David S. Terry
David Smith Terry was a Californian jurist and Democratic politician, who was the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, and an author of the Constitution of 1879. He also won a duel with U.S. Senator David C. Broderick in Broderick's second duel in 1859. Terry died on August 14, 1889, when he was shot by Deputy US Marshal David Neagle after he attacked Associate Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Field.
Early life
Terry was born in Todd County, Kentucky. In 1831, his family moved and settled in Brazoria County, Texas, until Terry himself moved to California in 1849. There, he read law, joined the bar and was active in Democratic Party politics.Represents Widow Sanchez
In 1855, he took up the cause of the "Widow Sanchez". Maria Encarnacion Ortega de Sanchez, the widow of a wealthy rancher, was being cheated by local authorities, including the Sheriff, William Roach, who took her fortune under the guise of guardianship. After kidnapping Roach with the help of a local gunslinger named Anastacio Garcia, they held Roach in a jail cell in Stockton until he agreed to release the widow's gold. But Roach had bribed a guard to ride to Monterey and urge Roach's family to hide the gold. The treasure was hidden somewhere in Carmel Valley by Roach's brother-in-law, Jerry MacMahon. MacMahon was killed in a barroom brawl before he could reveal the location of the money.Public office
In August 1855, he was nominated by the American State Party, or Know Nothings, for the short term remaining on the seat held by Alexander Wells, and won the election. From November 15, 1855, to September 12, 1859, he was a California State Supreme Court Justice, serving as the 4th Chief Justice of California from September 18, 1857.In 1856, the State of California declared San Francisco to be in a state of insurrection. Judge Terry traveled from Sacramento to San Francisco to negotiate, where he was kidnapped by armed gunmen. Terry was a big man, known for his physical strength and for his skill with the Bowie knife he routinely carried in a sheath under his coat. He stabbed Sterling A. Hopkins, a member of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance, who survived, and Terry was not tried.
On January 8, 1858, Chief Justice Terry administered the oath of office at the inauguration of Governor John B. Weller.
Kills U.S. Senator David Broderick
On June 25, 1859, the California Democratic Party state convention nominated Warner Cope for Supreme Court over Terry. Although Terry was a close friend of Democratic U.S. Senator from California David Broderick, Terry accused Broderick, a Free Soil advocate, of having engineered Terry's loss for nomination for re-election in the 1859 state elections.Terry made inflammatory comments at a state convention in Sacramento, which offended Broderick.
On September 13, 1859, Terry and Broderick, having agreed to a duel, met just outside San Francisco city limits. Terry won the coin toss to select weapons and chose pistols. Broderick's discharged early, leaving him open for Terry's shot. At first Terry thought that he had only wounded Broderick, but the senator died three days later. The day before the duel, Terry had resigned as Chief Justice on September 12, 1859.
In June 1860, Terry was acquitted of murder. In November 1862, he campaigned for the Breckenridge Democratic Party. But by March 1863 he left the state for Texas. He fought during the American Civil War, serving in the 8th Texas Cavalry Regiment of the Confederate States Army. The unit was raised by his brother Benjamin Franklin Terry and was also known as Terry's Texas Rangers. Terry later became Colonel of the 37th Texas Cavalry Regiment and was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga. In November 1865, after the war was over, he moved to a ranch at Guadalajara, near Mazatlan, Mexico.
In 1869, Terry came back to Nevada, and by 1870 returned to Stockton and engaged in private practice. From March 1878 to March 1879, he was a delegate from San Joaquin County, California, to the state Constitutional Convention. Terry was chair of the Committee on Legislative Department, and his proposed language on bank directors' liability to depositors was adopted.
In August 1879, the Democratic Party nominated Terry for California Attorney General. The nomination triggered criticism of his record of dueling with Broderick and fighting for the Confederacy. Terry lost the election to Republican Augustus L. Hart.
Weds Althea Hill
In the 1880s, Terry became entangled in a volatile public scandal. Thirty year old Sarah Althea Hill had been the mistress of 60 year old silver millionaire and former U.S. Senator William Sharon. When he ended the relationship and took up with another woman, she sued for divorce, claiming adultery.Sharon countersued, claiming that the marriage contract she provided was a forgery, and that they had never married. Hill wanted a share of Sharon's wealth. The court ruled that the marriage contract was a forgery. Terry appealed the ruling to the United States Supreme Court. After Sharon died on November 13, 1885, Althea married Terry on January 7, 1886 in Stockton. She produced a will that she said she found in Sharon's desk which gave her all of his assets. United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Field, a former friend of Broderick's, heard the case in 1888 as the senior justice of the Federal circuit court in California.
On September 3, 1888, Field delivered the final Circuit Court opinion. He ruled that the will was a forgery. Sarah Althea Hill suddenly stood up, screamed obscenities at the judge, and fumbled in her handbag for her revolver. When Marshal John Franks and others attempted to escort her from the courtroom, attorney Terry rose to defend his wife and drew his Bowie knife. He hit Frank, knocking out a tooth, and the marshals drew their handguns. Spectators subdued Terry and led him out of the courtroom, where he pulled his Bowie knife and threatened all around him. David Neagle was among the Marshals present and put his pistol in Terry's face. Both Terrys were subdued and placed under arrest. Justice Field had them returned to the courtroom and sentenced both to jail for contempt of court. David Terry got six months in jail, and Sarah Terry got one month.
While being transported to jail and while serving their sentences, Terry and his wife repeatedly threatened Judge Field. The Terrys suffered several more setbacks. Both David and Althea were indicted by a federal grand jury on criminal charges arising out of their behavior in the courtroom before Justice Field. In May 1889, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the order that invalidated Althea Terry's marriage contract with Senator Sharon. Then, in July, with only one of the four judges who had earlier ruled in their favor, the California Supreme Court reversed itself. It ruled that because Althea Terry and Sharon had kept their alleged marriage a secret, they were never legally married. While in jail or shortly afterward, pregnant Althea suffered a miscarriage.
Killed attacking judge
A year later, on August 14, 1889, David Terry and Field were on the same train headed to San Francisco when it stopped at the train station in Lathrop for breakfast. Terry slapped Field in the face. Field's bodyguard, Deputy United States Marshal David B. Neagle, fearing that Terry was reaching for the Bowie knife he was known to carry in his breast pocket, shot and killed Terry. Neagle was arrested by San Joaquin County Sheriff Tom Cunningham on a charge of murder. The United States attorney general secured the release of Neagle on a writ of habeas corpus. The issue was resolved by In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1, a United States Supreme Court decision that determined that the United States Attorney General had authority to appoint U.S. Marshals as bodyguards to Supreme Court Justices, and that Federal law superseded state law.David S. Terry is buried at Stockton Rural Cemetery in Stockton.