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)

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.

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.¤

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!

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.

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.