Sheboygan County. Then from about 1851 to July 1858, he served as the third judge of the fourth judicial circuit of the state of Wisconsin. At that time, he resigned and moved to Colorado.

Career in Colorado

In Colorado, Gorsline settled in Gilpin County and established a law practice. In 1860,

President James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

appointed him district judge, a position to which

President Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

later reappointed him. On June 18, 1866, President Johnson appointed him to serve as an associate justice of the

of the

Territory of Colorado The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the w ...

. He served on the court until 1870.

Death

Gorsline died in Denver on March 2, 1879. He is buried in Wildwood Cemetery in Sheboygan."Personal", ''The Oshkosh Northwestern'' (March 5, 1879), p. 4.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorsline, William R. 1824 births 1879 deaths People from Manlius, New York People from Sheboygan, Wisconsin People from Central City, Colorado U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Justices of the Colorado Supreme Court County officials in Wisconsin Wisconsin circuit court judges Colorado Territory officials Colorado lawyers Road incident deaths in Colorado 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers