CHAPTER 17
EARLY LAWYERS AND JUDGES

1879. President Rutherford Hayes appointed John T. Morgan as Chief Justice of the Idaho Territorial Court and District Judge for Southeastern Idaho. He was a delegate from Bingham County to the State Constitutional Convention in July 1889 in Boise City and was elected as a Republican to Idaho Supreme Court from 1890-1896.

1885. William T. Reeves from Kentucky set up private law practice in Eagle Rock.

1885. Joseph A. Clark, family practice moved to Eagle Rock.

1887. Burdice J. Briggs formed law practice of Briggs and Reeves, with offices in Eagle Rock and Pocatello.

1898. Nathan H. Clark (son of Joseph) elected prosecuting attorney for Bingham County.

1899. Samuel J. Rich established private law practice in Eagle Rock and Blackfoot.

1900. William H. Holden was admitted to law practice in Idaho, and located in Idaho Falls.

1903. David Worth Clark joined law firm of Holden and Clark.

1903. Clency St. Clair moved to I.F. to join law firm of Hasbrouck and St. Clair.

1911. Lawyers in the new Bonneville County included George W. Edgington, Ralph Edmunds, James E. Good, William P. Hanson, William P. Henninger, Arthur W. Holden, Edwin Holden, Harry Holden, Richard W. Katerndahl, H.K. Linger, Frank H. Means, William L. McConnell, Otto E. McCutchen, Charles A. Merriman, Charles St. Clair, and J.Ed Smith. H. K. Linger was first city attorney for Idaho Falls.

1911-41. Among growing group of lawyers were Ralph Albaugh, Errol Hillman, A.A. Johannsen, D.E. Rathbun, Alvin E. Denman, E.A. Owen, Paul T. Peterson, A.H. Wilkie, A.A. Merrill, LaRue Merrill, Faber Tway, Henry S. Martin, William S. Holden, Robert Holden, Robert W. St. Clair, and Gilbert C. St. Clair. During this period, C.J. Taylor and Henry S. Martin were elected as district judges for Bonneville County. Chase A. Clark was appointed Federal judge for Idaho.

1932. Edwin M. Holden, veteran of Spanish-American War, was elected as a Democrat to the Idaho Supreme Court. He served as a Supreme Court justice until 1950.

Others among the early lawyers were Clarence E. Crowley, Kenneth McKenzie, Ariel Crowley, and Harrison Dennis. William S. Holden, who became a civic leader, practiced law here from 1932 until his death in 1988.

During the 1940s through the 1960s the nuclear energy research projects west of Idaho Falls added to steady growth. From the 1970s through the present (1991) the Seventh District Bar Association has continued to grow with its members now numbering more than 150.

Submitter: Richard T. St. Clair, Attorney
Sources: Richard T. St. Clair assisted by William Black, Simon Martin, and Ted Pike. Richard St. Clair's paper in Bonneville Museum files also lists judges and magistrates, city attorneys, prosecuting attorneys and presidents of the State Bar, 1970-1990.

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