William Cary Van Fleet

William Cary Van Fleet (March 24, 1852 – September 3, 1923) was an associate justice of the California Supreme Court and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

William Cary Van Fleet
Portrait of Van Fleet, published in the San Francisco Call in Apr 1907
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
In office April 2, 1907 – September 3, 1923
Appointed by	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Seat established by 34 Stat. 1253
Succeeded by	Frank Henry Kerrigan
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office May 7, 1894 – January 3, 1899
Appointed by	Henry Markham
Preceded by	Van R. Paterson
Succeeded by	Walter Van Dyke
Personal details
Born	William Cary Van Fleet (1852-03-24)March 24, 1852 Maumee, Ohio
Died	September 3, 1923(1923-09-03) (aged 71) San Francisco, California
Political party	Republican
Education	read law

Education and career

Born in Maumee, Ohio,^[1] in 1869 Van Fleet came to California.^[2] He read law in the offices of H. O. Beatty, and entered the bar in 1873.^[2] He was an assistant district attorney of Sacramento County, California from 1878 to 1879.^[3] He was a California State Assemblyman from 1881 to 1882, and was the Director of California State Prisons from 1883 to 1884.^[4] He was a Judge of the Superior Court of California from 1884 to 1892, and was appointed by Governor Henry Markham an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California, serving from May 7, 1894, to January 3, 1899.^[2] In November 1898, he ran on the Republican and United Labor Party ticket for another term but lost the election to Democratic Walter Van Dyke.^[5][6] After stepping down from the court, he practiced in the firm of Mastic, Belcher, Van Fleet & Mastick.^[2]

Federal judicial service

On April 2, 1907, Van Fleet received a recess appointment from President Theodore Roosevelt to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California created by 34 Stat. 1253.^[7] Formally nominated to the same position by President Roosevelt on December 3, 1907, he was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 17, 1907, and received his commission the same day.^[1] Van Fleet served until his death on September 3, 1923,^[1] in San Francisco, California.^{[citation needed]}

Personal

Van Fleet married twice. On April 12, 1877, he married Mary Isabella Carey, who died in Sacramento on February 14, 1878.^[8] They had a son, Ransom.^[9][10] After her death, he married Lizzie Eldridge Crocker (sister of Henry and niece of Charles and Edwin of the prominent Crocker family) in San Francisco on January 19, 1887. They had four children, Alan, William, Clark, and Julia.^[11]

References

1. William Cary Van Fleet at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
2. "It Is Van Fleet". San Francisco Call. Vol. 75, no. 131. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 April 1894. p. 8. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
3. Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender Moss Co. pp. 194–197. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
4. 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. Commercial Printing House. pp. 755–756. Retrieved September 20, 2017. William Cary Van Fleet judge.
5. "The State Ticket". Evening Sentinel. Vol. 3, no. 121. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 October 1898. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
6. "Official Vote Count on State Ticket". Marin Journal. Vol. 38, no. 41. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 December 1898. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
7. "Van Fleet Takes Oath and Becomes a Judge". San Francisco Call. Vol. 101, no. 132. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 11 April 1907. p. 9. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
8. "Died". Sacramento Daily Union. Vol. 3, no. 306. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 15 February 1878. p. 2. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
9. "The Smart Set". The San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. June 26, 1912. p. 9. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
10. "San Francisco Society Has Gay Week With the Grand Opera Season". The San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. March 23, 1913. p. 35. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
11. "Weddings". Daily Alta California. Vol. 42, no. 13659. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 23 January 1887. p. 7. Retrieved July 25, 2017.

Sources

• William Cary Van Fleet at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

External links

• W. C. Van Fleet. California Supreme Court Historical Society.
• Past & Present Justices. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

See also

• List of justices of the Supreme Court of California

Legal offices
Preceded by Van R. Paterson	Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court 1894–1899	Succeeded by Walter Van Dyke
Preceded by Seat established by 34 Stat. 1253	Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California 1907–1923	Succeeded by Frank Henry Kerrigan