William E. Beck

William E. Beck (November 8, 1832 – September 2, 1892) was an attorney and a delegate for the framing of the state's constitution. He was then a district court judge and jurist and chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court.

William E. Beck
Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court
In office
January 13, 1880 – January 8, 1889
Chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court
In office
January 9, 1883 – January 8, 1889
Preceded bySamuel Hitt Elbert
Personal details
BornNovember 8, 1832
Venango County, Pennsylvania
DiedSeptember 2, 1892
Denver, Colorado
NationalityAmerican
Political partyRepublican
OccupationJustice and chief justice
[1]

Early life and education

Beck was born November 8, 1832[1][lower-alpha 1] on a farm in Venango County, Pennsylvania. He was educated at district schools in Pennsylvania, two academies in Centre County, Pennsylvania, and then at the Classical and Commercial High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.[1]

Career

After he completed his education, he was a schoolteacher for several years and he studied the law. He moved to LaSalle County, Illinois[1] and established himself in Mendota where he published the newspaper, The Observer, with J.C. Crocker. He worked as a surveyor and engineer. He studied the law with Crocker[4] and was admitted to the bar in Illinois on November 6, 1861. He practiced law in Mendota and Ottawa, Illinois.[1] He married before he moved west.[4]

In the fall of 1872, he settled in Boulder, Colorado and practiced law there until 1876. He was elected by members of the Republican party to participate in the framing of the state's constitution in 1875.[1][5] He and Byron L. Carr represented the 4th District.[6] Beck was the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means.[6] He was a member of the committees on judiciary department, right of suffrage, elections, and miscellaneous division.[1] The constitution was passed by the Congress of the United States and approved on March 3, 1875.[6] Beck was a Republican.[7]

Beck operated a law firm with George D. Reynolds named Beck & Reynolds until November 6, 1876, because Beck had accepted a seat on the bench of the First Judicial District.[8] He became an associate justice of the Colorado Supreme Court January 13, 1880.[1][lower-alpha 2] On January 9, 1883, he became the third Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court,[1][10][9] serving in this position until January 8, 1889.[1] He was then appointed reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court tribunal until his death.[1]

Judge Beck, as the world estimates, was not a brilliant man, but while this is true, it is equally true that all the leading qualities of sterling manhood were in him so pronounced as to distinguish him unmistakably as no ordinary man.

— Samuel Hitt Elbert, former chief justice, Colorado reports, Supreme Court's official journal[11]

Death

Beck died at his home in Denver on September 2, 1892.[3][12] He was about 60 years old at the time of his death.[1][13] He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Denver.[13]

Notes
  1. Beck was also said to have been born in New York about 1826[2] or born about 1837.[3]
  2. He is also said to have become an associate judge in 1878,[9] but there are many newspaper sources that report his 1879 election contest.

References
  1. Hall, Frank (1895). History of the State of Colorado, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic Races and Their Remains. Blakely Printing Company. p. 371.
  2. "1885 Colorado State Census - Arapahoe County, Including the City of Denver and Portions of Present Day Adams and Arapahoe Counties" (PDF). Denver Public Library. 2002. p. 75. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  3. "Death of Chief Justice Beck". El Paso Times. September 9, 1892. p. 6. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  4. Palmer, John McAuley (1899). The Bench and the Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent. Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 828–829.
  5. "Ex-Justice Beck Eulogized by His Admiring Companions - William E. Beck". The Carroll Sentinel. September 27, 1892. p. 3. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  6. "Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention Held in Denver, December 20, 1875 to Frame a Constitution for the State of Colorado" (PDF). Colorado State Government. pp. 15, 38. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  7. "Colorado election for Associate Judge of the Supreme Court - William E. Beck, Republican". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 7, 1879. p. 2. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  8. "Dissolution of Copartnership". Boulder County News. November 10, 1876.
  9. Colorado. Supreme Court (1883). Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Colorado. Banks & Brothers. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  10. Goodspeed, W.A. (1904). The province and the states: Missouri, Kansas, Colorado. The province and the states: A history of the Province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom. The Weston Historical Association. p. 488. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  11. Elbert, Samuel H. (1893). "In memoriam: William E. Beck". Colorado Reports. 18: xix–xxii. hdl:2027/hvd.32044078665379. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  12. "Judge William E. Beck obituary". Grand Junction News. September 10, 1892. p. 6. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  13. "Riverside Burial Registry 1876 to 1963" (PDF). Denver Library. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
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