Niles Searls (December 22, 1825April 27, 1907) was an attorney, politician, and the 14th Chief Justice of California.

Early years

Searls, whose last name is also sometimes spelled as Searles, was born in

Coeymans, New York Coeymans is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 7,256 in the 2020 census, a decline from 7,418 at the 2010 census. The town is named after an early settler, who was the patent-holder for the area. The town is i ...

. His father, Abraham Searls (born 1802), of English descent, worked as a farmer. His mother, Lydia Niles, was of Scottish descent. Searles had three brothers, Wilson (born 1823), John (born 1832), and Abraham (1844-1877/80, as well as four sisters, Johanna (born 1827), Alice (born 1829), Theresa (born 1835), and Lydia Jane (born 1839/40). When the family moved to Prince Edward,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

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 ...

, Searls attended school in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

for five years before returning to New York to study at Rensselaerville Academy for the next three years. From here, he spent a year in the law office of O.H. Chittenden, preparing himself for the practice of law before attending John W. Fowler's newly established State and National Law School with fellow students Chancellor Hartson and Tim N. Machin. He was admitted to the New York bar May 2, 1848. Searls travelled to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

before settling for a short time in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

to practice law. When he decided to join the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

, he chose the wagon train company endorsed by the ''Daily Missouri Republican'', the Pioneer Line. He traveled with his friend from law school, Charles Mulford. Arriving in California in October 1849, they mined and traded.

Career

In 1850, he settled in the town of Nevada (which later became known as Nevada City) where he practiced law. Two years later, he was elected district attorney of Nevada County. Elected on the

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

ticket, from 1855 through 1862, he was a judge of the 14th judicial district. In 1864, Searls moved back to New York and became a farmer for the next six years before returning to his mountain home in California, and retiring. However, in 1877, Searls was elected to represent Nevada County in the California Senate, and later became Chairman of the

California Debris Commission The California Debris Commission was a federal commission created in 1893 by an act of Congress to regulate California streams that had been devastated by the sediment washed into them from gold mining operations upstream in the Sierra Nevada. It wa ...

. At the

1884 Democratic National Convention The 1884 Democratic National Convention was held July 8–11, 1884 and chose Governor Grover Cleveland of New York their presidential nominee with the former Governor Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana as the vice presidential nominee.World Book Bac ...

, Searls nominated General William Rosecrans for

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

, but

Thomas A. Hendricks Thomas Andrews Hendricks (September 7, 1819November 25, 1885) was an American politician and lawyer from Indiana who served as the 16th governor of Indiana from 1873 to 1877 and the 21st vice president of the United States from March until his ...

went on to be selected as the running mate to

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

. Searls was appointed California State Supreme Court Commissioner in 1885, serving in this office until April 19, 1887, when he became the 14th Chief Justice of California. Defeated for re-election in November 1888, he became a Supreme Court Commissioner for a second time during the period of 1894-1897. Searls sat on the board of directors of the

Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad (NCNGRR) (nickname: ''Never Come, Never Go'') was located in Northern California's Nevada County and Placer County, where it connected with the Central Pacific Railroad. The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railr ...

Personal life

In 1853, Searls returned to New York to marry his first cousin, Mary Corinthia Niles (1830–1910) of

Rensselaerville, New York Rensselaerville () is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 1,826 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Stephen Van Rensselaer. History Rensselaerville was once part of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck; as such ...

, and brought her back to Nevada City, traveling by steamer with their friends, Charles Mulford and his new bride, Deb. They had two children, one of whom, Fred Searls (born 1854) engaged in the practice of law, and the other was a mechanical engineer. He kept a diary about his experiences in 1869 during an arduous rail trip from New York to California and wrote a book about it, ''"Coast to coast by railroad: The journey of Niles Searls--May, 1869"''. Searls was vice president of the Society of California Pioneers. Along with

Aaron A. Sargent Aaron Augustus Sargent (September 28, 1827 – August 14, 1887) was an American journalist, lawyer, politician and diplomat. In 1878, Sargent historically introduced what would later become the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Con ...

, Searls was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

of the ''Nevada'' Lodge, No. 13. He retired to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

in 1899, and died at his home eight years later. He was a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

. Searls' grandson, Fred Searls, Jr., and great-grandson, Carroll Searls, were all attorneys. Fred Searls, Jr. was president of the international conglomerate mining concern,

Newmont Mining Corporation Newmont Corporation is a gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it owns gold mines in Nevada, Colorado, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, the Domin ...

, which operated, among many others, the Empire-North Star mine complex in Nevada County, California, after 1929-1950s.Robert H Ramsey, ''Men and Mines of Newmont'' (New York City: Octagon Books, 1973) His great-grandson, Frederick Searls (1912–1998), also an attorney, was Vice President of

Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...

. Searls' first cousin, and Mary's brother,

Addison Niles Addison Cook Niles (July 22, 1832 – January 17, 1890) was an attorney and served as Nevada County judge in California from 1862–1871 and as associate justice on the Supreme Court of California from 1872–1880. Biography Add ...

, was an Associate Justice on the California Supreme Court during the period of 1872-1880. Burial
Find A Grave Memorial# 48970480

Historic recognition

Built in 1872, Searls' brick, two room, single story law office on Church Street, across from the Nevada County Courthouse, was converted into the Searls Library, containing the historical documents collection of the Nevada County Historical Society.

Partial bibliography

* ''Niles Searls diary : ms. S, 1849 May 9-Oct. 1.'' * (1869)
''Coast to coast by railroad: the journey of Niles Searls--May, 1869.''
Worldcat.org.

References

External links

Niles Searls
California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved July 18, 2017.

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.