Thomas Bard McFarland

Thomas Bard McFarland (April 19, 1828 – September 16, 1908) was a miner, politician and judge in the U.S. state of California. He served as a state assemblyman, Superior Court judge, and associate justice of the Supreme Court of California.

Thomas Bard McFarland
Cropped 1890 image of California Supreme Court Justice Thomas B. McFarland.
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office
December 28, 1886 – September 1908
Appointed byDirect election
Preceded byMilton H. Myrick
Succeeded byHenry A. Melvin
Assemblyman from Nevada County in the California State Assembly
In office
January 1856 – March 1856
Appointed byDirect election
Personal details
Born(1828-04-19)April 19, 1828
Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedSeptember 16, 1908(1908-09-16) (aged 80)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Political party
Spouse(s)
Susie Briggs
(
m. 1861)
Alma materMarshall College (B.A.)
OccupationMiner, lawyer, politician, judge

Biography

McFarland was born in 1828 near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.[1] He graduated from Marshall College (1846) and soon thereafter studied law with his cousin, Robert M. Bard, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He was admitted to practice in 1849.[2]

Instead of commencing practice, however, he headed to California, arriving September 1850, and was a gold miner for three years. He then opened a law office in Nevada City where he practiced with various partners, including Addison Niles, until 1861. In September 1855, he was elected and served one term in the 1856 term of the California State Assembly from Nevada County (part of today's 1st State Assembly district), running on the Know Nothing or American Party ticket.[3] On April 21, 1856, he was admitted to the bar of the California Supreme Court.[4][5] In 1857, he was nominated by the Know Nothings for California Attorney General but lost the election.[6]

In 1861, he was elected judge of the Fourteenth District Court, in which capacity he served for two terms.[7] After he retired from the bench, he practiced law in Sacramento for the next 12 years, except an interval during which he served as Register of the United States General Land Office at Sacramento, accepting this position at the suggestion of Aaron A. Sargent.[8][9] In 1879, McFarland served as a member of the convention which framed the existing Constitution of California.[10]

On December 18, 1882, he was appointed to fill a two-year vacancy upon the bench of the Sacramento County Superior Court by Governor George Clement Perkins.[11] In 1884, McFarland was nominated by the Republican Party and elected for a full term.[12][13]

In November 1886, McFarland was elected on the Republican ticket for a 12-year term as associate justice of the Supreme Court of California, taking his seat in January 1887.[14][15] In 1898, McFarland was re-elected to the high court despite accusations he favored railroads in his rulings.[16][17] He sat continuously as an associate justice up to the time of his death, September 16, 1908, a period of over 21 years.[18] In September 1908, Governor James Gillett appointed Henry A. Melvin to finish the remainder of McFarland's term until January 1911.[19][20]

McFarland was originally a member of the Whig Party, but joined the Republican Party when it was organized.[21][22]

Civic activities

He sat on the board of education of the city of Sacramento[23] and was a trustee of Leland Stanford Junior University.[24][2]

Personal life

McFarland married Susie Briggs at Nevada City in 1861.[25] Briggs' sister was married to Dr. Robert M. Hunt who was the first physician to practice medicine in that town, and was a charter member of the California Medical Society.[26] The McFarlands had one child, Jennie.[27][22][28]

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References
  1. Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender Moss Co. pp. 149–151. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  2. California. Supreme Court (1909). Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California (Public domain ed.). pp. 807–. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  3. "Official Vote of Nevada County". Sacramento Daily Union (9 (1392)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. from the Nevada Journal Extra. 11 September 1855. p. 3. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  4. "The Courts, Supreme Court". Sacramento Daily Union (10 (1505)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 January 1856. p. 2. Retrieved August 15, 2017. Application of T. B. McFarland for license as practising attorney, referred to Examining Committee
  5. "The Courts, Supreme Court". Sacramento Daily Union (11 (1583)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 April 1856. p. 3. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  6. "American Nominees". Sacramento Daily Union (13 (1979)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 July 1857. p. 2. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  7. "How the Democracy Captured Nevada". Daily Alta California (20 (6791)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 20 October 1868. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  8. "Washington Intelligence". Sacramento Daily Union (42 (7386)). Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. 16 January 1872. p. 2. Retrieved August 15, 2017. The President sent the following nominations to the Senate: Registers of Land Offices-Thomas B. McFarland of Sacramento
  9. "Washington, Confirmed". Daily Alta California (29 (9839)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 16 March 1877. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2017. Thomas B. McFarland, Register of Land Office at Sacramento
  10. "Constitutional Convention". Sacramento Daily Union (7 (189)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 September 1878. p. 2. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  11. "Memories of Judges Gone Link Yesterday to Now". Sacramento Union (1). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 January 1913. p. 30. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  12. "Campaign, the Republican Party and its Candidates". Sacramento Daily Record-Union. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. October 25, 1884. p. 7. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  13. "Local Judges Honor McFarland". Sacramento Union (26). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 September 1908. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  14. "City Official Canvas". Daily Alta California (41 (13600)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 24 November 1886. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  15. "The Supreme Court, From Chief Justice Hastings to Chief Justice Beatty". San Francisco Call (78 (22)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 June 1895. p. 5. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  16. "Justice T. B. McFarland". Sacramento Daily Union (96 (76)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. from the Oakland Tribune. 5 November 1898. p. 2. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  17. "Official Count on State Ticket". Marin Journal (38 (41)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 December 1898. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  18. "Pioneer Jurist Dies in North". Los Angeles Herald. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. September 17, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  19. "Appoints Melvin to Succeed McFarland". Los Angeles Herald. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. September 29, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  20. "Answers to Queries, State Officers". San Francisco Call (87 (129)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8 April 1901. p. 4. Retrieved August 15, 2017. T. B. McFarland, 1911
  21. "Mass Meeting in Nevada County-A People's Party Proposed". Sacramento Daily Union (17 (2569)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 June 1859. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2017. T. B. McFarland, of Nevada, called the meeting to order and stated the meeting was called by those persons throughout the county who were opposed to the operation and nominations of the various parties in the State and county.
  22. Shuck, Oscar Tully (1901). History of the Bench and Bar of California: Being Biographies of Many Remarkable Men, a Store of Humorous and Pathetic Recollections, Accounts of Important Legislation and Extraordinary Cases, Comprehending the Judicial History of the State (Public domain ed.). Commercial Printing House. pp. 661–. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  23. "Brief Reference". Sacramento Daily Union (1 (249)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 December 1875. p. 3. Retrieved August 15, 2017. Voters of the Third Ward endorse McFarland for school director.
  24. "Leland Stanford Jr. University". Sonoma Democrat (6). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 28 November 1885. p. 1. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  25. "Thirty Years Ago". Sacramento Daily Union (82 (97)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 12 December 1891. p. 5. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  26. A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California: Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the Earliest Period of Its Occupancy to the Present Time (Public domain ed.). Lewis Publishing Company. 1891. pp. 488–. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  27. "Social and Personal". Sacramento Daily Union (79 (103)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 24 June 1890. p. 2. Retrieved August 15, 2017. Miss Jennie McFarland, daughter of Justice McFarland, arrived in the city last evening, en route to Placerville.
  28. "Social and Personal". Sacramento Daily Union (82 (22)). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 16 September 1891. p. 3. Retrieved August 15, 2017.

Sources
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: California. Supreme Court's "Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California" (1909)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lewis Publishing Company's "A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California: Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the Earliest Period of Its Occupancy to the Present Time" (1891)
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: O.T. Shuck's "History of the Bench and Bar of California: Being Biographies of Many Remarkable Men, a Store of Humorous and Pathetic Recollections, Accounts of Important Legislation and Extraordinary Cases, Comprehending the Judicial History of the State" (1901)

See also
Legal offices
Preceded by
Milton H. Myrick		 Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
1886–1908		 Succeeded by
Henry A. Melvin
Preceded by
 Assemblyman from Nevada County in the California State Assembly
January 1856–March 1856		 Succeeded by
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