Santa
Clara County
Biographies
JUDGE
DAVID BELDEN
The name of Judge David
Belden carries with it an association of pioneer days and the events which
marked the progress of the state of California, for to no man is greater credit
due for its development and upbuilding. (sic) In lieu
of memory the younger generation know him by the record of his deeds; the older
generation, now
fast passing away, recall a magnetic personality, a character replete with the
qualities which are manhood’s richest attributes, and a citizenship of such
completeness and maturity, that to admiration is added the esteem and love of
many made better, happier and wise by his having lived. Following is a brief
biography of his life and the principal events with which he was identified
from the time of his location in the state up to his death in 1888:
Born in Newtown,
Fairfield county, Conn., August 14, 1832, David Belden
was the descendant of an old New England family, prominent in the history of
that section since colonial times. His father, David H. Belden, was a lawyer of
more than local reputation in Fairfield county, and
was as well a citizen who merited the high esteem in which he was universally
held. In the schools of his native state Mr. Belden received the foundation for
the extensive knowledge which gave to him so marked a place among men in later
years. When he was sixteen years old his father apprenticed him to learn the
carpenter’s trade, and although the work was more or less distasteful to him,
since he was of so studious a temperament, yet he thoroughly mastered all the
details of his trade, and after four years of faithful service was a skilled
workman. At the same time he was spending every leisure moment in the reading
of law books, in preparation for the profession which he had elected to follow.
On the attainment of his majority in 1853, he came into possession of a small
patrimony left him by his grandfather, John Johnson, with which he came
immediately to California, the same spirit which animated his far distant
ancestor to seek a home in the western world, inducing him to become a pioneer
and upbuilder (sic) of yet more remote western
fortunes. Upon his arrival in the state he went at once to Nevada City, but was
shortly afterward located in Marysville and that vicinity for about a year
where he was engaged in mining on the Yuba river. In
the winter of 1854 and ’55 he formed the acquaintance of a prominent lawyer of
Nevada City, James H. Churchman by name, and shortly afterward made
arrangements with him for the study and practice of law. Removing to Nevada
City their interests were identified in a partnership until November of the
same year, when their association ended and Mr. Belden entered upon an
independent practice of his profession, having been admitted to the bar by the
District Court in October, 1855. The following year he was admitted to practice
in the Supreme Court. During that year he formed a partnership with A. C.
Niles, with whom he remained associated, however, but a short time. The only
other professional partnership in Mr. Belden’s life was with a lawyer named Yant, and was entered into in 1857, but existed only for a
short time. Thereafter he continued alone and rose steadily in the ranks of his
profession.
Mr. Belden was a
Democrat in his political convictions up to the breaking out of the Civil war,
when he gave his whole influence in behalf of the Union party. In 1858, when
the Kansas-Nebraska conflict caused a split in the ranks, he allied himself to
the Squatter Sovereignty on Douglas’ wing of the party, and became its
candidate for county judge. His opponent was Henry M. Moore, over whom he was
elected by a majority of one vote. During the four years service upon the bench
of the county court, he soon acquired an extensive and lucrative practice and
at the same time established his reputation as a lawyer and jurist. At the
expiration of his term he declined a re-election, much to the regret of his
friends and constituents. In 1865 he was elected to the state senate from
Nevada county, serving for four years, during which
time he played an important part in many of the movements which have had the
greatest effect upon the prosperity and progress of the state. His broad
statesmanship and matchless eloquence won him a state-wide reputation, and he
became the acknowledged leader of the senate, irrespective of party, justly
meriting the verdict of having been in every respect a model legislator.
At the expiration of his
senatorial term Judge Belden carried out a long cherished plan to revisit his
old eastern home, and accordingly with his wife, formerly Elizabeth Farrell, of
New Jersey, and whom he had married April 29, 1861, he sailed May 30, 1868,
from San Francisco. The journey was made via the isthmus, on the steamer
Montana, under command of Captain Caverly. Before
their return to their California home, the judge and his wife also visited the
Old World, spending a profitable season in various countries of Europe. The
return trip to California was made over the Pacific Railroad which had just
been completed, Mr. Belden and his wife being members of the first party which
made the trip to the coast by the new route.
In 1869 Mr. Belden
located in San Jose, Santa Clara county, and resumed
the practice of his profession. In 1871 the Twentieth Judicial District
was created and he was appointed its judge. Upon the expiration of his term he
was re-elected by a practically unanimous vote, and during his second term of
office the state of California adopted a new constitution whereby the judicial
system was reorganized, superior courts being substituted for the district and
county courts. Judge Belden had intended to retire from public life upon the
close of his second term, but yielding to the solicitations of his friends he
again became a successful candidate for the superior judgeship in 1880. Re-elected
in 1884, he continued on the bench until his death which occurred May 14, 1888.
His wife, who survives him, was born in Morris county,
N. J., and married in Nevada City, Cal., April 29, 1861. She is an educated,
cultured and refined woman, with an unusually strong intellect which responded
to that of her husband’s in a way that made her a delightful companion as well
as a most helpful one. Without children, they lived for each other and were
constantly together, their interests and pleasures the
same, the strength of each character supplementing that of the other.
Perhaps no truer
conception of the character of Judge Belden could be obtained than through the
resolutions adopted by the Santa Clara county bar in respect to his memory:
WHEREAS, It has pleased
the ever wise and merciful Author of Justice to remove from our midst and from
the scene of his earthly labors the Honorable David Belden, Judge of the
Superior Court of the county of Santa Clara and state of California; and,
WHEREAS, In his death, the judicial system of Santa Clara county has
suffered its most sad and serious loss since its organization; and,
WHEREAS, The whole
community of which Judge Belden was for so many years a useful and beloved
member, unites with the bar in its sincere grief about his bier; and,
WHEREAS, It is fitting that to the public record of his eminent
services as a judicial officer there should be appended the seal of a merited
recognition by the court over which he presided with dignity, learning and
honor; be it therefore
Resolved, That, in the
untimely death of the Hon. David Belden, the Bench and Bar of Santa Clara
county have lost a most able, reliable, just and respected member; the state of
California a most useful, illustrious and conscientious jurist; the community a
rare example of true greatness and virtue; that, as a judge of the
Twentieth
Judicial District of the state of California from 1871 to 1880, and of the
Superior Court of Santa Clara county from 1880 to the date of his death, he
ever wore the stainless ermine of judicial integrity, displaying in his
opinions and rulings a quick perception of the principles of justice, and a
deep and discriminating study of the precedents and precepts of law applicable
to every case, bearing himself always with a lofty impartiality toward the
parties and the interests involved. In his administration of the penal statutes
to offenders brought before his court he was ever moved with earnest and
untiring desire to temper the severity of the sentence with that degree of
mercy required by each individual case, to foster and encourage every impulse
toward virtue concealed in the criminal’s heart. In his bearing toward the Bar
he was distinguished for the graceful and uniform courtesy accorded every
member, and especially noted for the kindly encouragement which constantly
flowed to the young men of the profession, qualities which won for him the
esteem and veneration of the former and the confidence and love of the
latter---an esteem, veneration, confidence and love which cease not at the
grave, but which will continue to make fragrant his memory through the years to
come. That, as a citizen, sprung from the ranks of the masses, and, rising
through a lifetime of labor, by native force of character, to an eminence of
distinguished usefulness, his career compels the admiration of all classes of
society, and should especially excite the young men of our coast to an
imitation of the virtues of his public and private life. In the shaping of
public affairs his advice was always easy of access, and ever found
well-considered and wise. No member of society was more sensitive to the
pulsations of public opinion, or more apt in appreciation of public needs.
Never forward in the impression of his personality upon the current of affairs,
he was never backward in meeting the emergencies of any occasion with a
fortitude born of his convictions of right. With broad intellectuality, with
brilliant literary ability, with incessant zeal, he investigated every problem
of life and scattered his conclusions broadcast with a tongue of silver and a
pen of fire. That though his loss to the community is lamented as a judge of
transcendent ability and a citizen of distinguished usefulness, it is as a man
among men that the death of Judge Belden is most keenly felt and most sincerely
deplored. The friend, the brother, the counselor, the very model of all the
social virtues, he lived out with consistent purity his simple and noble
existence and is gone in answer to the morning call of immortality. Beside the
unstained robes of his public service may be laid the equally immaculate
garments of his private life. To the widow of our departed friend and brother,
who, through the well-filled years of a noble life has been the partner of his
joys and grief’s, the Bar of Santa Clara county
extends the comfort of the heartfelt sympathy of its every member; in token
whereof be it
Resolved, That as a body the Bar attend the funeral and sepulture of
her beloved companion. That, as a mark of respect to their late occupant, the
judicial chair and bench of Department No. 1 of the Superior Court of this
county, be draped in mourning for the space of twenty
days. That these resolutions be offered before the Superior Court of Santa
Clara county, at the next sitting thereof, with the request that they be spread
upon the minutes of said court; that a certified copy of the same, and the
further action of the court, be, by the clerk thereof, transmitted to the widow
and family of the deceased; and that one publication of these resolutions be
made upon the pages of the public press.
It is not too much to
say that, although nearly a score of years have passed away since his death,
Judge Belden still holds an unrivaled place in the affection and remembrance of
all who knew him personally or officially in the days of his splendid
usefulness, and the power and strength of his manhood. The record of his life
work---his untiring energy and industry, his perseverance toward the object of
his ambition, his endless search for knowledge in all avenues that would better
equip him for the discharge of the duties of his official position, his
unswerving integrity and unimpeachable honor---in short, his exemplary life,
stands ever as an example well worthy of emulation.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 337-339. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.