The Portland daily press., 1897-05-10
JUDGE WALTON RETIRES.
He has Served Thirty-Fiye Years on
the Supreme Bench.
A Sketch of Bis Career-Anecdotes of th q
Judge-A Great Loss to the Bench.

When the Supreme Judicial Cour
adjourned Saturday noon, jude,
Charles W. Walton closed his service O
50 years as one of the justices of the state.
highest court, so far as the trial of case.
goes. Judge Walton's term Of office doe.
not end for some days yet, and he will
still be at work, but he has held his las1
term of court.
Judge Walton was born in Mexico
Me-. in 1919, and was admitted to the
Oxford county bar in 1913, and at once
commenced the practice of law at Dix
field. His success as lawyer was imme
date and pronounced. AS the old OXFORD
docket will show, he was concerned,
either on one side or the other, in hall
the cases tried in the county and, this
too, very soon after he commenced prac.
tlce. His appreciation of the legal points
concerned in a contested case, his mar
shalling of facts and proofs, his method
OF attack and parry early excited com
ment and admiration.
In the fall of 1s47, the prosperous Dix
field lawyer was elected county attorney
of Oxford and served in that capacity
for four years, or until 1852 That year
he was seized with the prevalent Western
fever and visited Minnesota and other
states in the upper Mississippi region.
tie had thought of settling either in
st. Paul or Minneapolis, but after care
fully looking the ground over he decid-
ed that the state of his nativity was per-
fectly satisfactory in every way and &C.
cordingly he came home.
In the fall of 1855, having been solicited
by friends, he WI Mt to Auburn and settled
and at once p osperous business came
to him. His reputation for skill and
legal learning had become established
and he sought after to participate in all
the more important cases before the An
droscoggin bar.
In 1857 at the convention that occurred
at Auburn, Judge Walton was nominal
ed as county attorney and was elected in
the fall. In 1860 his term was about to
expire and he was approached by friends
and was solicited to allow his name to
be used as a candidate for Congress.
The proffer of assistance came as a sur
prise to Judge Walton, and such candi-
dacy had been far from his thoughts.
However, the appeals by his friends were
earnest and the situation invited his in
terests and cooperation. There were a
number of candidates before the conven-
ton and a warm contest was anticipated
Judge Walton's name was put forward
by DR.. Kilbourne of Auburn and he was
elected on the second ballot triumphant
ly. This was the famous Lincoln cam
paign of 1860 when the country was on
the verge of civil war.
Judge Walton's experience in Congress
were those Of an active, able and compe-
tent legislator. He did not enjoy the
when invited to return to Maine and
accept seat on the Supreme bench he
accepted it, and on May IL, 1862, Govern
or Washburne appointed him a judge of
the Supreme Court, and since then he
has served continuously.
A writer in the Lewiston Journal tells
the following anecdotes of Judge Wal
ton:
1t is told that Judge Walton was the
presiding justice at the Oxford S. j.
Court in case where the state was the
moving party and negro was the re-
spondent The charge was larceny of
corn and it was clear enough from the
start that the prisoner at the bar was
guilty. But he won his case by appeal
ing to the sympathies of the jury. He
was poor man and he hit upon the plan
of having his wife and baby occupy a
prominent place in front of the jury dur
ing the trial, and it was arranged that she
should lose no opportunity Of attracting
and sympathy.
The strategy was taken in by Judge
Walton, for, when the jury returned
shortly after the charge with verdit of
not guilty, the court remarked smiling
ly:
'tMr. Foreman, think it would be well
for you to admonish the prisoner at the
bar not to steal any more corn.
''Your Honor replied the foreman,
1--WE will leave that for the court
Mr.. Blank spoke up Judge Walton,
addressing the acquitted prisoner, the
jury wishes me to admonish you not to
steal any more corn. You might not be
so fortunate as to have baby to help you
out another time
If we remember right this story is
authentic and is from the court history
of Androscoggin county. A liquor case
had been on trial and had been fought
out tooth and nail, the defense being
perhaps one Of the kind where the
liquor in question was intended for medi-
cinal purposes exclusively. The jury
went out and for hours they labored
with the evidence, finally returning a
verdict of not guilty.
In the meantime Judge Walton had had
conference with the county attorney
and the counsel for the accused, the
result being the consent of the prisoner
to plead guilty and take his punishment
without further ado.
So, Mr.. Foreman and gentlemen of the
jury" remarked Judge Walton, after
N lfnllf IraH