Charles Lee Horsey Explained

Charles Lee Horsey
Office2:Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court
Term Start2:1945
Term End2:1951
Appointer2:Vail Pittman
Predecessor2:William Edwin Orr
Successor2:Charles Merton Merrill
Office3:Nevada Senate
Term Start3:1913
Term End3:1915
Term Start4:1939
Term End4:1940
Birth Date:23 December 1880
Birth Place:Laurel, Delaware
Death Place:Santa Barbara, California
Education:University of Virginia
Party:Democrat

Charles Lee Horsey (December 23, 1880 – March 30, 1958) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada from 1945 to 1951.

Early life and education

Horsey was born in Laurel, Delaware on December 23, 1880. Horsey spent most of his early life in Philadelphia, where his family moved when he was five years old.[1] He then attended the University of Virginia and received an L.L.B. in 1904.He married Margaret Woodruff Hitch on September 7, 1903, and they had four children.

Career

Horsey served as District Attorney of Lincoln County from 1906 to 1908 and then was elected State Senator. While in the Senate he chaired the judiciary committee and wrote several statutes that tightened mine safety laws.

Horsey was elected as District Judge of the Tenth Judicial District in 1915, but did not seek re-election in order to serve as president of the Virginia-Louise Mining Company from 1917 through 1922. In 1928, Mr. Horsey was the Democratic nominee for representative in congress.[1] He was elected again to the state senate, representing Clark County, in 1939.

In 1945, Horsey briefly served as a Judge on the Eighth Judicial District in Clark County before Governor Vail Pittman appointed him to the Supreme Court vacancy created by the resignation of William Edwin Orr. In 1946 he was elected for a full six-year term on the court. He was defeated in his re-election campaign by Republican attorney Charles Merton Merrill.[2]

Death

Horsey died in Santa Barbara, California on March 30, 1958.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Reno Gazette-Journal (November 1, 1950) p. 13, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147150264/.
  2. Philip L. Dubois, From Ballot to Bench: Judicial Elections and the Quest for Accountability (University of Texas Press, October 1, 2014), p. 91.
  3. Web site: The Honorable Charles Lee Horsey. March 31, 1958. Nevada Supreme Court.