The San Francisco call., 1903-09-26

S< HE HONORABLE NOBLE HAM
ILTON, one Of the foremost of the
pioneer jurists of California, died
IA at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon
at his home, 1913 Washington
street. in this city. Last Saturday he was
suddenly stricken with an attack of heart
failure and succeeding pneumonia, added
to his advanced age, caused his death,
which was painless.
Thus passed one Of the veterans Of the
California bench whose influence was
widely felt in the just administration of
the laws of the State. Born near Law
renceburg, Dearborn County. Indiana, on
February IA, 1922, Judge Hamilton OBJ
tanned his education in the schools of his
native State and was admitted to the bar
in 1S45. His father, William Hamilton,
had movedl to Indiana from Greensburg,
Pennsylvania, in 1872, during the war with
Great Britain, and there married Helen
Frances Sparks. daughter of Elijah
Sparks, famous through the middle west
as a pioneer jurist and Methodist circuit
rider Through the Sparks family Judge
Hamilton was related to Governor Durbin
of Indiana. When the war with Mexico
was declared Noble Hamilton promptly
enlisted, and was commissioned a second
lieutenant In Company X, Fourth Indiana
Volunteers. He served under General
Winfield Scott in the march from Vera
Cruz and in the fierce fighting around the
City of Mexico, filling the position of
quartermaster and being given the title
of major, though never formally APP
pointed to that office.
On returning from the war i'm 1850 he
was elected treasurer and tax collector
of Dearborn County In 1852 he was Sc
lected as a delegate to the National Dem
ocratic convention at Baltimore and par
ticipated in the nomination of Franklin
Pierce.
When his term of office expired he
started for the Pacific Coast. leaving New
York July 10, 1853. Coming by way of
the isthmus he reached California in Au-
gust Though he had the position of clerk
of the Washington Territory Circuit Court
he decided to remain here. After making
a tour of the mines he settled in Alvara-
do, then the county seat of Alameda
County, and there began the practice of
the law, first in partnership with Joseph
Combs and then with ]. B. Townsend.
He was married in December, 1854, to
Miss Lydia d. Marston, daughter of Cap
tain Jotham Sewell Marston of Maine.
Seven children were born of this union,
three of whom survive.
In 1859 Judge Hamilton moved to San
Leandro, which had become the county
seat and in 1868 Governor Leland Stan
ford appointed him County Judge, to sue
ceed Judge John A. Lent deceased. At
the succeeding election Judge Hamilton
was duly elected to his place on the bench
as the candidate of the Union party He
resigned, however, before his term eX-
pired and engaged in mining and the prac-
tice of his profession.
He followed the county seat to Oakland
in 1871, and in 1881 Governor George c.
Perkins appointed him Superior Judge
The next year he was nominated for the
position by the Republicans without oppo-
sition, and though it was the year of the
famous Democratic tidal wave and though
Governor Stoneman carried Alameda
County by nearly 400, Judge Hamilton
was elected by $500 majority. In 1886 he
was Republican candidate for Justice of
the Supreme Court but was defeated by
Jackson Temple.
Refusing a denomination as Superior
Judge he came to San Francisco in 1885,
He had been on the bench IA years and in
all that time but two of mis- decisions had
been reversed by the Supreme Court The
last years of his life were spent in this
city in the practice of his profession He
retained his mental vigor to the last. On
Wednesday Governor Pardee appointed
him a notary public but the commission
did not reach him during life. He was
member of Live Oak Lodge of Masons
So passed a man who had a host of
friends all up and down the State Sur
viving him are his widow, a son, William
B. Hamilton, Deputy Collector of Gus
toms, and two daughters, Mrs. Edward H
Hamilton and Miss Nettie Hamilton. The
funeral will be held at 1:30 o clock to-mor-
row afternoon from the late home. The
interment will be in the family plat at
Mountain View Cemetery.