William Story (April 4, 1843 – June 20, 1921) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas The United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas (in case citations, W.D. Ark.) is a federal court in the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appeale ...

and later the seventh

lieutenant governor of Colorado The lieutenant governor of Colorado is the second-highest-ranking member of the executive department of the Government of Colorado, United States, below the governor of Colorado. The lieutenant governor of Colorado, who acts as governor of Colorad ...

, serving from 1891 to 1893 under

Governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either app ...

John Long Routt John Long Routt (April 25, 1826 – August 13, 1907) was an Americans, American politician of the Republican Party. Born in Eddyville, Kentucky, he served as the List of governors of Colorado, first and seventh governor of Colorado from 1876 to ...

Education and career

Born in

Waukesha County Waukesha County () is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 406,978, making it the third-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its county seat and largest city is Waukesha. Waukesha Co ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, Story graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1864. He joined the 39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment of the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

as a sergeant and served from 1864 to 1865. He was in private practice in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, Wisconsin from 1865 to 1866, and in Fayetteville,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

from 1866 to 1867. He was a judge of the Circuit Court of Arkansas for the Second Judicial Circuit Court of Arkansas from 1867 to 1871, sitting as a "special chief justice" of the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...

in 1869.

Federal judicial service

Story was nominated by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

on March 3, 1871, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 16 Stat. 471. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on March 3, 1871, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on June 17, 1874, due to his resignation.

Circumstances of his resignation

Congress investigated Story in 1874 for, among other things, inordinately large undocumented court expenditures and for allowing bail for persons convicted of capital crimes while they were awaiting sentence.The committee compared expenditures for the entire state for the three years before the Civil War with expenditures in the Western District for the three years after its creation in 1871, which corresponded with Story’s stewardship as district judge. From 1858 through 1860, the average expenditure per year was $20,000 for the entire state. Under Story’s tenure the expenditures for the Western District alone averaged more than $241,000 per year. ''Arkanasas Gazette'', June 9, 1874. The House committee found that Story’s testimony was “lame, disconnected and unsatisfactory.” Within the month after publication of the committee investigation and report in the ''Arkansas Gazette'', Story resigned and moved to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Later career and death

Story then moved to

, settling first in

, in 1877, and then moving to Ouray. He built up a large law practice, and during his first ten years in practice he served as attorney for the City and County of Denver. He had other interests in mining, banking, building of roads and railroads (Rio Grande Southern). He served as the

from 1891 to 1893. In 1913, he moved to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

where he established a law practice, Story & Steigmeyer. He then relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

where he died in 1921.

Note

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Story, William 1843 births 1921 deaths Arkansas state court judges Chief Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court Colorado Republicans Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas Lawyers from Milwaukee Lieutenant Governors of Colorado People from Waukesha County, Wisconsin People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War United States federal judges appointed by Ulysses S. Grant 19th-century American judges University of Michigan alumni People from Ouray, Colorado Union Army non-commissioned officers Arkansas Republicans Utah Republicans California Republicans