Augustus Rhodes

Augustus Loring Rhodes (May 25, 1821 – October 23, 1918[1]) was the 10th Chief Justice of California.

Augustus Loring Rhodes
10th Chief Justice of California
In office January 1, 1870 – January 1, 1872
Nominated by	Direct election
Preceded by	Lorenzo Sawyer
Succeeded by	Royal Sprague
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California
In office 1864-1870–1872-1880
Appointed by	Direct election
Preceded by	Elections under 1862 amendment to California constitution and 1863 enabling law
Succeeded by	Elections under new constitution of 1879
Personal details
Born	May 25, 1821 Oneida County, New York, U.S.
Died	October 23, 1918 (aged 97) San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Greene Cavins ​ ​ (m. 1846)​
Alma mater	Hamilton College

Biography

Educated at Hamilton College, Rhodes studied law and then moved to Bloomfield, Indiana, being admitted to the bar there in 1846.[2] He served one term as the prosecuting attorney for the circuit court (1849), and departed for California in 1854.[3] Settling in San Jose, he became district attorney in 1859 and then State Senator for the 4th district in 1860.[4]

In 1863, a constitutional amendment meant all of the seats of the Supreme Court of California were open for election.[5] In October 1863, Rhodes was elected to the Supreme Court of California, and served from January 2, 1864, until 1880.[6][7] He served as the 10th Chief Justice from 1870 to 1872.[8][9][10][11] His first term expired January 1, 1872, and the Court referred the issue of whether he would continue to serve as Chief Justice to a panel of three San Francisco attorneys.[12] They decided that Article 6, Section 3, of the 1862 state Constitution required the justice with the shortest remaining term to serve, and so Royal Sprague replaced Rhodes as Chief Justice.[12] In October 1871, Rhodes was elected to a ten-year term.[13] A new Constitution adopted in 1879 required elections for all Supreme Court positions. In 1879, he ran for Chief Justice but lost to Robert F. Morrison.[14][15]

From 1899 to 1907, he served as a Superior Court judge in Santa Clara County.[16][17][18] The vacancy on the trial bench caused by Rhodes' retirement (at the age of 88) was filled by John E. Richards.[19]

Rhodes remained active to an advanced age; he gave an address at the annual convention of the California Bar Association in June 1918, four months before his death at the age of 97.[20]

Personal life

On September 30, 1846, Rhodes married Elizabeth Greene Cavins (April 7, 1829 – December 25, 1901),[21] a judge's daughter in Greene County, Indiana.[22] They had six children: Mary Rhodes (Barstow) (born 1848), who married the son of her father's law partner;[23] James H. Rhodes (born 1849); Samuel R. Rhodes (born 1854), who became a doctor;[24] Margaret Rhodes (1857-1870); Edward Livingston Rhodes (1860-1945), who joined his father's law firm of Rhodes & Barstow after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, and later served as a justice of the peace in Chino, California;[25][24][26] and Augusta E. Rhodes (born 1868).[22]

References

1. Hart, Ann Clark (1940). San Francisco's Laurel Hill. p. 30. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
2. Hamilton College Catalogue. Clinton, N.Y.: Hamilton College. 1907. p. 50. Class Secretaries, Class of 1841, Augustus Rhodes
3. Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender Moss Co. p. 98-100. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
4. "Will Honor Judge Rhodes". San Francisco Call. 96 (25). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 25 June 1904. p. 2. Retrieved July 10, 2017. In 1859 he was elected District Attorney in this county, and in 1860 was elected State Senator to represent Santa Clara and Alameda counties.
5. "The Supreme Court". San Francisco Call. Library of Congress, Chronicling America. June 22, 1895. p. 5. Retrieved July 18, 2017. Under the constitutional provision, on October 21, 1863, Oscar L. Shafter, Lorenzo Sawyer, Silas W. Sanderson, John Curry and A. L. Rhodes were elected Supreme Court Justices. The new court organized January 2, 1864, and in accordance with law, the Judges drew lots to determine the tenure of their official terms, with the following result: Shafter drew for ten years, Rhodes for eight. Sawyer for six, Curry for four and Sanderson for two.
6. McClain, Charles J. (Spring 2016). "Pioneers on the Bench, 1849–1879" (PDF). California Supreme Court Historical Society Newsletter: 1–4.
7. "State Government, Judicial Department, Supreme Court". Sacramento Daily Union. 26 (3988). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 January 1864. p. 1. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
8. California Supreme Court Historical Society Archived 2010-10-11 at the Wayback Machine list of justices
9. "Our Supreme Court". Sacramento Daily Union. 43 (7498). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 25 May 1872. p. 8. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
10. History of California, Volume 24, Bancroft, Oak, Nemos, and Victor, The History Company, 1890, p. 235 (note 12)
11. "For Judges of the Supreme Court, to fill the places now occupied by Chief Justice Rhodes and Justice Temple". Sonoma Democrat (18). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 11 February 1871. p. 4. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
12. "Our Judicial Election". Sacramento Daily Union. 44 (6932). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 June 1873. p. 4. Retrieved July 10, 2017. At the expiration of the first term of Chief Justice Rhodes, January 1st, 1872.
13. "The State Judicial Elections". Daily Alta California. 25 (8596). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 11 October 1873. p. 2. Retrieved July 9, 2017. Justice Rhodes, elected in 1871, to retire in 1881.
14. "The Supreme Bench: Vote Returns". Tocsin (50). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 4 October 1879. p. 3. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
15. Uelmen, Gerald F. (1988). "California Judicial Retention Elections". Santa Clara Law Review. 28 (2): 333–377, 335. Retrieved July 10, 2017. Table 1, Incumbent Justices Defeated for Reelection, 1880, August Rhodes defeated by Robert Morrison.
16. "Superior Judge Rhodes Retires from the Bench". San Francisco Call. 102 (95). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 September 1907. p. 7. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
17. History of Santa Clara County, California. Chapter 29. 1922. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
18. "Judge Rhodes to be Banqueted". San Francisco Call. 96 (9). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 9 June 1904. p. 3. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
19. "Judge Richards Installed". San Francisco Call (102). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 12 September 1907. p. 7. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
20. Proceedings of the annual convention, California Bar Association, volume 9, 1918
21. Ancestry.com message board giving dates for Elizabeth Cavins Rhodes.
22. "The Day's Dead". San Francisco Call. 91 (26). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 26 December 1901. p. 9. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
23. "Want a Deed". Evening Sentinel. 3 (65). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 16 August 1898. p. 3. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
24. "Leap Year Orange Blossoms". Sacramento Daily Union. 58 (135). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 26 January 1888. p. 3. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
25. "Late Telegrams". Los Angeles Herald. 15 (147). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 29 July 1881. p. 1. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
26. "Willie Will Have to Face a More Serious Charge". Evening Transcript. 5 (175). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 27 March 1901. p. 3. Retrieved July 18, 2017.

External links

• Augustus L. Rhodes. California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
• Past & Present Justices. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

See also

• List of justices of the Supreme Court of California
• John Currey
• Silas Sanderson
• Lorenzo Sawyer
• Oscar L. Shafter