# Dakota Territorial Supreme Court

The Dakota Territorial Supreme Court was the highest court of the Dakota Territory, then an organized incorporated territory of the United States. It was the first Territorial Supreme Court in American history, and was established under Article One of the United States Constitution, with justices were appointed directly by the President of the United States. The court sat in Yankton, South Dakota, and existed from March 2, 1861, to November 2, 1889. The first court consisted of three justices: Philemon Bliss, Lorenzo P. Williston, and Joseph Lanier Williams, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln. The court heard no cases until December 3, 1867. In 1879 the court enlarged to four justices, then six in 1884, and eight in 1888.

## Justices

Following is a list of justices of the Dakota Territorial Supreme Court, this was that existed. When the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota, the court was abolished by operation of law, and its function was taken over by the North Dakota Supreme Court and the South Dakota Supreme Court.
| Title | Name | Term begin | Term end | Appointed by |
| Chief Justice | Philemon Bliss | 1861 | 1864 | Abraham Lincoln |
| Associate Justice | Allan A. Burton | 1861 | 1861 | Abraham Lincoln |
| Associate Justice | Lorenzo P. Williston | 1861 | 1865 | Abraham Lincoln |
| Associate Justice | Joseph Lanier Williams | 1861 | 1865 | Abraham Lincoln |
| Chief Justice | Ara Bartlett | 1864 | 1869 | Abraham Lincoln |
| Associate Justice | William E. Gleason | 1865 | 1867 | Abraham Lincoln |
| Associate Justice | Jefferson P. Kidder | 1865 1879 | 1875 1883 | Abraham Lincoln Rutherford B. Hayes |
| Associate Justice | John W. Boyle | 1867 | 1869 | Andrew Johnson |
| Associate Justice | Wilmot Brookings | 1869 | 1873 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Chief Justice | George W. French | 1869 | 1873 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Associate Justice | Alanson H. Barnes | 1873 | 1881 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Chief Justice | Peter C. Shannon | 1873 | 1882 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Associate Justice | Granville G. Bennett | 1875 | 1878 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Associate Justice | Gideon C. Moody | 1878 | 1883 | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| Associate Justice | Sanford A. Hudson | 1881 | 1885 | |
| Chief Justice | Alonzo J. Edgerton | 1882 | 1886 | Chester A. Arthur |
| Associate Justice | William E. Church | 1883 | 1886 | Chester A. Arthur |
| Associate Justice | Cornelius S. Palmer | 1883 | 1888 | Chester A. Arthur |
| Associate Justice | William H. Francis | 1884 | 1888 | Chester A. Arthur |
| Associate Justice | Seward Smith | 1884 | 1885 | Chester A. Arthur |
| Associate Justice | Louis K. Church | 1885 | 1887 | Grover Cleveland |
| Associate Justice | William B. McConnell | 1885 | 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| Chief Justice | Bartlett Tripp | 1886 | 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| Associate Justice | Charles M. Thomas | 1886 | 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| Associate Justice | James Spencer | 1887 | 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| Associate Justice | John Emmett Carland | 1888 | 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| Associate Justice | Roderick Rose | 1888 | 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| Associate Justice | Charles F. Templeton | 1888 | 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| Associate Justice | Louis W. Crofoot | 1888 | 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| Associate Justice | Frank R. Aikens | 1889 | 1889 | Benjamin Harrison |