Warner Cope Explained

Order:6th
Office:Chief Justice of California
Term Start:May 20, 1863
Term End:January 2, 1864
Predecessor:Stephen J. Field
Successor:Silas W. Sanderson
Office1:Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
Term Start1:September 20, 1859
Term End1:May 20, 1863
Appointer1:Governor John B. Weller
Predecessor1:David S. Terry
Successor1:Edwin B. Crocker
Birth Date:31 January 1824
Birth Place:Kentucky, U.S.
Death Place:San Francisco, California, U.S.

Warner Walton Cope (January 31, 1824 – January 17, 1903), also known as W. W. Cope, was the sixth Chief Justice of California.

Biography

Born in Kentucky, Cope came to California in 1850 and tried mining, but found little success. In 1853 he resumed work as an attorney, first in El Dorado County and the next year in Jackson, Amador County. In October 1858, he was elected to the California State Assembly from Amador as a Democrat.[1]

In June 1859 he was nominated by Alvinza Hayward,[2] also of Amador County, to be the candidate of the Democratic Lecompton Party for associate justice of the Supreme Court of California.[3] [4] In September 1859, he was elected, but before his term was to begin he was appointed by Governor John B. Weller to fill a vacancy on the court starting September 20, 1859, when David S. Terry resigned to fight a duel.[5] [6] [7] He became Chief Justice on March 11, 1863, filling the vacancy after President Abraham Lincoln appointed Stephen J. Field to the U.S. Supreme Court.[8] Cope himself left the court at the end of that year when a constitutional amendment required new judicial elections.[7]

In 1877, Cope was a judge on the Fourth District Court.[9] In 1880, he was a delegate to the Democratic Party state convention.[10] In 1883, Cope became the California Reporter of Decisions, and in March 1885 was appointed to a four-year term as commissioner of the Supreme Court.[11]

After leaving the court, Cope returned to private practice[12] until about 1893, when he retired to Contra Costa County, where he raised nuts and fruit. He died in San Francisco on January 17, 1903.[6]

Bar activities

From 1880 to 1885, Cope was president of the San Francisco Bar Association.[13] [14]

Personal life

On April 19, 1845, Cope married Martha Ann Neal in Shelby County, Kentucky.[15] He traveled to California in 1850, and his wife followed in 1856. They had three sons and three daughters.[16] One of his sons, Walter B. Cope, was a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge and a prominent California lawyer in the firm of Morrison, Cope & Brobeck.[17] Like his father, Walter also served as president of the San Francisco Bar Association, from 1906 to 1909.[18]

External links

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: The Next Legislature. July 18, 2017. Los Angeles Star. 21. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 October 1858. 2.
  2. "Democratic Lecompton Convention, Third Day," Sacramento Daily Union, Vol. 17, Number 2573, June 25, 1859.
  3. News: News of the Morning. July 18, 2017. Sacramento Daily Union. 17. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 13 August 1859. 3. The remarks made by W. W. Cope, candidate for Supreme Judge, at the Lecompton Mass Meeting.
  4. News: Democratic State Ticket. July 19, 2017. Tulare County Record. 8. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 13 August 1859. 1. 2.
  5. News: W. W. Cope has been appointed by Gov. Weller, as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. July 18, 2017. Los Angeles Star. 21. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 October 1859. 2.
  6. News: Deaths of the Day, W. W. Cope. July 18, 2017. Los Angeles Herald. 106. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 18 January 1903. 5.
  7. https://archive.org/stream/baysanfrancisco01compgoog/baysanfrancisco01compgoog_djvu.txt The Bay of San Francisco: The Metropolis of the Pacific Coast, and Its Suburban Cities. A History
  8. Book: Johnson. J. Edward. History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1. 1963. Bender Moss Co. San Francisco, CA. 81–83. August 14, 2017. December 27, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161227124913/http://library.courtinfo.ca.gov/included/docs/SCJC_Vol_1.pdf. dead.
  9. News: The Late General John Wilson. July 19, 2017. Daily Alta California. 20. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 4 February 1877. 2. The Fourth District Court, on motion of Judge W. W. Cope, adjourned yesterday.
  10. News: Alameda County Politics. July 18, 2017. Daily Alta California. 32. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 25 April 1880. 1.
  11. News: Supreme Court Commissioners. July 18, 2017. Daily Alta California. 38. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 18 March 1885. 1.
  12. News: The Park Commission. July 18, 2017. Daily Alta California. 121. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 29 October 1889. 81. 1. W. W. Cope has been retained, and by consent he will make an argument before Judge Hoge when the case is called.
  13. News: Bar Association Officers. July 19, 2017. Daily Alta California. 38. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 12 January 1885. 1.
  14. News: In Memoriam. July 18, 2017. Daily Alta California. 34. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 15 November 1882. 1. The San Francisco Bar Association met yesterday afternoon, with President W. W. Cope in the chair..
  15. News: Death Lays Claim to an Estimable Lady, Mrs. Martha A. Cope, Wife of Judge W. W. Cope, Passes Away. July 18, 2017. San Francisco Call. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 January 1902. 33.
  16. News: Singer for Fabiola Charity to Become Toronto Man's Bride. July 18, 2017. San Francisco Call. 52. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 January 1912. 111. 49. Her grandfather was the late Justice W. W. Cope of the supreme court..
  17. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19091206.2.23 "Judge W. B. Cope Called by Death, Former Superior Judge of Santa Barbara County and Well-Known Lawyer Dies"
  18. http://www.sfbar.org/about/past_presidents.aspx BASF Past Presidents

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