Draft:William H. Francis

William H. Francis (1839 – December 19, 1921) was a justice of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court from 1884 to 1888.

Francis, then residing in New Jersey, was appointed a receiver in the land office at Bismark in May 1883.

MR. SPERRY, who was appointed asso­ciate justice for this district, having de­clined the name of William H. Francis, now receiver, of the Bismarck land office, was sent in and confirmed. That this appointment will give universal satisfaction throughout the district goes without saying. Mr. Francis has been a resident of Dakota two years and is familiar with its laws. He is a man of strict integrity, unquestioned honor and moral courage— three necessary qualifications for a judge. Judge Francis was born in South Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1839, and is forty-five years of age. He became a citizen of Newark, New Jersey, in 1862 and was admitted to the bar of that city in 1865, and practiced in all the courts of that state until 1882, when he was unexpect­edly made receiver of this land office—a lucrative position but not congenial to his tastes. He was city solicitor of New­ark for four years, making a fine record. In 1879 he was elected state senator. In that body he was a distinguished worker, serving his last session as chairman of the judiciary committee. During the whole of his term as state senator he was chairman of the joint caucus, special committee of the house which had charge and control of all bills political in their nature, or involving state appropriations and expenditures. In May, 1881, he was one of the four officials appointed to represent the state of New Jersey at the unveiling of the monument at Spartanburg, South Carolina, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle of the Cowpens, and on that occasion delivered the oration on behalf of the states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The honor conferred upon him by this appointment was wholly unexpected, he not having the least intimation of it until Sunday. It will likely be some weeks before he assumes the responsibilities of the position, as it will require some little time to close his land office business.

William H. Francis, 82 years, old, prominent in the early, political activ­ities of this state and a former resident of Bismarck, died at the city hos­pital in Newark, New Jersey, yester day, according to reports reaching Bismarck today. As supreme court judge of Dakota in the territorial days, with headquar­ters in Bismarck, Mr. Francis was recognized in his profession as an im­portant leader, he was on the bench at the time of the famous Marquis De Mores trial, during which time the Marquis was tried for murdering a rancher, at the time a great sensation in the Northwest. The trial lasted for thirteen days and people from many hundreds of miles came to Bismarck to hear stories told in the court room. Pioneer residents say the trial was one of the most sensational ever held in the Northwest. Mr. Francis suffered complications which resulted in his death following an injury suffered about a week ago at his residence, 924 South Orange avenue, when he slipped in his bedroom and broke his shoulder blade. He was former city counsel of Newark and state senator from Essex county in New Jersey. He was a native of Connecticut and came to the Dakotas in 1878. He is survived by two daughters and a son in Connecticut.

Judge William H. Francis, at one time judge of this district in territorial days, apd one of the most eccentric of all the judges that have held this job since, is reported to have llied in the city hospital in New Jersey recently at the age of 82 years. Judge Francis was regarded as a most autocratic figure while on the bench and we remember one time when a farmer sat in court with his buffalo coat—there are no buffalo coats now—the judge compelled him to take off his coat. No matter whether it was suffocatingly hot no man could sit in his court in his shirt sleeves. This condition is different now. Our judges regard comfort one of the great essentials in life, and they allow this freedom and comfort in their court. One time Chas. K. Bassett, once a newspaper man of this city, was jailed by Judge Francis for contempt of court and went to jail but that fact did not stop Mr. Bassett from using a very caustic pen and he edited his paper in jail and its pages were rather warm numbers at times, and the judge came in for a liberal share of criticism from the incarcerated editor. The judge found out that while he could put an editor in jail he could not keep him from talking or editing his paper just the same. Well, a notable early character has gone.

References

Category:1839 births Category:1921 deaths Category:Justices of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court

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