Warner Cope

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

Warner Cope
6th Chief Justice of California
In office
May 20, 1863 – January 2, 1864
Preceded byStephen J. Field
Succeeded bySilas W. Sanderson
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office
September 20, 1859 – May 20, 1863
Appointed byGovernor John B. Weller
Preceded byDavid S. Terry
Succeeded byEdwin B. Crocker
Personal details
Born(1824-01-31)January 31, 1824
Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJanuary 17, 1903(1903-01-17) (aged 78)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Spouse
Martha Ann Neal
​
(m. 1845)​

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][15]

Personal life

On April 19, 1845, Cope married Martha Ann Neal in Shelby County, Kentucky.[16] He traveled to California in 1850, and his wife followed in 1856. They had three sons and three daughters.[17] 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.[18] Like his father, Walter also served as president of the San Francisco Bar Association, from 1906 to 1909.[13]

References
  1. "The Next Legislature". Los Angeles Star. No. 21. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 October 1858. p. 2. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  2. "Democratic Lecompton Convention, Third Day," Sacramento Daily Union, Vol. 17, Number 2573, June 25, 1859.
  3. "News of the Morning". Sacramento Daily Union. No. 17. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 13 August 1859. p. 3. Retrieved July 18, 2017. The remarks made by W. W. Cope, candidate for Supreme Judge, at the Lecompton Mass Meeting
  4. "Democratic State Ticket". Tulare County Record. Vol. 1, no. 8. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 13 August 1859. p. 2. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  5. "W. W. Cope has been appointed by Gov. Weller, as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court". Los Angeles Star. No. 21. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 October 1859. p. 2. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  6. "Deaths of the Day, W. W. Cope". Los Angeles Herald. No. 106. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 18 January 1903. p. 5. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  7. The Bay of San Francisco: The Metropolis of the Pacific Coast, and Its Suburban Cities. A History. Lewis Publishing Co., 1892. Google Books. Retrieved July 8, 2017 (Stating term start date of September 15, 1859).
  8. Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender Moss Co. pp. 81–83. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  9. "The Late General John Wilson". Daily Alta California. No. 20. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 4 February 1877. p. 2. Retrieved July 19, 2017. The Fourth District Court, on motion of Judge W. W. Cope, adjourned yesterday
  10. "Alameda County Politics". Daily Alta California. No. 32. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 25 April 1880. p. 1. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  11. "Supreme Court Commissioners". Daily Alta California. No. 38. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 18 March 1885. p. 1. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  12. "The Park Commission". Daily Alta California. Vol. 81, no. 121. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 29 October 1889. p. 1. Retrieved July 18, 2017. W. W. Cope has been retained, and by consent he will make an argument before Judge Hoge when the case is called
  13. BASF Past Presidents Archived 2008-08-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  14. "Bar Association Officers". Daily Alta California. No. 38. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 12 January 1885. p. 1. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  15. "In Memoriam". Daily Alta California. No. 34. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 15 November 1882. p. 1. Retrieved July 18, 2017. The San Francisco Bar Association met yesterday afternoon, with President W. W. Cope in the chair.
  16. "Death Lays Claim to an Estimable Lady, Mrs. Martha A. Cope, Wife of Judge W. W. Cope, Passes Away". San Francisco Call. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 January 1902. p. 33. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  17. "Singer for Fabiola Charity to Become Toronto Man's Bride". San Francisco Call. Vol. 111, no. 52. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 January 1912. p. 49. Retrieved July 18, 2017. Her grandfather was the late Justice W. W. Cope of the supreme court.
  18. "Judge W. B. Cope Called by Death, Former Superior Judge of Santa Barbara County and Well-Known Lawyer Dies", San Francisco Call 107(6), 6 December 1909. p. 3. California Historical Newspaper Collection. Retrieved July 8, 2017.

See also
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