John Sharpstein

John Randolph Sharpstein (May 3, 1823 – December 28, 1892) was an American lawyer and judge. He was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California for twelve years and earlier served in the member of the Wisconsin State Senate and Wisconsin State Assembly.

The Honorable

John R. Sharpstein
Cropped 1890 image of California Supreme Court Justice John R. Sharpstein.
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office
January 5, 1880 – December 28, 1892
Preceded byPosition Established
Succeeded byWilliam F. Fitzgerald
United States Attorney for the District of Wisconsin
In office
1853–1857
PresidentFranklin Pierce
Preceded byGeorge W. Lakin
Succeeded byDon A. J. Upham
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 8th district
In office
January 1, 1853 – January 1, 1854
Preceded byThomas Bowen
Succeeded byLevi Grant
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 16th district
In office
January 1, 1852 – January 1, 1853
Preceded byOrson S. Head
Succeeded byJoel C. Squires
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Milwaukee 1st district
In office
January 1, 1863 – January 1, 1864
Preceded byHenry L. Palmer
Succeeded byLevi Hubbell
Personal details
Born
John Randolph Sharpstein

(1823-05-03)May 3, 1823
Richmond, New York, U.S.
DiedDecember 28, 1892(1892-12-28) (aged 69)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Catherine C. Crittenden
(
m. 1845)
Children4

Biography

Sharpstein was born on May 3[1] or May 23,[2][3] 1823 in Richmond, New York. In 1847, he moved to Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.

Sharpstein was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate from 1852 to 1853, representing the 16th district in 1852 and the 8th district in 1853.[4] He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1863.[5]

Previously, he had been District Attorney of Sheboygan County and of Kenosha County, Wisconsin. From 1853 to 1857, he was U.S Attorney of Wisconsin.[6] In 1854, he represented the government in the fugitive slave cases, Ableman v. Booth and United States v. Booth (18 How. 476, 21 How. 506), appealing up to the Supreme Court of the United States, where Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote the unanimous opinion.[7] In April 1857, Sharpstein became Postmaster of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then was a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention.

In 1864, Sharpstein moved to California, was admitted to the bar in January 1865, and practiced law.[2][3][8][9] In 1872, he published a book on insurance law.[10] In January 1874, Governor Newton Booth appointed Sharpstein a judge of the Twelfth District Court in California, replacing Elisha W. McKinstry.[11][12][13] In October 1875, he ran for election on the Republican ticket but lost the election to the district court to William E. Daingerfield.[14] In July 1878, Sharpstein was nominated by the Workingmen's Party and elected as a member of the Constitutional Convention from the First Congressional District.[15][16]

In October 1879, when adoption of a new constitution required elections for all Supreme Court seats, Sharpstein was nominated by Democratic and Workingmen's parties and won a position as Associate Justice.[17][18][19] When the term began January 5, 1880, the justices drew lots to determine their length of term, and he and Erskine M. Ross both drew three-year terms.[20][21] In November 1882, both Ross and Sharpstein were re-elected on the Democratic ticket to 12-year terms.[22][11] Among Sharpstein's notable opinions is Tape v. Hurley, 66 Cal. 473 (1885), holding the City of San Francisco excluding a Chinese child from public school violated the California Constitution. In July 1886, former Chief Justice David S. Terry filed a petition which unsuccessfully sought the removal of both Chief Justice Robert F. Morrison and Sharpstein on the basis of incompetence due to age.[23]

Sharpstein remained a member of the court until his death on December 28, 1892.[2][3][24][25]

Civic activities

In 1878, Sharpstein was a member of the first board of trustees of Hastings College of the Law.[11]

Personal life

On November 17, 1845, Sharpstein married Catherine C. Crittenden in Macomb, Michigan.[11][26] They had two daughters, who both died young in Michigan, and two sons, Jay Pitt Sharpstein, who lived in Berkeley, and William Crittenden Sharpstein, who graduated from Hastings College of Law and became an attorney.[11][27][28]

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References
  1. John R. Sharpstein. History of the Bench and Bar of Wisconsin. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  2. "Life's Journey Ended. John R. Sharpstein". The Saint Paul Globe. December 30, 1892. p. 3. Retrieved March 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Judge Sharpstein Dead". Logansport Pharos-Tribune. December 30, 1892. p. 9. Retrieved March 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Members of the Wisconsin Legislature 1848 – 1999" (PDF). State of Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-04. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
  5. "California Judge". Watertown republican. (Watertown, Wis.). Library of Congress Historical Newspapers. January 21, 1874. p. 1. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  6. "Prominent Men of the Day". San Francisco Call (69 (25)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 25 December 1890. p. 11. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  7. Baker, H. Robert (2006). The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution, and the Coming of the Civil War. Columbus, OH: Ohio University Press. p. 138. ISBN 0821442147. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  8. "Consignees, Per Bavaria". Daily Alta California (16 (5379)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 24 November 1864. p. 6. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  9. "Supreme Court, Attorneys Admitted". Sacramento Daily Union (28 (4300)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 January 1865. p. 6. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  10. Sharpstein, John R. (1872). A Digest of American, English, Scotch and Irish Reports of Life and Accident Insurance Cases. San Francisco, CA: Sumner Whitney & Co. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  11. Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender Moss Co. pp. 134–136. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  12. "Pacific Coast News". Russian River Flag (9). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8 January 1874. p. 2. Retrieved October 3, 2017. Governor Booth has appointed John R. Sharpstein to succeed E. W. McKinstry as Judge of the Twelfth District Court.
  13. "Pacific Coast Telegrams, San Francisco". Los Angeles Herald (1 (80)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 6 January 1874. p. 3. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  14. "Republican Ticket". Daily Alta California (27 (9329)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 October 1875. p. 4. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  15. "Constitutional Convention". Sacramento Daily Union (7 (102)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 17 June 1878. p. 1. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  16. "The Official Count". Sacramento Daily Union. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 July 1878. p. 2. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  17. "Democratic Conventions". Sacramento Daily Union (8 (101)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 4 July 1879. p. 1. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  18. "Official Returns of the Election". Sacramento Daily Union (8 (191)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 20 October 1879. p. 2. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  19. Bakken, Gordon Morris (Spring–Summer 2016). "Creating a Court System" (PDF). California Supreme Court Historical Society Newsletter: 6. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  20. "The New State Supreme Court". Sacramento Daily Record-Union. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. January 6, 1880. p. 1. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  21. "The Courts, Supreme Court". Sacramento daily record-union. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. January 13, 1880. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  22. "Democratic State Ticket". Los Angeles Herald (41). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 10 October 1882. p. 2. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  23. "Sacramento, The Struggle Over the Supreme Court". Los Angeles Herald (25 (127)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 July 1886. p. 1. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  24. "Pioneers Passing Away, Justice Sharpstein Lying at the Point of Death". Los Angeles Herald (39 (79)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 29 December 1892. p. 2. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  25. "Prominent in Two States". Fort Scott Daily Monitor. December 30, 1892. p. 1. Retrieved March 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. "Mrs. Sharpstein Passes Away". San Francisco Call (100 (49)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 July 1906. p. 14. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  27. "Deaths". San Francisco Call (100 (52)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 July 1906. p. 45. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  28. Bates, Joseph Clement (1912). History of the Bench and Bar of California. Bench and Bar Publishing Company. p. 499. Retrieved October 3, 2017. William Crittenden Sharpstein.

Selected publications

See also
Legal offices
Preceded by
Elections under new constitution of 1879		 Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
1880–1892		 Succeeded by
William F. Fitzgerald
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