Dakota Territorial Supreme Court

The Dakota Territorial Supreme Court was the highest court of the Dakota Territory, then an organized incorporated territory of the United States. It was the first Territorial Supreme Court in American history, and was established under Article One of the United States Constitution, with justices were appointed directly by the President of the United States. The court sat in Yankton, South Dakota, and existed from March 2, 1861, to November 2, 1889. The first court consisted of three justices: Philemon Bliss, Lorenzo P. Williston, and Joseph Lanier Williams, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln. The court heard no cases until December 3, 1867.[1] In 1879 the court enlarged to four justices, then six in 1884, and eight in 1888.

## Justices

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Following is a list of justices of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court, this was that existed. When the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota, the court was abolished by operation of law, and its function was taken over by the North Dakota Supreme Court and the South Dakota Supreme Court.[2]

Title | Name | Term begin | Term end | Appointed by

|
|
|
|

Chief Justice  | Philemon Bliss | 1861  | 1864  | Abraham Lincoln
Associate Justice  | Allan A. Burton | 1861  | 1861  | Abraham Lincoln
Associate Justice  | Lorenzo P. Williston | 1861  | 1865  | Abraham Lincoln
Associate Justice  | Joseph Lanier Williams | 1861  | 1865  | Abraham Lincoln
Chief Justice  | Ara Bartlett | 1864  | 1869  | Abraham Lincoln
Associate Justice  | William E. Gleason | 1865  | 1867  | Abraham Lincoln
Associate Justice  | Jefferson P. Kidder | 1865
1879  | 1875
1883  | Abraham Lincoln
Rutherford B. Hayes
Associate Justice  | John W. Boyle | 1867  | 1869  | Andrew Johnson
Associate Justice  | Wilmot Brookings | 1869  | 1873  | Ulysses S. Grant
Chief Justice  | George W. French | 1869  | 1873  | Ulysses S. Grant
Associate Justice  | Alanson H. Barnes | 1873  | 1881  | Ulysses S. Grant
Chief Justice  | Peter C. Shannon | 1873  | 1882  | Ulysses S. Grant
Associate Justice  | Granville G. Bennett | 1875  | 1878  | Ulysses S. Grant
Associate Justice  | Gideon C. Moody | 1878  | 1883  | Rutherford B. Hayes
Associate Justice  | Sanford A. Hudson | 1881  | 1885  |
Chief Justice  | Alonzo J. Edgerton | 1882  | 1886  | Chester A. Arthur
Associate Justice  | William E. Church | 1883  | 1886  | Chester A. Arthur
Associate Justice  | Cornelius S. Palmer | 1883  | 1888  | Chester A. Arthur
Associate Justice  | William H. Francis | 1884  | 1888  | Chester A. Arthur
Associate Justice  | Seward Smith | 1884  | 1885  | Chester A. Arthur
Associate Justice  | Louis K. Church | 1885  | 1887  | Grover Cleveland
Associate Justice  | William B. McConnell | 1885  | 1889  | Grover Cleveland
Chief Justice  | Bartlett Tripp | 1886  | 1889  | Grover Cleveland
Associate Justice  | Charles M. Thomas | 1886  | 1889  | Grover Cleveland
Associate Justice  | James Spencer | 1887  | 1889  | Grover Cleveland
Associate Justice  | John Emmett Carland | 1888  | 1889  | Grover Cleveland
Associate Justice  | Roderick Rose | 1888  | 1889  | Grover Cleveland
Associate Justice  | Charles F. Templeton | 1888  | 1889  | Grover Cleveland
Associate Justice  | Louis W. Crofoot | 1888  | 1889  | Grover Cleveland
Associate Justice  | Frank R. Aikens | 1889  | 1889  | Benjamin Harrison

## References

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1. ^ "Territorial Supreme Court". The South Dakota Supreme Court. South Dakota Unified Judicial System. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
2. ^ "SD Supreme Court Photographic History". South Dakota Supreme Court. South Dakota Unified Judicial System. Retrieved June 17, 2016.

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