San
Francisco County
Biographies
HON.
MATTHEW P. DEADY
Circumstances, official service and the
wonderful development of the Pacific Coast have brought out the latent powers
of men and developed the highest character. Judge Deady
came to Oregon in 1840, a young man just admitted to practice law. We quote
from a short sketch by Mr. Alfred Holman, and published in 1886:
“From his entrance into Oregon Judge
Deady has been continuously in public life. He served
in the Legislature from 1850 to 1853, and the last two years as President of
the Upper House. In 1853 he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme
Court, which position he retained till the admission of the State into the
Union in 1859. He chose the Southern District, and organized the courts in the
various southern counties of the State. During his residence there he lived on
a farm near the banks of the beautiful Umpqua river, where still may be seen
the fruitful orchards and vines planted and trained by his own hands during the
intervals of judicial labor.
His rank as a lawyer, legislator and
judge, during these years, made his selection as President of the
Constitutional Convention, in 1859, an eminently fit one. To the work of making
the Constitution, he gave a great deal of labor, drafting many of the
provisions of that instrument himself. Later he was invited by the Legislature
to prepare the Codes of civil and criminal law of the State, which he did to
the entire satisfaction of the public. Since that time he has been consulted in
the preparation of nearly every important law that has been added to statute
book. Judge Deady was appointed Judge of the United
States Court when Oregon became a State, and continuously since that time he
has been the highest representative of national authority among us; and, in all
respects, that give character and quality to society, our first citizen. To my
mind there can be in the natural course of life no greater career, no higher
dignity.
`”While Judge Deady
is pre-eminently a jurist, his fame rests upon a much wider basis than
Constitutions and Codes. His judicial opinions, which are given always the
widest circulation in Oregon, deal fully with the facts and the law, but they
rarely close without going into the philosophies and moralities of the case
under consideration, and to these aspects are brought profound learning, wise
judgment and the graces of rhetoric. His opinions abound in gens of literature,
and are the subject of constant citation and quotation among the people of Oregon.
They are the basis of a great deal quite apart form the law, and their social
and moral effects form no small part of their author’s influence upon the
people of Oregon. Independent of his legal writings, Judge Deady
has done a great deal of general literary work.
His contributions to the periodicals of the day, and his public lectures
and addresses (models in their way) have been approved by the best judgment at
home and abroad. His writings illustrate a varied and extensive learning, a
wise and considerate mind, and an elegant taste and discrimination in
literature.
“There is not an agency of culture
in the State which has not received some benefit from Judge Deady”s
direct efforts or counsels. As President of the Board of Regents of the State University
of Oregon, he is the leading spirit of that institution, and gives much time
and labor to advance its interest. The excellent Portland Library is a child of
his creation and continuing care, and through it he has had much to do in
developing the literary taste of this community.”
“All these labors, continued through
many years, have give Judge Dedy a position in
society corresponding with his pre-eminet rank as a
legislator and a jurist. His selection by Senator Stanford as a Regent of the
proposed Leland Stanford, Junior, University was a happy choice. Of all the
citizens of Oregon he is most fit for the trust.”
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: “Illustrated Fraternal Directory Including
Educational Institutions on the Pacific Coast”, Page 59, Publ. Bancroft
Co., San Francisco. Cal. 1889.
© 2012 Cecelia
M. Setty.
San Francisco County Biographies