Solomon P. McCurdy (1820–1890)[1] was a justice of the Supreme Court of the Utah Territory from 1864 to 1868.[2]
A record of the collected papers of Abraham Lincoln noted that "Lincoln's endorsement is written on a letter from Austin A. King and others, January 5, 1864, recommending Judge Solomon P. McCurdy of Missouri" for the Utah territorial supreme court.[3] Lincoln nominated McCurdy to the seat, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on April 21, 1864.[3][4] In 1868, President Andrew Johnson sought to elevate McCurdy to chief justice of the court, but the nomination was rejected by the Senate.[5]
McCurdy thereafter remained in Utah. In June 1874, a newspaper reported an altercation in which a drunken soldier attacked McCurdy, described in the report as "an elderly and very inoffensive gentleman", and threw him into a ditch. Locals interceded to apprehend the soldier and take him to be locked up, and McCurdy was not seriously injured.[6]
McCurdy had a son, William N. McCurdy, who was a star player for the Corinne Base Ball Club in 1869, and one of only a handful of non-Mormon players on the team.[7]
References
edit- ^ "A compendium of documents pertaining to the McCurdy family of Kentucky and Utah". catdir.loc.gov. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ "Supreme Court: Agency History #868". Utah Division of Archives and Records Service. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ a b Lincoln, Abraham (January 26, 2001). "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7".
- ^ "From Washington", The Portland Daily Press (April 22, 1864), p. 3.
- ^ "Nominations Rejected by the Senate", Daily Missouri Republican (July 28, 1868), p. 3.
- ^ "A Well Known Citizen Brutalized by a Soldier", Deseret News (June 11, 1874), p. 3.
- ^ Larry R. Gerlach, "The Best in the West? Corinne, Utah's First Baseball Champions", Utah Historical Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 2 (1984), p. 123.
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