http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel en-us N/A engageinlife@gmail.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:04:31 EDT 20 http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2162/1/Judge-Robert-Belloni---Coos-County-Circuit-Court-1957-67/Page1.html
John Belloni had encouraged his son Robert at school when he saw that he did well academically. "Bob" played basketball and football, participating also in track and field at Myrtle Point High School. He went to the University of Oregon between 1937 and 1941, studying pre-med.  He was the first in his family to graduate from college.  When the war broke out, Bob joined the Army, working in the medical department.  He attended officer candidate school and was sent to the South Pacific.  In charge of 190 enlisted men in a field hospital, he decided that he didn't like medicine.  He married Doris A. Adams on January 25, 1946.  He later used the GI Bill to go to law school after his discharge from the Army, graduating from law school in 1951.  He supported himself during this time, loving the study of law.  He returned to Myrtle Point and opened a law office and became interested in politics.  He was elected to the town council and later became mayor.  He had been practicing in Myrtle Point for five years when he was appointed to the circuit court of Coos/Curry counties in 1956.  During this time the county judges were eliminated, and the circuit court received the work of probate and juvenile cases. He worked hard with the youth, attempting to find solutions for troubled kids.  Judge Belloni helped write the first juvenile code and started the Oregon Juvenile Judges Association.  Judge James Norman created a boy's ranch which he named the Robert C. Belloni Boy's Forest Ranch, which is still in operation today.  The caseload was sufficient enough that more than one judge was seated.  Belloni and Norman worked together part of the time.

Judge Belloni was appointed to the United States District Court in 1967 with support from Senator Wayne Morris.  He took senior status in 1984.  In 1988, Jim Stassmaier interviewed Judge Belloni regarding his legal career.  This was developed by Heather Van Meter and can be accessed on the Internet by searching "Judge Robert Belloni: Entranced by the Complexities of the Law."  The article is three pages long, in about 9 point type.  The family is well documented elsewhere also.  Grandfather George Belloni has a long article in "The Centennial History of Oregon" regarding his operations as a dairy farmer about four miles above Coquille, coming to Coos county in 1903.  In addition, he had a farm at Riverton known as the Old Orchard farm and invested in real estate in various places.  Judge Robert Belloni belonged to the American Bar Association, American Judicature Society, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Delta Theta Phi, Freemasons, Order of the Eastern Star, Elks, Rotary and the Episcopal Church.  He died of congestive heart failure at a San Mateo retirement  home in California on November 3, 1999 at the age of 80.
]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2162/1/Judge-Robert-Belloni---Coos-County-Circuit-Court-1957-67/Page1.html http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2139/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thank you, readers, for your most welcome input. I have learned a lot. My next column continuing the Circuit Court series won't be until next year....actually that means I won't be having anything until January, which is just around the corner.

I enjoy doing this because of you readers and your encouragement. Dorothy, on the red brick computer (actually it’s a MacIntosh)
]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2139/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2109/1/did-you-know-this/Page1.html
When Judge Felsheim's information ran, I received an interesting call from Coquille's Jean and Bob Bryan. Jean said that November 16th, 2009 they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.

They had wanted to get married before the holidays and after getting the marriage application, needed a waiver in order to do that. They went to get one from the judge who was Louis D. Felsheim! She said that in the article it states his term was from 1943 to 1950. That was the information I had. I'm sure what she said was true, so I have to figure out why it's listed as 1943 but he was on the bench by 16 November of 1942! I will do some research on this but my guess for the moment is that since Ervin Peterson quit and left for the Sec. of Ag. job, that he left a little early... since the elections take place in November, that Judge Felsheim, having been elected then, took office right away so Peterson could leave. Hmm, interesting.

Jean (Laird) Bryan also said that her parents were neighbors and good friends of Louis D. and Grace Felsheim in Bandon. Jean says she's related through the Lairds to about half of Coos County. I do believe it. Grandson John Felsheim commented on the articles, saying that he was related to the Sweets. Sheriff Ellingsen's father-in-law was one of the Sweets. John's mother also was a Sweet. I knew that, but wasn't thinking about a connection to Sheriff Ellingsen. I promised John that I would dig out a copy of the Ellingsen's story I had written and give that to him along with the Felsheim pictures and information. When I do an article, if any of the relatives are known to me, I give them a copy of the research for their personal files. JOHN C. KENDALL - 2nd Circuit Judge Coos/Curry 1923-1927 John Kendall would have been sitting on the bench during the term of county Judge Reuben Mast. Reuben's term ended in 1927 also. Judge David Thompson began his terms in 1927. John C. Kendall was born in Minnesota about 1886. Prior to that time his family generally resided in New York and Pennsylvania. New York was the prime state of residence. The name John was given to one of the children in every generation, usually the first son. They were independent merchants from an early age. Judge John Kendall's grandfather was born in Pennsylvania in 1823, his parents were from Delaware, However, Grandfather Kendall was living in Ithaca, Tompkins Co. New York in 1850.

The family consisted of Grandfather John Kendall, grandmother Cornelia, a daughter Mary Ellen age 2, a maid Lucy Drowney and a couple of clerks for his drug store, Vin Patterson and Lyrange (?) Brooks. In 1850 they were still living in Ithaca but had moved in with the William Stepens (correct spelling) family, possibly a boarding house. Even there they had a servant, Kate Murphy from Ireland and one clerk, Hiram Jackson. Mary Ellen had dropped the Mary and was going by the name Ella. (unless the census taker heard Ella instead of Ellen.) Frances who was 5 1/2 mos. had joined the family as well as another John (J.)Kendall, 4 years old and a sister, Lucy, who was 3 years old. Makes you wonder a little if she was named after the maid Lucy Drowney.

It's possible. It also makes one wonder if Grandfather Kendall sold the drug store (perhaps with living quarters?) and moved into a boarding house in preparation for the move to Minnesota from New York. Grandfather John Kendall moved his family to Minnesota sometime in the 1860's and appears in the 1870 census in Winona, Minnesota, in his own dwelling with wife, Cornelia, Mary E. now 20; John J. Kendall, 14 (Judge John C. Kendall's father); Lucy Kendall 13 and Francis Kendall 10. Two others were in the household, Frank Bayard, 17 and Wilhelmina Stark 19. It doesn't say what their occupations were. It's not clear either as to whether at this time Grandfather John Kendall had another drug store or was just working as a druggist and selling fire insurance on the side. In 1880 John J. Kendall, 24 still single and working as a druggist, and living at home, (which would lead one to believe that Grandfather Kendall did indeed have another drug store). Frances, ago 20, was still home also.

Lucy had married Henry G. Smith and both of them lived there with her parents, John and Cornelia. Henry was selling insurance, probably under the tutelage of his father-in-law who we know had been selling fire insurance! Rosa Galagher, 25, American born, of Irish parents, was the maid for those six people living in the house. John J. was helping to start the Winona, Minnesota militia chartered 26 Nov 1879. He was elected 1st Lt. in the organization. They had applied for a charter and .50 caliber breech loading Springfield rifles, but had to provide their own uniforms. This meant fundraisers. For a while they were more social than military while they held balls, picnics, games and other social events to make money for the uniforms. They were chartered as the Winona Militia Company. They earned their uniforms and received 50 rifles. In 1883 they reorganized to form more of a military company instead of mostly social and began regular training sessions and meetings once a week. John J. Kendall was still a 1st Lt. in the group, but by June of 1885 he had resigned his office, as had a number of the other men. He had also married about this time. The rules and regulations became more arduous.

By 1888 most of the original group had quit. A great number of the federal census records for 1890 were destroyed by fire in the National Archives in 1921. However, we know that John J. Kendall had married a lady by the name of Ella about 1884-5. By 1900 they had two boys, John C. Kendall, 13 (our judge) and Guy B. Kendall, 12. They were still living in Winona, Minnesota, in their own residence and no doubt John J. was still a druggist. In 1910 John J, wife Ella and the two boys, John C., 24 and Guy B. Kendall 22 were living in a rooming house in Minneapolis. I wonder if that's when John C. got his legal education?? John J. is listed as having his own income. Peterson and Powers says John C. Kendall came to Marshfield in 1910 but the census shows that's possibly a little too early. It also says he married Gertrude Walrath in 1910. If he did all this and was still listed in the census as living in a rooming house in Minneapolis, he was a busy man! By 1920 John C. Kendall is an attorney, in business with John D. Goss, living in Marshfield, Coos county Oregon with his wife, Gertrude.

They had a son John Walrath Kendall! Mother, Ella Kendall, is also living with them, so one must assume that John J. has died in the interim. John C. had his own law office in Marshfield apparently with Goss as a partner in the firm. He had been a Circuit Court judge from 1923 to 1927, only four years. Usually the term for a Circuit Court judge was six years. By 1930 he was living in Portland, still an attorney, with his wife Gertrude and son, John. Gertrude Kendall died in 1933. Judge Kendall's mother, Ella, was living with his brother Guy and his wife in Portland. Ella lived until 17 September 194. She died in Portland. Judge Kendall died at his Crooked Rifle Lodge on the Rogue River in 1951, having been almost a whisper in the annals of Coos County legal history.
]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2109/1/did-you-know-this/Page1.html http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2082/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html
When the article ran on Judge Harrison, my friend Donna Dodge said to me, "I was so surprised to see your article. I had just seen Judge Harrison's obituary. I didn't know where he was or if he was still alive." When I asked her what connection she had, she said that in about 1954 she and her husband Joe had just come to Coquille. They were looking for work.

 She had heard that there was an opening in the Coos County Juvenile Department. "Trudie Frazier was the secretary and she was leaving for the birth of hers and her husband Jerry's first child." Donna decided to apply for the job, knowing that after the leave of absence, Trudie would be coming back to the job. The juvenile cases at that time were under the county judge's jurisdiction. Donna said she worked for about a year under Judge Harrison. "He was a very compassionate man," she said. "He really cared about those kids." He would follow up later on the ones he had in court and see if they were doing okay, and what they were doing." Donna said he was very easy to work for and considerate, expecting, however, the work to be done well. After the end of Judge Harrison's term, the juvenile department became part of the state function.

After that, there were no more county judges.¤ During the time of the Coos County judges who sat on the county court with two commissioners, there was a Circuit Court, where the traveling judges assigned to the districts were attorneys who had passed the bar. They were taking care of the 'heavier' cases and aspects of the law, but not always available on a frequent basis since they would cover a whole district. About 1912, the legislature changed Coos counties to form a Coos/Curry Court with a more available Circuit Court judge. It is this new group of Circuit Court judges who will be a series from inception to our present four Circuit Court judges. The judges' pictures hang in the second floor hall of the east wing of the courthouse.

They hang quite high and in a narrow hallway. There is a bench below them, but if one attempted to stand on the bench and photograph them, it simply would not work. I know. I tried. The only other recourse is to stand back as far as possible and shoot the picture at the best angle. They aren't the best pictures in the world, but you can tell the features plainly. They look as though they had been taken with the picture lying on the floor! I will look for other pictures of the participants, but if I can't find any, you will get these. You can always go to the courthouse and view them on the wall!¤ JUDGE JOHN STORY COKE The very first Coos/Curry judge was Judge John Story Coke, who served from 1910-1923. He would have been in the Circuit Court during the time John F. Hall (1906-1914), James Watson (1914-1920), C.R.Wade (1920) and R.H. Mast (1921-1927) were serving in the county court as the county judges. John Sterling (or Stephen) Cocke, single, 71 years, born 1828 in Tennessee, was living in Dora (Burton Prairie) in 1900.

In 1910, John Story Coke (they dropped the second "c"), born 21 Aug 1867 in Tennessee, was living in Marshfield near the Towers family. He was an attorney and a Circuit Court judge. His family consisted of wife (they married in 1903) Annie Laurie (Anderson) Coke and two children, John Morton, and Helen Virginia Coke. Esther Hendrickson was the household servant, born in Finland. I wondered how the son of a fellow who was farming in Dora became a Circuit Court judge! The truth was that I should have been wondering why this family of distinguished men, many of them serving in courts in the United States from the 1600's, ended up on a farm in Dora. I would like to know why they went to Dora. All I know is that they moved to Oregon about 1869 with the six oldest children and were there in Brewster Valley in 1880. In 1900, the father, John Stephan (aka Sterling) Cocke, was in Dora, apparently living alone. His wife, Mary Elizabeth (Moore) Cocke died after 1875. Both of them are buried at Dora. Their eight children were Frances J., Thomas, Richard J., Paul Sterling, John Story, Hugh Moore, Caroline Jones, and James Leslie Coke. Caroline and James were born in Oregon, and James in Coos County in 1875.

 John studied law in law offices in Portland and Coos Bay. He also studied at the U of O. At one time he was mayor of Marshfield. The grandfather of this group of children, of which one was our Judge John Story Coke, was Captain Sterling Cocke, born 15 June 1789, Hawkins County, Tennessee, also known as Colonel. He was admitted to the bar in 1812 and was Solicitor General of the Third District of Tennessee between 1817 and 1835, representing Grainger County, Tennessee, at the state legislature. In 1817, he was Grainger County state representative. Judge Coke's great grandfather, William Cocke, born 6 Sept 1747 in Amelia, Virginia, was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1778, serving afterwards in the legislatures of North Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi, and lived mostly in Tennessee, becoming a judge of the Circuit Court. He was the first US Senator from Tennessee, elected in 1797 and serving until 1809. He was one of the 1794 founders of the University of Tennessee.

He then moved to Mississippi and was appointed by President James Madison to be the Indian Agent for the Chickasaw Nation, a trustee of Greenville College, and incorporator of Washington College. He was actively engaged at various times in the military service. He was the father of General John Cocke, attorney, born 1772, who among other things founded a school for deaf mutes. Great grandfather, General William Cocke, was one of the founders of the State of Tennessee with Cocke county named after him. He was in command during the Revolutionary War of 1776 and crossed the Alleghany Mountains into the wilderness of Kentucky with Daniel Boone. He took an active part in the formation of the State of Tennessee and was senator to Congress for 12 years in addition to being a Circuit Court judge. At the age of 65, he volunteered in the War of 1812 and was distinguished for his personal courage. Our Judge John Story Coke's great great grandfather, Abraham Cocke, was born in Henrico County, Virginia, in 1690. He had been the Sheriff, elected in 1751, of Amelia County, Virginia.

The judge's great great great grandfather, Stephan Cocke, was born about about 1667 in Virginia. Nothing much is said about him. Great great great great grandfather, (first one born in colonial Virginia), Captain Thomas Cocke, was born 1638 in Henrico County, Virginia. He was Sheriff from 1680 to 1688, a member of the County Court and active in other affairs of the colony. Thomas's father Richard Cocke, born 5 Sep 1602, came from Shropshire, England to Virginia in about 1627. He became a member of the House of Burgesses in 1632 and patented over 8,000 acres in Henrico County, Virginia. He was a Lieutenant Colonel of the county and made his home on the James River, about 18 miles below the present city of Richmond.

 That is some ancestory for a Dora farmer! Judge John Story Coke served as a state senator in 1909. He maintained a law office in Marshfield. He also wrote a section on Burton Prairie in Orvil Dodge's Pioneer History book (see Chapter XII, Coquille Valley, page 169). His brother Thomas stayed in the Sumner area. After Judge Coke left the Circuit court in 1925, he went to Portland and was a corporate attorney, as well as a Senator to Oregon and a U.S. Attorney for Oregon. (Ed Note: The House of Burgesses was the elected lower house of Virginia's legislative assembly, established in the colony of Virginia in 1619. More information can be seen in Wikipedia --Google House of Burgess).¤ It was chartered as Blount College at Knoxville, Tennessee on 10 September, 1794, two years before Tennessee became a state. It struggled for 13 years with little faculty and a small student body. It was renamed East Tennessee college in 1807 and, by 1840, called East Tenneessee University.

 It was a non-religiously affiliated institution of higher learning open to both men and women and recognized as the oldest college of its kind west of the Appalachian Divide. William Cocke was instrumental in its founding--very unusual school for those days.¤
]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2082/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2038/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html
When the article ran on Judge Harrison, my friend Donna Dodge said to me, "I was so surprised to see your article. I had just seen Judge Harrison's obituary. I didn't know where he was or if he was still alive." When I asked her what connection she had. She said that in about 1954 she and her husband Joe had just come to Coquille. They were looking for work. She had heard that there was an opening in the Coos County Juvenile Department.

 "Trudie Frazier was the secretary, and she was leaving for the birth of her and husband Jerry's first child." Donna decided to apply for the job, knowing that after the leave of absence, Trudie would be coming back to the job. The juvenile cases at that time were under the county judge's jurisdiction. Donna said she worked for about a year under Judge Harrison. "He was a very compassionate man, " she said. "He really cared about those kids." He would follow up later on the ones he had in court and see if they were doing okay, and what they were doing." Donna said he was very easy to work for and considerate, expecting, however, for the work to be done well. After the end of Judge Harrison's term, the juvenile department became part of the state function.

 After that there were no more county judges. During the time of the Coos County judges who sat on the county court with two commissioners, there was a Circuit Court where the traveling judges assigned to the districts were attorneys who had passed the bar. They were taking care of the 'heavier' cases and aspects of the law, but not always available on a frequent basis since they would cover a whole district. About 1912 the legislature changed Coos counties to form a Coos/Curry court with a more available Circuit Court judge.

It is this new group of Circuit Court judges who will be a series from inception to our present four Circuit Court judges. The judges’ pictures hang in the second floor hall of the east wing of the courthouse. They hang quit high and in a narrow hallway. There is a bench below them, but if one attempted to stand on the bench and photograph them, it simply would not work. I know. I tried. The only other recourse is to stand back as far as possible and shoot the picture at the best angle. They aren't the best pictures in the world, but you can tell the features plainly. They look as though they had been taken with the picture lying on the floor! I will look for other pictures of the participants, but if I can't find any, you will get those. You can always go to the courthouse and view them on the wall!
]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2038/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2012/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html
Having prepared a review of the last Coos County judge to sit on the bench before the county courts were abolished, Judge James W. Harrison, you can imagine my surprise to see his obituary in the World about Wednesday the 4th of November. Judge Harrison served from 1951 to about 1963 after the court was discontinued.

 Three commissioners were established instead of two commissioners and a judge. He was president of the Association of Oregon Counties and president of the Oregon Coast Association during his tenure. I had no knowledge as to where Judge Harrison had gone and if he were still living. He was 94 at the time of his death at Rogue Valley. I actually remember Judge Harrison slightly, having put a picture of him with the two commissioners in one of the Sentinel special editions. There are only two county judges left to review. After Louis D. Felsheim and James W. Harrison, county judges were discontinued, and the county board became three commissioners instead of two and a judge. Louis D. Felsheim, 1943 to 1950 (during the war years), is the next judge to be reviewed. Louis D. is the grandfather of John Felsheim at Les Schwab. I thought the expedient thing was to talk to John before he had more heart surgery.

Well, I missed him by a day. He had already gone to Eugene. My next idea was to talk to his father down in Bandon. Lou F. Felsheim had been in a barbershop quartet with Bob Taylor (not sporting goods) about 40 years ago. I caught Lou on his way home from Eugene. His wife, Ann, was in the same hospital two rooms apart from son John, also having surgery. Consequently, Louis Daniel Felsheim will be postponed while the family recovers. I have enough information but want Lou F. to review it before I send it to Jean.

I also need the picture. I actually "sort of" remember Judge Harrison - 1951 to 1962. I came here in the fall of 1947 and was not particularly interested in judges at the time. I remember having put a picture of him with the two commissioners in one of The Sentinel special editions, so looked for that. I did find it. It doesn't give me much of his personal life, but has his picture with the two commissioners. This is the story that went with it: 1954 REMODELING In 1954, the prediction of a larger, more modern building became a reality when the 1916 structure was remodeled and enlarged. It was dedicated on January 23, 1954. Mayor Don Farr gave the address. The invocation was by Rev. Jean Clark, Rector of St. James Episcopal Church. Music was by the Coquille High School, under the direction of Carroll Nickels. The Coos County Court in 1954 was Fred True, Judge James Harrison and Fred Kruse. The west wing being dedicated cost $258,000.

The east wing built in 1951 cost $177,968. The old hall of records built in 1916 and added on to the original structure cost $177,968. The old hall of records built in 1916 and added on to the original structure cost $37,000.] The adjoining article stated who the elected county officials in 1954 were: James W. Harrison, county judge; Fred Kruse, commissioner; Fred True, commissioner; C.G Caughell, assessor; Georgianna Vaughn, county clerk; Lillian Farley, county school superintendent; W.H. Howell, sheriff; Clara Stauff, treasurer, Dal M. King, circuit court judge (Ed Note: great uncle of Credit Union's Dal King); John Pickett, district attorney; Jess Barton, justice of the peace (Ed Note: Mary Barton is presently Coos County treasurer); Thomas Swanton, justice of the peace, Coos Bay; and Brewer Mills, Coos County coroner. Since I found that and have been digging and moaning about not even a straw to grasp, finally a little straw stuck out of a book.

 It was enough for me to grab, so I was off and running. I was looking under the wrong name. It explained the lack of personal information for reasons beyond the 70 year privacy law. Apparently Judge Harrison's father died perhaps in Oregon (there are two death notices in 1918, one in Josephine Co. and one in Umatilla), leaving a widow and five young children. James's mother married a fellow by the name of Oscar C. Lee. Oscar was twenty years older than Nona L. Harrison. As nearly as I can tell, Oscar had never been married before but never hesitated(?) to undertake the raising of the four boys and one girl. Oscar was a logger. James Harrison was born in Texas in 1915, the son of William Harrison. The book says he came to Oregon in 1917. The children of William and Nona Harrison were as follows: John born in Oregon in 1910; Winford born in Oregon in 1912; Mary Ann born in Texas in 1913; James born in Texas in 1915; and Frank born in 1918 in Oregon. Nona was only about 16 years old when her first child, John, was born in Texas. In 1920, she was about 24 years old with five children to support and was living in Dorena, Lane Co., Oregon. Instead of  going by her first name of Nona, as a widow she had chosen to be called by her middle name of Lucretia. Her children were ages 10, 8, 6, 5, and 3. William Harrison had been married before in about 1895 to an Agnes. In 1900, he was living in Texas with Agnes and two children, Aubrey age 4 and Lura age 3. Agnes apparently died because in 1910, he was married to Nona, age 18, with Aubrey 14 and Lura 12 living with them.

 In 1920, Aubrey and Lura were no longer living with her. For some reason, James was called Olney on the 1920 census. Every other reference to him has always been James W. Harrison. I wouldn't be surprised to find his middle name was William after his father. He went to school in Cottage Grove and Coos Bay. In 1930, the family (Nona married Oscar Lee shortly after 1920) was living at Sumner, Coos County, Oregon. John was then 20; Winford 18; Mary Ann 17; James 16; and Frank 12. These were the Harrison children. Three Lee children had joined the family, Naomi 6, Paul 4, and Nona 2. All were living at home! Judge James W. Harrison got enough education that he was able to teach school, and he farmed to supplement the income. He married Vurl V. Mallory in 1939.

 James and Vurl had two children, Ronald Harrison and Norrene Harrison. In 1951 when he was appointed a county judge, he was still living at Sumner. One did not have to have legal training to be a county judge. All that was required was good sense, good character and the ability to get things done and impress enough people with what you do to get elected! It appears that Judge Harrison came through a school that required all of these, more of it outside the school room than inside. He also needed the school room training, of course. His mother must have been an interesting lady herself.


]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/2012/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/1974/1/Did-You-Know-This/Page1.html
OREGON STATE COURT SYSTEM

I have simplified this overview of the court system. When Oregon was a territory, there were 3 'lawyers' called 'justices' administering the law, who were later known as the Supreme Court.

They also had the job as 'district judges' who functioned much the same as the circuit court 'lawyers' did later. They traveled around holding court in whatever district they had been appointed to. Coos County was in the 3rd district along with Umpqua County and court was held on the 4th Mondays in May and November in Umpqua County. Oregon wasn't very populated and a lot of things were settled outside the courts. When Oregon became a state in 1859 Oregon was divided into 4 judicial districts.

 By then the lawyers at the top of the pile were called Supreme Court justices but they also did the work of the Circuit Court in the district they were elected. You could call them Supreme / Circuit judges. That's not how they were known however! (I made that up for clarity.) Coos County moved up and was in the 2nd district. In 1862 the population and cases increased to the point where they had five Supreme/Circuit judges to keep up with lawsuits, crime, probate and a pile of other problems. The Constitution added county judges to be elected for each county to help with the case loads. Remember there were gold strikes, fighting over property, money, probate, marriages, fighting from drinking and over women, theft, and various other more serious (?) crime.

The county judges were to primarily take care of the lesser problems of probate, juvenile problems, small claims and the business of the county. The Supreme/Circuit court judges tackled the heavy stuff and were lawyers. The county judge didn't have to be admitted to the bar. In other words, he wasn't always a lawyer. He was just supposed to have good sense, be honest, be well known and have enough people who thought he was okay to get elected. We have just finished calling attention to those county judges who were elected in Coos County in 1859 to the end of county judges, the last two being Louis Daniel Felsheim and James W. Harrison, ending about 1956.

 (Felsheim to come soon) When the population of Oregon reached 200,000 in about 1878, the 'top of the heap lawyers' were separated from the Circuit Court and called " Supreme Court justices" and no longer were required to "make the circuit", but stayed in Salem. Circuit Court judges were now elected from each of the still 5 judicial districts beginning in 1880.

 The Supreme Court, since 1865, administered the examination to pass the bar and the applicants had to know a whole lot of stuff. After they passed the exam, were lawyers, and had a case they could always refer to the law books which helped considerably with a tough case. Around 1913 there were enough people applying for admission to the bar that the Supreme Court had to issue a call for HELP! They were beginning to spend too much time on testing people for the bar, so they wanted to create a new group to do this aspect of the work. This is some of what the applicants were required to learn, "as to their general learning in the constitutional law, including the constitutions of the US and the State of Oregon, equity, real and personal property, evidence, decedent's estates, landlord and tenant, mortgages, contracts, partnership, corporations, crimes, torts, agency sales, negotiable instruments, domestic relations, common law pleading and practice, state practice, conflict of law, professional ethics, the federal laws relating to the judiciary and bankruptcy and the the development in the State of Oregon of the principles of the law from the decisions of the supreme court and by statutory laws."

The legislature didn't actually give statutory approval for a board of bar examiners until 1935. It took them 22 years to make it a law that they could get a board of bar examiners. What did they do in the meantime? Makes one wonder doesn't it? Before the depression era, all of the judges, Supreme Court, Circuit Court and District Court were elected by party and listed on the ballot by their political party.

 Not only that, the Supreme Court justices were elected at large. That means if more than one position was open then all the incumbents and challengers competed against all other incumbents and challengers for all of the open positions with the top vote getters getting the positions. In 1913 the legislature expanded the Supreme Court to seven justices and at that time they created the district courts which were mostly a substitute for justice courts which had limited civil and criminal jurisdiction. The Supreme Court has remained with seven judges to date. In 1913 they created the district court. In 1914 they had a terrible fight for a position in the Supreme Court and finally after months of recounting and battling, one fellow got it by one vote. In 1929 they stopped having elections "at large" to the Supreme Court, meaning that only the position vacated was up for election. The others retained their seats. They voted among themselves to see who would be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. They also have a library. In 1929 they made juvenile and domestic relations a part of the Circuit Court.

In 1931 they ended party elections for all courts. By 1961 they created a tax court. and by 1969 there were so many appeals, civil and criminal, that they created another branch just to handle them and called it, of course, The Oregon Court of Appeals, with six members. Any member of the Supreme Court could sit in on any of the added courts i.e. tax, appeals, etc. As the population continued to increase more people were necessary in the system to handle all of the cases. 1997 was the last year that district courts existed. Thirty of Oregon's 36 counties had district courts and everything became Circuit Court. There were more people and they still had all the problems of the earlier days and a few more because of 'progress' plus a little more of everything to get in trouble and fight over. Justice court, a side branch was presided over by a justice of the peace and was limited to civil cases not to exceed $250 and confined to misdemeanors.

Another side line was called small claims but could recover money not to exceed $35 (1945). There are laws and ramifications not touched on in this brief summary. Official voters pamphlets were started in 1910. One of the big problems when Circuit Court judges were separated from the Supreme Court and elected out of the district, was money and organization. The state paid the judges salaries but all of the secretaries and other office workers were county employees and subject to the wages of that county. Each county had it's own particular problems with providing people for running the Circuit Court. Coordinating the work in each county with the state was difficult. If a Circuit Court judge needed more help he wasn't certain that he could get it and the employees wanted to know why they were paid less than another county. The legislature decided that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court needed to get a workable plan going. In 1981 the state took control of the courts and the counties were only responsible for providing courthouse facilities. This transfer took place quietly with very little publicity or problem.

 Very few people other than the ones working in the courthouse were even aware of it. The county clerk lost a portion of her responsibility and employees. The clerk retains the responsibility for anything pertaining to land, and marriages and the biggest responsibility was and still is elections. This is the time during one of my couple of 'burn outs' from the newspaper that I decided to take a part time job in the clerk's office. As the work shifted around, it was only about 3-4 months before I was working full time. I transferred over into elections and I worked with Bev Owen until I ended up the Chief Deputy Recorder.

After a little persuasion by Fred Taylor who had just purchased the paper, I went back to my old job at The Sentinel, with its varied titles. It was in 1999 I was appointed interim Coos County Clerk and conducted the last polling place election in Coos county. The next year with Terri Turi as clerk, Oregon went vote by mail and she has never had to do a polling place election! A very good change! I left the newspaper and the clerk's office to retire, well sort of retire. No more paycheck.

]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/1974/1/Did-You-Know-This/Page1.html http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/1935/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html
JUDGE ERVIN L. PETERSON #17 in the Series: A Swedish fellow by the strange name of Swanie Peterson born in 1864, immigrated to the United States in about 1882.

In 1896 he married another Swede by the name of Annie Olson, who was born in Oregon. In the 1900 census they were living in Coos County. Swanie built up a large dairy herd on Haynes Slough. He said he was a commercial fisherman, a mill operator, and a dairyman. He and Annie had three children, Shirley born in Oregon about 1898, Russell in 1900 and Ervin L. Peterson, born in 1910.

Swanie and Annie were easy to follow. They stayed in Coos County in 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930. Swanie died in Coos County November 17, 1936. Annie lived until May 13, 1946. Russell and Ervin are a different story. I think I may have found Russell in Corvallis in 1930 but have no way to hook Swanie Peterson's Russell to this one. The dates are two years off, so I can't be sure at all. Ervin simply disappeared. In 1930 he does not show up on any census that I can find in the US. I can't search for his wife or children because I have no idea if he had any. I assume he probably did. We know that he was elected a county judge in 1941 and served until 1943. Due to the privacy law, later census such as 1940 and forward are unavailable.

Having exhausted everything except going to Coos Bay and sitting in the library there for hours reading the Coos Bay Times from 1941 through 1943, I was getting frustrated. I decided to throw his name out to Google and see what came up. Lo and behold! Guess what, yes, Ervin L. Peterson. I had wondered why he only served as a judge for two years. I thought perhaps he had been drafted. However, in 1943 he was given the job of Assistant Director of the newly formed OregonDepartment of Agriculture in Salem. In nothing I have found, has there been any personal information. After a short time he was made Director of the department. Information is on-line regarding the department from its beginning to date. It's interesting. Here is an excerpt: "By 1943, more than 40 percent of ODA's staff had been mobilized for military service by enlisting or being drafted. Changes were noticeable by the public.

For four years, there was no State Fair in Salem under the department's direction. Bang's Disease, more commonly known today as brucellosis, became a source of concern during the war years, partly because half of the federal inspection force had been called into military service and not replaced. Meanwhile, ODA continued functioning at a high level under director Ervin Peterson and a dedicated remaining staff that included a higher-than-usual percentage of women and older employees." ...(more) "Director Peterson noted some of the same things about Oregon agriculture that can be said today. "Diversity is characteristic of Oregon's agriculture," he wrote. "outside of the wheat country along the upper Columbia River, there is little or no one-crop farming in Oregon." He also noted the growing importance of food processing in 1945: "Modern and more attractive packaging becomes of importance both from the viewpoint of reduced costs and of consumer appeal.

 Oregon, being predominately an agricultural exporting state, will, it appears, be compelled to maintain the most modern and efficient methods of food processing, preservation and packaging in order to meet expected competition from other areas and possibly other countries." -- "Today, the Food Innovation Center, a joint facility in Portland operated by ODA and Oregon State University, is focused on fulfilling the prescience of Director Peterson." In an Agriculture and Food news brochure, the following was written in 1954: Peterson Succeeds Coke as Assistant Sec'y of Agriculture: Ervin L. Peterson has been appointed to succeed J. Earl Coke as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture. ( ed note: Federal appt.) Mr. Peterson's appointment will become effective on Nov. 15 and Mr. Coke's resignation is to become effective Nov. 13. The new Assistant Secretary has been director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture since 1943 and was a dairy farmer from 1931 to 1940 (ed note: he was elected judge in the fall of 1940 to begin in Jan. of 1941) As assistant secretary he will be in charge of the department's work in the field of federal-states relations, in which are located USDA's conservation, research and educational activities. Mr. Coke, who has been on leave from the directorship of the California agricultural extension service since 1953, will return to his work in California. Ervin L. Peterson ended up the federal Director of the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. Mostly, what I now have about Ervin L. Peterson is many questions. There is a reference to his "estate" papers, meaning those regarding his office and their location, but nothing about himself personally.

Estate papers also means that he died! He lived at home in 1920 when he was about 10 and more than likely the dairy herd was the one at Haynes Inlet since his father died in 1936. But why doesn't he show up in any 1930 census? Perhaps he had been called up in the draft since he would be about 20 years old then, but sent back because of the necessity of the dairy farming, his father died, and Ervin was missed by the census? It's possible, but that's simply a guess. I am pretty sure some where on Haynes Inlet somebody knew the Swanie Peterson family and knew Ervin L. Peterson. Some former dairy farmer knows about him, but that person is as hidden to me as Ervin was in 1930. Sister Shirley and brother Russell would also be deceased by now but did they have family that is still living? Hmmm.

 I got the idea to call former dairy farmers that I knew, Wayne and Mary Russell, on the North Bank Road, Coquille, suggested that I call Lucy Johnson. LUCY JOHNSON! I know Lucy Johnson very well but never thought about her living near Haynes Inlet. Lucy said she wasn't very close to Haynes but had heard of Swanie. The unusual name stuck with her. She called her brother-in-law who lived out there. She said the only thing he knew was that Emil Peterson who wrote "The Century of Coos and Curry" had a dairy farm on Haynes Inlet as well as Swanie Peterson. I checked the book and sure enough Swanie is in the book and the three children named.

 Emil Peterson is in there also but under the name of his father Peter Peterson, born in Sweden in 1844 and came to Coos County in 1865. Emil is the right age to be a brother to Swanie, but Peter's children are listed and Swanie is not one of them. In the meantime, after chasing these rabbits, I went into a warren called the Coquille Library. The very first Oregon Blue Book that I picked up, 1947-48, had a picture and an article on Ervin L. Peterson! His salary then was $6600 a year. His appointment was permanent until he chose to leave, which was in 1954, to take the position in Washington D.C. I have an idea he probably went to North Bend High school about 1928. Wonder how I can find that out? Would they have any year books for 1928? Hmmm. We have about two more judges, then there are no more county judges. I will have to explain to you why and delve a little into the judicial system of Oregon before we do a
]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/1935/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/1896/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html
Judge Hugh McLain's picture last week came out better than I expected, but the "Just for the fun of it" picture printed too dark. The last line should have read Willamette Pacific Railroad. That wasn't much of a hint unless you were a railroad person. It was hard to see the small houses along the right side near the water. To the left of the tracks is a wooden plank "sidewalk."

The 1914 picture was a strip along the waterfront between Marshfield (Coos Bay) and North Bend, near today's Toyota dealership. I will try to pick a better picture if I do that again. Judge Jesse Eugene (Gene) Norton was appointed interim judge to fill the vacancy when Judge Hugh McLain died before his 6 year term ended. Gene, as he was called by nearly everyone, was a prominent, well known merchant in Coquille. In researching the available information he seems to have been of good character but with no legal background to support his appointment. It had to be his activities that gained him the position.

More interesting is his personal background and his participation in Coquille affairs. If you are a little older you might have even known him. He didn't die until February 1958 here in his home in Coquille. Gene born 12 October 1874 in Lincoln, York Co. Nebraska to George Washington Norton and Francis (Johnson) Norton. George was a Civil War veteran and had his foot shot in the service. His occupation was listed as a cabinet maker. Samuel and Eugene were their two sons. The family was living in St. Paul, Howard Co. Nebraska in 1880 heading west. In 1886 the parents were in Coos County. Gene picked up his education wherever he could, and after the age of 12 his education was mostly in newspaper offices. He worked for The Herald in Coquille and as a logger for a while. Baseball was Gene's avid hobby. He organized and was captain of a Coquille team before Coos League was established. He's front and center below, looking pretty young.


Gene married Grace McEwen in Coquille 21 October 1894. She was about 6 years older than he was. Their first child was born in Coquille but then Gene apparently felt constrained to move on for a while. In 1900 he went to work in Grand Junction, Colorado as a bookkeeper for the railroad.

 His daughter Allie was 5 and Stewart was three. Living with them were Grace's brother Burton McEwen and Gene's brother Samuel. You see Samuel's name in many of Coquille’s activities. In 1901 Mildred May Norton was born in Colorado. Marian Lenore Norton was born December 1907 in California, which means around 1907 Gene had moved the family to Sutter, Sacramento Co. California. The 1910 census says he was a clerk in an office there. I can't read if it was for the railroad or not. Something that drives a researcher to drink, unless one is prepared for such things, is the tendency for people to change names, from the first to the middle and sometimes back again....In 1910 Gene decides it's okay to go by Jesse. Althea who had gone by Allie is now going by her middle name of Grace. Her mother's middle name is Grace which she had more consistently been using. (Her first name is Gertrude.) Stewart is now going by his first name of Harry. They are in Coquille living up behind the present McKay’s, as neighbors to the Edwin Ellingson and Reuben Mast families.

 Harry Stewart Norton had left home, married a gal named Beulah and is living next door to his mother and father. Grace's father and sister are living with Gene and Grace. Nortons were in the grocery business. He went into the retail and wholesale grocery business in the field from Port Orford to Scottsburg with the Noslers on his return from California. In 1918 he registered for the draft for WWI. Robert Creager signed his enlistment papers. They said Gene was short, had grey eyes and dark hair!

It may be his participation as President of first Coos County Good Roads association, a representative of Coos county before the State Highway Commision when roads in Coos were being located and built, instrumental in securing the Rogue River Bridge, President of the Port of Bandon Commission, and representative in state legislature which gave him sufficent weight to be acclaimed and given the position of interim judge. Remember, at the time, county judges worked more with county affairs than with the criminal prosecutions. The Circuit court judges handled most of the criminal and outside cases. We will talk more about the circuit court judges soon. Gene was also involved in getting the county history "A Century of Coos and Curry" written and published. In addition to his grocery business he also had a very fine dairy farm. He married Bertha (Stark) Kalbus in 1929. Apparently Grace and Gene divorced. In 1930 she was living in Sacramento with her daughter Marian. Gene and Bertha had a home on the river six miles below Coquille, and were neighbors to Howard Taylor and Amos Nosler. For being a county judge for just one year, he apparently accomplished a lot!
]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/1896/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/1859/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html

JUDGE HUGH MCLAIN (photo taken 1934 - died in 1939

Judge McLain was born March 11, 1859 at New Albany, Indiana, two months after his father drowned in the Ohio River. He was six years old when President Lincoln was assassinated, and he recalls the grief of his family over the event. His mother married Thomas McManamon in 1866, and in 1868 the family moved to Kansas, stopping at St. Louis the day Grant was announced as a candidate for president. The family settled at Fort Harker, later called Kanopolis where the Kansas-Pacific railroad had just been completed.

He saw huge prairie schooners, pulled by 12 yoke of oxen freighting supplies to the southwest. In 1879, the family moved to Junction City, Kansas, where "Wild Bill Hickok was living." The judge remembers that Hickok carried two ivory-handled six-shooters and always rode "Major," his beautiful grey horse. Hugh McLain was always quick to let it be known that his parents came from the Irish free state. Judge McLain had to leave school at 14 when his step-father became ill.

 He found a job at $12 per month herding cattle. In 1879 he went to Louisiana and worked on the Texas Pacific railroad under construction from Shreveport, LA, to New Orleans. He worked 13 years in railroad construction in eleven states. His remembered his railroad days in the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee as the most memorable, except for his marriage to Barbara Rourke at Ennis, West Virginia on July 3, 1892. Judge McLain lived in Coos County for 40 years. He and Barbara were married for 48 years before his death in August of 1940. They had seven children: Leo b. W. Virginia 1893, a federal agent; Alice b. W. Virginia 1895, Marshfield post office clerk; Winfred b. Oregon 1898; Lucille b. Oregon 1905, Coos Bay Times reporter; June b. Oregon 1907; Agnes b. Oregon c. 1909; and one baby who died. The family came to Oregon in about 1897.

Hugh McLain came as a young engineer to Beaver Hill in Coos County when the mines first opened. He considered himself a contractor, operating coal mines, sawmills, logging camps, highway paving, sewer contracting and railroad work. He was very interested in politics and gave time to the Democratic party, rising to a position of power in the party. He was elected a presidential elector in 1912 and went to Washington, D.C. to carry Oregon's five electoral votes for Wilson and Marshall. He was a delegate-at-large to the 1924 Democratic national convention in New York City. McLain was appointed Marshfield's postmaster right after the election of Woodrow Wilson and served eight years. He was also president of the Marshfield Chamber of Commerce for five years. As a judge, McLain worked on tax-reduction and debt elimination, and during his tenure the county cut down on the bonded debt, nearly erasing the warrant debt. He also worked on a campaign to the congress for legislation to increase the revenue from revested grant lands of the Coos Bay Wagon road and O & C railroad.

 He was a steadfast member of St. Monica's Catholic church and gave one of the stained glass windows, which has his name on it. His dedication to his work was impressive. He became ill and resigned on July 28, 1940, five months before his 6-year term would have ended. He attended his last session of the county court late in June, and in July continued to sign court orders, keeping in touch with county affairs from his bed, making sure a transition was not too difficult. It is interesting to note that when he died in August of 1940, his pallbearers were Joseph McKeown, County treasurer Charles Stauff, County Roadmaster Floyd Robb, J.R. Gentry, James Flanagan and H.P. Hornish. The article on his funeral said that the courthouse was open that day, but with a small crew since "the majority of the county employees joined the group at the church paying their respects to the head of their official family for the past five and a half years." His death was printed on the front page of the Coos Bay Times, with a long article on the inside pages and another article regarding the 9 a.m. funeral at St. Monica's.

 The paper mentions that Judge McLain, a member of the Knights of Columbus lodge, was one of the older 4th degree knights in the area. He was also charter member of the Coos Bay aerie of Eagles. He is buried at Sunset Cemetery. (Edit note: Thanks to Doreen Wright for obtaining the obituary from the Coos Bay Library for me.) At the time Hugh McLain was a judge, his office was a part of the county operations. It was not until in the '80's that the state assumed control of the county courts and some other county functions. I worked for the county clerk's office as a result of that changeover (during one of my newspaper burn-outs). Being a part of the county functions explains McLain's ability to work on the various projects that he was involved in regarding the operations of the county offices. In the next step, the judges came under the state courts.

 This left the other employees and the building a part of the county. It was difficult for the state court system to deal with the county employees since they had no control over them. The next move was to put the entire court system under the state and to rent the space in the building that the courts used. This was done without any fanfare, and most people were unaware of what had transpired. The county employees knew, of course, because it involved their jobs. A number of them went to work for the state, and the rest stayed with the county clerk's office. The county clerk's office then was left primarily with land records, marriage records and election functions.

]]> no@spam.com (Dorothy Taylor) http://www.oregonbeacon.com/CoquilleSentinel/articles/1859/1/Did-you-know-this/Page1.html