Fletcher Mathews Haight (November 28, 1799 – February 23, 1866) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

Education and career

Haight was born in Elmira, New York, on November 28, 1799, to General Samuel S. Haight and Sarah Mathews. Sarah was the daughter of James Mathews of

Orange County, New York Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen. This county was first created in 1683 and reorganized with its present boundaries in 1798. Orange ...

. The Mathews family, which included Haight's great uncles such as namesake Fletcher Mathews as well as New York City Mayor

David Mathews David Mathews ( – July 28, 1800) was an American lawyer and politician from New York City. He was a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War and was the 43rd and last Colonial Mayor of New York City from 1776 until 1783. As New York Cit ...

, were notorious

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

. Haight read law to enter the bar in 1820. He was in private practice from 1820 to 1834 in Bath, New York, and then in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, New York, also serving as Mayor of Rochester. Haight was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1833, and was President of the City Bank of Rochester from 1834 to 1835, thereafter returning to private practice in Rochester until 1846, when he began the first phase of his journey west. He was in private practice in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

from 1846 to 1854. He resumed his travels west and was in private practice in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

from 1854 to 1861.

Federal judicial service

Haight was nominated by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

on August 5, 1861, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Isaac Stockton Keith Ogier. Haight's nomination was made on the advice of Attorney General of the United States

Edward Bates Edward Bates (September 4, 1793 – March 25, 1869) was a lawyer and politician. He represented Missouri in the US House of Representatives and served as the U.S. Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln. A member of the influential ...

.Abraham Lincoln to Edward Bates, August 5, 1861, in
The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln
', Vol. 4 ( Rutgers University Press, 1953), p. 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 August 5, 1861, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on February 23, 1866, due to his death in San Francisco.

Family

Haight's son,

Henry Huntly Haight Henry Huntly Haight (May 20, 1825 – September 2, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician. He was elected the tenth governor of California from December 5, 1867, to December 8, 1871. Early life Childhood and education Haight was of Eng ...

, was the 10th governor of California.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haight, Fletcher Mathews 1799 births 1866 deaths American people of Dutch descent American people of Irish descent Schuyler family Politicians from Elmira, New York New York (state) lawyers Lawyers from San Francisco Members of the New York State Assembly Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California United States federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln 19th-century American judges 19th-century American politicians United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law