Frederick W. Henshaw

Frederick William Henshaw (May 24, 1858 – June 8, 1929) was an American attorney and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California from December 29, 1894, to January 1, 1918, whose 23-year tenure is among the longest on the high court.

Frederick W. Henshaw
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office
December 29, 1894 – January 1, 1918
Appointed byDirect election
Preceded byJohn J. De Haven
Succeeded byCurtis D. Wilbur
Personal details
Born(1858-05-24)May 24, 1858
Ottawa, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJune 8, 1929(1929-06-08) (aged 71)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Grace S. Tubbs
​
(m. 1888)​

Helen (Walker) Tay
​
(m. 1904)​
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)

Early life and education

Henshaw was born in Ottawa, Illinois, to Sarah Edward Tyler (September 18, 1822 – August 30, 1894) and Edward Carrington Henshaw (c. 1821 – September 14, 1872), who was captain of Henshaw's Battery Light Artillery, or Ottawa Light Artillery, in the American Civil War.[1][2] Henshaw followed his brothers, Edward T. Henshaw and William G. Henshaw, to California and attended the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1879.[3][4][5] He began reading law, joining the bar in 1880.[6]

In 1883, Henshaw won election as Justice of the Peace, or Police Court judge, in Oakland, California at the age of 25.[5] In 1889, he was found in contempt of the Superior Court for not vacating the office of Police Judge to the next elected official, S. F. Daniels.[7]

In 1889, Henshaw was elected judge of the Alameda County Superior Court, and on January 5, 1890, began his term.[1] Having succeeded E. M. Gibson, Henshaw would serve four years on the superior court.[8] When he left for the Supreme Court, Governor Henry Markham appointed A. L. Frick to the vacant superior court seat.[9][10]

In December 1894, Henshaw successfully ran on the Republican ticket for election to the California Supreme Court for a 12-year term.[11][12][8] At the same election, Jackson Temple also won a 12-year term, and the two jurists replaced departing justices John J. De Haven and William F. Fitzgerald.[13] At the court, Chief Justice William H. Beatty assigned Henshaw to Department Two, along with Associate Justices William G. Lorigan and Henry A. Melvin.[14] On November 6, 1906, Henshaw was re-elected to another 12-year term.[15][16][8] With one year remaining of his second term, he announced his retirement from the high court.[8]

Henshaw weathered controversy in his time on the court. On May 14, 1908, the San Francisco Call newspaper published a group photo at a political convention including Henshaw and notorious politician Abe Ruef, implying Henshaw's familiarity made him part of the corrupt machine.[17] In 1911, California attorney William Denman proposed impeachment proceedings against Henshaw in relation to the procedures for signing an order of rehearing of the appeal of Abe Ruef.[18][19] In November 1918, Henshaw denied charges that he had accepted a bribe while still a justice to influence his vote in the estates and trust case of Nevada Senator James G. Fair.[20][21][22][23]

After stepping down from the bench, Henshaw pledged to work in Washington, D.C., as one of President Woodrow Wilson's business experts fixing government, or so-called "dollar-a-year" man, but there is no record he did so.[24] Instead, he re-entered private practice with the firm of Henshaw, Black & Goldberg in Oakland.[25]

Personal life

On April 9, 1888, he married Grace Susan Tubbs in Oakland, California.[26][27] They had four sons: Tyler Tubbs Henshaw, who became an attorney,[28][29][30] Stanley Tubbs Henshaw,[31] Fritz Tubbs Henshaw, who worked with his uncle William G. Henshaw at Union Savings Bank,[32] and Stuart Tubbs Henshaw. On February 16, 1904, he remarried to Helen Walker Tay, who was previously married, in San Francisco, California.[33][34][35] On June 8, 1929, Henshaw died in San Francisco.[29][36][37]

See also

References
  1. "In the Superior Court". San Francisco Call. 69 (37). California Digital Newspaper Collection. January 6, 1891. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  2. Longstreet, James (1895). From Manassas to Appomattox Memoirs of the Civil War in America. Prabhat Prakashan. ISBN 8184306164.
  3. "Budd Has One Secret". San Francisco Call. 77 (55). California Digital Newspaper Collection. February 3, 1895. p. 11. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  4. "Leaves Entire Estate to His Wife". San Francisco Call. 91 (18). California Digital Newspaper Collection. December 18, 1901. p. 9. Retrieved July 22, 2017. The will of the late Edward T. Henshaw, a brother of Supreme Justice Frederick W. Henshaw and of William G. Henshaw, president of the Union Savings Bank
  5. The Bay of San Francisco: The Metropolis of the Pacific Coast and Its Suburban Cities : a History, Volume 2. Oakland, CA: Lewis Publishing Company. 1892. p. 83. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  6. Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender Moss Co. pp. 198–206. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  7. "Oakland's Police Judge". Daily Alta California. 42 (13780). California Digital Newspaper Collection. May 24, 1887. p. 1. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  8. "Justice Henshaw to Resign Soon". Sacramento Union (39). California Digital Newspaper Collection. December 9, 1917. p. 3. Retrieved July 22, 2017. Justice Fred W. Henshaw of the California supreme court has given Governor William D. Stephens his resignation, effective January 1, 1918.
  9. "Judge Henshaw's Successor". Sacramento Daily Union. 88 (93). California Digital Newspaper Collection. December 7, 1894. p. 3. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  10. Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine. A. Roman & Co. 1896. p. 699. Retrieved July 23, 2017. Article: The City of Oaks, Oakland and Alameda County
  11. "Gillette Named For Governor". Marin Journal. 47 (36). California Digital Newspaper Collection. September 13, 1906. p. 2. Retrieved July 22, 2017. The Republican State Convention organized this afternooon [sic]...Justices of the Supreme Court (long terms), Frederick W. Henshaw of San Mateo
  12. "Estee Gaining". San Francisco Call. 76 (161). California Digital Newspaper Collection. November 8, 1894. p. 2. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  13. 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. Los Angeles, CA: Commercial Printing House. p. 353. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  14. Johnson, J. Edward (1966). History of Supreme Court, Vol 2, Justices, 1900-1950 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bancroft-Whitney Co. p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 25, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  15. "Complete Canvas of State Returns". Red Bluff Daily News (76). California Digital Newspaper Collection. December 16, 1906. p. 1. Retrieved July 22, 2017. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (full term) —Frederick W. Henshaw (R), 145,778.
  16. "Winners in Election in California". San Francisco Call. 100 (161). California Digital Newspaper Collection. November 8, 1906. p. 2. Retrieved July 22, 2017. Associate Justice Supreme Court, Frederick W. Henshaw, William G. Lorigan, M. C. Sloss (short term)
  17. "The Shame of California". San Francisco Call. Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. May 14, 1908. p. 1. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  18. "Rule in Signing Court Orders Custom Unchanged in 18 Years". San Francisco Call. 109 (79). California Digital Newspaper Collection. February 17, 1911. p. 11. Retrieved July 22, 2017. Such has been the procedure of the supreme court ever since I took my place on the bench, 16 or 18 years ago.
  19. Bean, Walton (1952). Boss Ruef's San Francisco: The Story of the Union Labor Party, Big Business, and the Graft Prosecution. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 307. ISBN 0520000943.
  20. "Henshaw and Fickert in Sharp Replies Denismore Charge of a 'Frame-Up' in Mooney Case". San Bernardino Sun. 44 (72). California Digital Newspaper Collection. November 24, 1918. p. 7. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  21. "Henshaw Denies Bribery Charges". Sacramento Union (34). California Digital Newspaper Collection. June 3, 1919. p. 7. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  22. "Threatens Witness, Charges Complaint". Sacramento Union (45). California Digital Newspaper Collection. June 14, 1919. p. 10. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  23. "Compromise Agreement Is Reached in Fair Will Case". Sacramento Union (57). California Digital Newspaper Collection. December 27, 1919. p. 1. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  24. "Justice Henshaw Coming Here". Evening star (Wash, DC). Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. December 9, 1917. p. 13. Retrieved July 22, 2017. he is to become one of President Wilson's 'dollar-a-year men.'
  25. Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California, Volume 181. San Francisco, CA: Bancroft Whitney. 1921. p. 253. Retrieved July 22, 2017. F. R. Burrows v. Petroleum Development Co., California Supreme Court, September 24, 1919
  26. "The Eastern Shore, Oakland". Daily Alta California. 42 (14102). California Digital Newspaper Collection. April 10, 1888. p. 8. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  27. "The Social World. The Henshaw-Tubbs Nuptials". Daily Alta California. 42 (14108). California Digital Newspaper Collection. April 15, 1888. p. 7. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  28. "Fourteen More Added to List of Attorneys". San Francisco Call. 113 (41). California Digital Newspaper Collection. January 10, 1913. p. 9. Retrieved July 22, 2017. Among those admitted were Tyler T. Henshaw, son of Justice of the Supreme Court W. G. Henshaw
  29. "Henshaw Funeral Services Simple". San Francisco Call. 114 (116). California Digital Newspaper Collection. September 27, 1913. p. 12. Retrieved July 22, 2017. Tyler Henshaw, son of Supreme Court Justice F. W. Henshaw
  30. "Death of Mrs. Ida Henshaw". San Francisco Call. 100 (165). California Digital Newspaper Collection. November 12, 1906. p. 4. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  31. "Stenographer' Hurt in Jurist's Auto". Los Angeles Herald (203). California Digital Newspaper Collection. June 25, 1915. p. 3. Retrieved July 22, 2017. Stanley Henshaw, 24-year-old son of Justice Frederick W. Henshaw of the state supreme court.
  32. "Jurist's Son in Elopement". San Francisco Call. 114 (46). California Digital Newspaper Collection. July 16, 1913. p. 1. Retrieved July 22, 2017. Fritz Tubbs Henshaw, son of Justice Frederick W. Henshaw
  33. "Former Petaluma Girl Engaged". Press Democrat. California Digital Newspaper Collection. November 22, 1903. p. 5. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  34. "Last Season's Debutante the Latest Bride". San Francisco Call. 95 (79). California Digital Newspaper Collection. February 17, 1904. p. 7. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  35. "To Live at Richelieu". San Francisco Call. 114 (131). California Digital Newspaper Collection. October 15, 1913. p. 12. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  36. "Ashes Scattered on Bay". Madera Tribune (34). California Digital Newspaper Collection. June 10, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  37. Estate of Henshaw, 68 Cal. App. 2d 629 (Cal. App. 1945).
Political offices
Preceded by
John J. De Haven		 Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
1894–1918		 Succeeded by
Curtis D. Wilbur
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