Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-10-22
A REPRESENTATIVE MAN.
Hon. T. Il Mcfarland, Nominee for Ju
tice of the Supreme Court.

who is TO be voted for throughout the
State. and 1t is a cause of local pride that
he has won the distinction by life meri.
torious in all respects, by ability, by dignity
by duty-doing. A San Francisco paper
the Resources Of Cdtforaia-recently gave to
the public in its pages a gallery OF
superb portraits of distinguished men
of California, and among the num-
Der is that of our fellow townsman, the
Hon. 7. B. Mcfarland, Republican candi-
date Tor the Supreme Bench, he having
been nominated since the article in the
Resources was prepared. The fact of this
publication gives Sacramentans the excuse,
if any were needed, for some special refer
ence to the gentleman in the columns OF
the local press, though it is probable that
| his own modesty would dictate to him the
| desire for little of laudation. Such a man
| as Judge Mcfarland can afford to let his lifes
record speak foritself Though better known
| in central and northern California, Judge
! Mcfarland has State reputation of the
| highest character, and is more or less
known to all who have lived in the State
for dozen or more years. There are new
| corners, however, to whom his name may
| be less familiar, and this suggests to us the
propriety of telling them something of the
life of our distinguished townsman. We
|
sketch in the Resources, which saws:
Thomas Bard Mcfarland was born in the
Cumberland valley, near the town OF MERGERS
| burg, Franklin county, Pa, on tbs 18th day of
April, 1873. His father, John Mcfarland, was
of Scotch-Irish descent, and his mother, Eliza
Parker, was of English stock; but his ancestors,
on both sides, were born and lived in the United
| States and the colonies for several generations.
| Thomas was educated at Marshall College, then
| located at Mercersburg, and was graduated in
! the class m 1915 Marshall COl1apa an ar.
wards removed to Lancaster City and united
with Franklin College, He studied law at
| Chambersburg, Pa, in the Office of Robert NJ.
| Bard a very able and eminent lawyer, the father
| of Thomas r. Bard and DIR. Cephas Bard, now of
Ventura county, California. He was admitted
! to the bar in November, 1919, by that distin-
| guished iurist, now deceased, jeremiah s. Black,
who at that time was presiding Judge of the
| district which included Franklin county.
Immediately after his admission to the bar
young Thomas was seized with the gold fever,
| and crossed the plains i'll the spring and sum
mer Of 1880, to California, where he has resided
ever since. He intended to go to Sacramento,
where he had some acquaintance, and com
| mence the practice of the law: but being de
| tanned by a sick companion at RinggOld Fl Do
| RADIO county, he tried his hsnd Il little at pros
| pecting, and found claim which, though
small, was quite rich. Being captivated by
mining, he followed that business for three
| years in the counties of FL Dorado, Placer Ne
| vada and Yuba, and in the winter of 1888 he
| began the practice OF law in Nevada City. In
| 1861 he was nominated by the Republican party
for the Office of District Judge of the Fourteenth
| Judicial District, and was elected for the full
term of six years. The district was then
composed of Nevada county alone. The
constitutional amendments which were
soon afterwards adopted, cut off his term
at the end of two years. In 1868, he was re-
elected without opposition, the district then
being composed of Nevada and Placer counties
At the end of his second term in 1870 having
| served eight years as Judge, he removed to Sac
ramento city, and resumed law practice In
1874, without his solicitation, and at the same
time against his desire, he was appointed Regis
ter of the United States Land Office at Sacra-
mento. He held the office for one full term of
four years, retaining, however, the principal
part of his law practice. He was appointed 10
second term, but resigned month or two after.
wards and was elected member of the Cali
fornia State Constitutional Convention, which
met in the fall of 1873 He took an active part
in the debates and proceedings of that body. s
= In 1882, Hon. 5. G. benson having re-
signed the Office of Superior Judge for Sacra-
mento county, Governor Perkins wrote Judge
Mcfarland note requesting him to accept an
appointment to the vacancy. This offer was
entirely unsolicited. After carefully consider
ing the matter he finally accepted and was ap-
pointed, taking his seat on the Bench the sec.
ond time in December, 1882. He held the Office
under the appointment until 1884, when he was
nominated by the Republican County Conven-
ton, by reclamation as a candidate for the
place. and was elected by very large majority
for a full term of six years, which he is now
decisions and opinions stand high, and but a re-
markably small percentage of them have been
reversed by the appellate Court Judge McFar-
land was married in November 1861 to Miss
Susie Briggs, of New York, and his family CON
sists of his wife and one daughter.
We take the occasion to add to the fore
going sketch, that long before the cam
paign OF 1886 began to take form, Judge
Mcfarland was freely spoken of as a fit
person to place upon the Supreme Bench.
1t was indeed, natural gravitation that
brought his name into prominence for such
| q position, and the naming of him for it
upon the Republican ticket was simply an
act by that party Of putting to the front
one of the foremost men in its ranks,
| one of the most distinguished jurists. and
one of the most eminent men of the State.
If this is strong praise it is but the simple
truth written by the life of man whose
| course has been upright, whose life has
| been devoted to his State and whose actiy-
| ity has made an ineffacablc mark of credit
| upon her history. Nearly all his mature
life has been devoted to his professional
| the Bar and on the Bench. Few men
have dealt with such a variety of legal
questions. Nearly all the leading law
yers of the State, at one time or
another, have been before him, and we
think we can safely say that nearly all the
| members of the legal profession of all par
ties, who know him well, will support him.
Coupled with the education and training
of lawyer, he has the strong common
sense and broad mental grasp so essential
in Judge. His integrity has never been
questioned, and not the faintest blush of
doubt has even been cast upon his char
acter public or private. He has that Quail
ity in an eminent degree, which is possessed
ny all honest Tarfnnt faari
When, after the full hearing of case his
judgment has brought him to a conclusion.
he would not change it hairs breadth for
any man on the globe, or for any human
influence; for millionaire or for mob Open
to conviction, patient, judicial in every at
titude, he still is firm as the hills in his
convictions of the right. He is a political
scholar, an orator and writer of fine Eng
lish. A Justice of the Supreme Court is
required to place the decisions of the bench
in writing to make up the record of the
Courts opinion. 1t is essential that this
should be done comprehensibly that the
law shall be expounded clearly, and con-
viction carried to the public mind of the
exact truth. We know no man better
capaoitated for such work, or whose liter
airy style is clearer, more concise, or forci-
BILE. Reference to the many decisions by
Judge Mcfarland, published in these and
other columns, will carry conviction of the
soundness of our judgment in this regard
7. B. Mcfarland is one of the few men
born to be Judge. His legal knowledge,
and profound learning, his sympathy with
the popular heart, his patriotic devotion.
his broad grasp of facts, his calm deIibera-
ton, the perfect ease with which he mar
shals and weighs evidence and sits from
testimony the truth, are matters of COM
mon repute whever he has occupied the
bench. Judge Mcfarland is man of fine
physical constitution, in the full possession
of mental health and vigor, and with the
prospect before him of long and useful
and vigorous, active life. In this part of
the State he will receive, not only the en-
tire vote Of his party. but the votes of n
host of Democrats as well. The people OF
the State have seldom an opportunity OF
putting man upon the Supreme Bench so
thoroughly equipped at all points for the
exalted position for which he is now pro-
posed.
Lstrobe correspondence.
EDS. REcoRD-UNIoS thought a short