San Francisco County
Biographies
LORENZO
SAWYER
Lorenzo Sawyer, --Among
the most prominent members of the judiciary in the State of California is Hon.
Lorenzo Sawyer, United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit. For thirty years past he has occupied a
prominent place at the bar and on the bench of his adopted State. He comes from a family of pioneers. Descended from English ancestors, who
emigrated to New England about 1636, each generation of whose descendants
became pioneers in the settlement of some new State further west, and having,
himself, been trained amid the hardships and vicissitudes of pioneer life,
Judge Sawyer has developed a character as firm and inflexible as the granites
which environ his boyhood’s home.
In 1647 three of
his ancestors, John Prescott, Thomas Sawyer and Ralph Houghton, in company with
three other persons, settled in what is now the town of Lancaster,
Massachusetts, and at the organization of the town in 1653, were elected as
three of the five “Prudential Men,” in whom authority in local matters was
vested. John Prescott was the father of
Mary wife of Thomas Sawyer, and was the ancestor of Colonel Prescott, who
commanded the Americans at the battle of bunker Hill,
and of Judge William Prescott, and William H. Prescott, the historian. These hardy settlers and their descendants
took an active part in all the Indian wars of that eventful period; in the
French war, the war of the Revolution and in the war of 1812. During the Revolutionary war, nineteen
Sawyers of the Lancaster family are known to have been in active service.
Lorenzo Sawyer
was born in Le Roy, Jefferson county, New York, May
23, 1820. His father and grandfather
were among the earliest of the pioneers, who, in the first year of the present
century, settled in the wilderness in that portion of northern New York then
known as the “Black River Country,” and scarcely less accessible at that day
than was California at the time of its settlement. In 1819 his father, Jesse Sawyer,
married Elizabeth Goodell,
also of a pioneer family, and cousin of the celebrated missionaries, William Goodell of Constantinople, and Lucy Goodell
Thruston, one of the first missionaries to the
Sandwich Islands. The venerable couple
celebrated their golden wedding at Belvidere,
Illinois, February 11, 1869. Lorenzo,
the eldest of six children, was born and reared on a farm, and like most
farmers’ boys at that period was taught to make himself useful at an early
age. He worked on the farm during the
summer and attended the district school in winter. At the age of fifteen he attended, for a
short time, a high school at Watertown, New York, called the Black River
Institute. He at an early age developed
a fondness for books and study and fortunately he was enabled to indulge his
literary tastes in the intervals of labor, through the medium of a well-selected
public library, the advantages of which he enjoyed, and his evenings, Sundays
and spare moments were devoted to furnishing his mind with useful and practical
information. At the age of sixteen he
removed with his father to Pennsylvania and assisted him in the slow and
laborious work of clearing up a new farm.
This drudgery, however, by no means satisfied the ambition or comported
with the tastes of the young man, who had formed a determination to make the law
his profession, and this object he kept steadily in view, never wavering in his
resolution to attain it. In 1883, having
reached the age of seventeen, he obtained his father’s consent and went forth
into the world with a stout heart but empty pockets, relying upon his own
resources for support. By the labor of
his hands he earned sufficient to pay his simple expenses while pursuing a
course of study preparatory to commencing the study of law. The next eight years were devoted to
preparation for the bar, at first in New York and afterward in Ohio. In order to obtain the means of support
during this period, he taught in the district schools, and afterward in
academies and as a tutor in college. In
1840 he emigrated to Ohio, where he pursued his
studies for a time at the Western Reserve College, and afterward continued his
studies at Columbus and at Central College of Ohio near Columbus. Having completed his preparatory course, he
entered the law office of Hon. Gustavus Swan, the
ablest land lawyer of his day in Ohio.
Judge Swan retiring soon after from practice, he entered the office of
Judge Noah H. Swayne, then one of Ohio’s most
prominent lawyers, and since a distinguished Justice of the Supreme Court of
the United States, under whose instruction he remained until he was admitted to
the bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio in May, 1846. He afterward went to Chicago, Illinois, where
he passed a year in the office of the late Senator McDougal of California. Soon afterward he entered into a law
partnership with the Lieutenant-Governor Holmes at Jefferson, Wisconsin, where
he was rapidly acquiring an extensive and lucrative practice, when the desire
to visit the modern El Dorado became irresistible; and, joining a company of
energetic young men from Wisconsin, he made the journey across the plains in
the unprecedentedly short time of seventy-two days,
arriving in California about the middle of July, 1850. Some very interesting sketches of this
remarkable trip, written by him, were published in the Ohio Observer,
and copied into many of the western papers.
They were highly appreciated and were used as a guide by many emigrants
of the succeeding year. After working in
the mines of El Dorado for a sort [sic] time, he went to Sacramento and opened
a law office in that thriving city. Ill
health, however, compelled him to seek the climate of the mountains and
accordingly he repaired to Nevada City and entered upon the practice of law, in
October of that year, his law library consisting of eleven volumes, which he
had brought across the plains. With the
exception of a few months, from February to August, 1851, passed in San
Francisco, during which time his office was twice burned, he remained in Nevada
City until the autumn of 1853, when he returned to San Francisco where he has
since resided. In 1853 he was elected
City Attorney and served his
term with marked ability and success, the interests of the city involved in
litigation at that time being of great magnitude.
In 1855 he was a
candidate before the State Convention of his party for Justice of the Supreme
Court, and came within six votes of reaching the nomination. In the spring of 1861 he formed a law
partnership with the late General C. H. S. Williams, and in the winter of
1861-62 they determined to open a branch office in Virginia, Nevada. Mr. Sawyer went to Virginia City in January,
1862, to open the office and establish the business, and while there Governor
Stanford of California tendered him the appointment of City and County Attorney
of San Francisco. This he declined, and
soon after, a vacancy occurring in the office of Judge of the Twelfth Judicial
District, embracing the city and county of San Mateo, the appointment was
tendered to Mr. Sawyer and accepted, and he entered upon the discharge of his
duties June 2, 1862. So great was the
satisfaction given by Judge Sawyer in this important position that, at the next
election by the people, he was unanimously chosen to retain it. Both political parties
giving him their support. Upon
the reorganization of the State courts, under the amended constitution, Judge
Sawyer was, in 1863, elected a justice of the Supreme Court, and drew the six-years term, during the last two years of which he was
Chief Justice. While he was a member of
the Supreme Court, all the justices of which were noted for their ability,
industry and unremitting attention to business, no one of them wrote more
opinions of gave more attention to the details of business than Chief Justice
Sawyer; and it may be added that the judgments of none of the justices are
characterized by greater ability or more thoroughness and elaborateness of
discussion than his. No other court in
the United States or elsewhere was ever called upon to deal with so many novel, intricate and difficult questions of law as the
Supreme Court of California; and none more promptly, ably and satisfactorily
adjudicated the questions presented. The
decisions of the Supreme Court of California, rendered while Judge Sawyer
occupied a seat on the bench, stand as high in the older States as those of any
other State during the same period. They
are often cited with the highest terms of commendation by approved law-writers,
and by the judges of other courts, State and national. It is not too much to say that Chief Justice
Sawyer, by his industry, research, learning and ability, contributed his full
share towards placing the Supreme Court of California in the elevated and
enviable position which it occupied while he was a member of that tribunal.
In 1869 Congress
passed an act to amend the judicial system of the United States, by which the
United States Circuit Courts were reorganized—the appointment of a circuit
judge for each of the nine circuits being provided for. In December of the that year, as the term of
Chief Justice Sawyer was about to expire, President Grant nominated him under
said set to the position of United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit,
embracing all the Pacific States. The
nomination having been confirmed by the Senate, Judge Sawyer, early in 1870,
entered upon the discharge of his duties as Circuit Judge, and he has ever
since performed the highly important and arduous duties of his exalted position
with energy, fidelity and marked ability, as well as acceptably to the entire
circuit. The judgments of Judge Sawyer
as United States Judge, and his decisions as a member of the State Supreme
Court, it is confidently believed will be found upon critical examination to
compare favorably with an equal number of reported decisions rendered by any
contemporary judge, State or national.
His mental faculties are at their best, and he bids fair to adorn the
bench for many years to come.
Transcribed
Karen L. Pratt.
Source:
"The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 1, pages 652-654, Lewis Publishing
Co, 1892.
©
2005 Karen L. Pratt.