Addison Niles Explained

Addison Cook Niles
Office:Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
Term Start:January 1, 1872
Term End:January 5, 1880
Appointer:Direct election
Predecessor:Jackson Temple
Birth Date:22 July 1832
Birth Place:Rensselaerville, New York, U.S.
Death Place:San Francisco, California, U.S.
Relations:Niles Searls (brother-in-law)
Alma Mater:Williams College (BA)

Addison Cook Niles (July 22, 1832  - January 17, 1890) was an attorney and served as Nevada County judge in California from 1862 - 1871 and as associate justice on the Supreme Court of California from 1872 - 1880.

Biography

Addison Cook Niles was born in Rensselaerville, New York to John Niles (1797  - 1872) and Mary Cook (1803  - 1873).[1] [2] Niles had two younger brothers: John Hamiton Niles and Charles Mumford Niles; and six sisters: Laura Niles, Cornelia Deborah Niles, Mary Corinthia Niles, Henrietta Amelia Niles, and Emily Harriet Niles.

In 1852, Niles graduated from Williams College[3] and began reading law in the office of Increase Sumner at Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and with Rufus King at Catskill, New York. In 1855, Niles was admitted to the New York bar, and then came to Nevada City, California, the center of gold prospecting.[4]

Niles entered into private practice with various attorneys, including Thomas Bard McFarland, John R. McConnell, Aaron A. Sargent, and Niles Searls, his cousin and brother-in-law.[1]

In 1862, Niles won election as a Union party candidate for Nevada County judge.[5] [6] In October 1863, he was nominated by the Union Party and was elected to a four-year term on the county court.[7] [8] In October 1867, he was re-elected to the trial court on the Union party ticket.[9] In November 1867, he ruled against the Chinese and extended the California Statute "forbidding Chinese to give evidence against any white person", in the light of U.S. Civil Rights Law, to "against any citizen without distinction of color" [10] —indicative of the struggles of judges in trying to adhere to equal justice while applying an inherently racist law.[11]

In 1871, Niles was nominated by the Republican party and won the election as a justice of the California Supreme Court.[12] [13] In the election, he defeated Jackson Temple for the unexpired term of Silas Sanderson, who had retired in 1869.[14] In 1879, all seats of the Supreme Court were up for election due to the new constitution, and Niles chose not run for re-election.

After stepping down from the court he struggled with a drinking problem. In 1884, he suffered a serious bout of illness but recovered.[15] Financial setbacks swept away his fortune: "during the last few years of his life he was what the world calls poor."[16] He died on January 17, 1890, in San Francisco at age 57.[17] [18]

Honors and legacy

In April 1870, Central Pacific Railroad activated a new junction near Vallejo Mill to service trains on the first transcontinental mainline and those on the branch to San José. It was known as Niles for Addison Niles, who was then an attorney for the railroad as well as Nevada County judge.[19] [20] Later that year, Central Pacific added a railroad depot with a restaurant and saloon there. Concomitantly, the settlement Vallejo Mill became known as Niles.[21] [22] However, the settlement did not develop commercially until the 1890s, by which time Judge Niles had died.[23] Since 1956, Niles is a district in Fremont, California.[24]

The Niles railroad station was situated at the mouth of the Alameda canyon, which was the major course of Alameda Creek. After 1870, the canyon became known as Niles Canyon and the section of the heritage railroad therein the Niles Canyon Railway,[25] which was part of the westernmost leg of the First transcontinental railroad.

Personal life

On April 13, 1859, Niles married Elizabeth Caldwell in Placer County, California, and they had one son, Addison Perkins Niles.[26] [18]

His first cousin, Niles Searls, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court from 1887 to 1889, was married to Addison's sister, Mary Corinthia Niles (1830–1910).[15] [27] [28]

External links

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Pacific Coast Items. August 17, 2017. Sacramento Daily Union. 7415. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 February 1872. 42. 2.
  2. Book: Johnson. J. Edward. History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1. 1963. Bender Moss Co. San Francisco, CA. 118–120. August 14, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20161227124913/http://library.courtinfo.ca.gov/included/docs/SCJC_Vol_1.pdf. December 27, 2016. dead. mdy-all.
  3. Web site: Zeta Chapter, Williams College. August 17, 2017. 23. 1852, Addison C. Niles, Died.
  4. News: Departures. August 18, 2017. The New York Herald. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. January 6, 1855. 40. For California via Aspinwall in the steamship George Law...A C Niles.
  5. News: Nevada Union County Convention. August 17, 2017. Sacramento Daily Union. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 5 August 1862. 2.
  6. News: District Judges. August 17, 2017. Sacramento Daily Union. 3619. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 November 1862. 24. 8.
  7. News: Nominations in Nevada. August 17, 2017. Marysville Daily Appeal. 20. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 24 July 1863. 2.
  8. News: Interior Items, County Judges Elected. August 17, 2017. Daily Alta California. 4987. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 24 October 1863. 15. 1.
  9. News: State Election Returns. August 17, 2017. Daily Alta California. 6425. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 18 October 1867. 19. 1.
  10. Web site: JUDGE NILES' DECISION . cdnc.ucr.edu . Marysville Daily Appeal, Volume XVI, Number 118, 16 November 1867 . 3 April 2023 . I do not know how the provision of our Statute, forbidding Chinese to give evidence against any white person, in criminal cases, can be otherwise construed, than as a law for the security of the persons of the class named. It is a privilege given by our Statute to a single class of citizens. The Act of Congress extends its benefit to all classes. In tbis view Chinese evidence is inadmissable against any citizen without distinction of color. Let an order be entered setting aside the indictment and discharging the defendant. A. C. NILES, County Judge. November 13, 1867..
  11. Web site: Chin . Gabriel . "A Chinaman's Chance" in Court: Asian Pacific Americans and Racial Rules of Evidence . law.uci.edu . UC IRVINE LAW REVIEW, Vol. 3 . 3 April 2023 . 965–990 . 2013.
  12. News: Our Nominees. August 17, 2017. Marysville Daily Appeal. 156. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 July 1871. 2.
  13. News: Inauguration of Gov. Booth. August 17, 2017. Sacramento Daily Union. 7355. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 9 December 1871. 42. 5.
  14. Book: Bancroft. Hubert Howe. History of California: 1860-1890. 1890. History Company. 235. addison c. niles williams college.. August 17, 2017.
  15. News: Personals. August 17, 2017. Daily Alta California. 12374. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 March 1884. 36. 2. Hon. A. C. Niles, formerly a Justice of the State Supreme Court, is seriously ill at Nevada City. He is at the residence of his sister, Mrs. Niles Searles..
  16. Web site: In Memoriam: Addison C. Niles . California Supreme Court Historical Society . Cal Reports, Vol. 82, p.661-669 . 23 March 2023 . 7 March 1890.
  17. News: Addison C. Niles, Unexpected Death of the Well-Known Ex-Justice of the Supreme Court. August 17, 2017. Daily Alta California. 19. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 January 1890. 82. 1.
  18. News: Death of Judge Niles. August 17, 2017. Sacramento Daily Union. 129. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 20 January 1890. 62. 1.
  19. Web site: Railroad Matters . cdnc.ucr.edu . Daily Alta California, Volume 22, Number 7342, 28 April 1870 . 23 September 2023 . The station known heretofore as San José Junction, will no longer be a stopping place for the trains either way. Passengers for San José will change cars at Niles..
  20. Web site: Wong . V. K. . A tale of two junctions: the birthing of Niles, 4 June 1869 to 28 April 1870 . Washington Township Museum of Local History . 23 September 2023 . December 2020.
  21. Book: Hoover, Mildred Brooke . Douglas E. Kyle . Hero Rensch . Historic spots in California. Stanford University Press. 2002. 5. 18. 0-8047-4482-3.
  22. Web site: Cain. Julie. Niles - Home, Sweet Home!. Niles California blog. August 17, 2017. May 2, 2010.
  23. Book: Holmes . Philip . Singleton . Jill M. . Niles - Fremont . 2004 . Arcadia . Charleston, SC . 0738529125 . 20 .
  24. News: Fremont: Silents golden at Niles' new film museum . Weinstein . Dave . San Francisco Chronicle . 2004-09-17 . Hearst Communications . 2009-03-11 . 2012-09-11 . https://archive.today/20120911090352/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/09/17/EBG4F8N3M91.DTL&sn=080&sc=423 . dead .
  25. Book: Mosier . Page . Mosier . Dan . Alameda County Place Names . 1986 . Mines Road Books . Fremont, California.
  26. Web site: Nevada County Namesakes: Nile(s) Street. 23 August 2014 . TheUnion.com. August 17, 2017.
  27. News: Judge Searles is Dead. August 17, 2017. Sacramento Union. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 April 1907. 8. Judge Searls married in his native county, in 1853, Miss Mary C. Niles, sister of his late law partner, Addison C. Niles..
  28. Web site: Abraham Sarls/Searles of NY/ONT. Niles. Allen . November 20, 2008. genealogy.com. 2009-05-25.

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