Harvey Kilpatrick Stuart O'Melveny (1823–1893) was a Circuit Court judge in Illinois and a Superior Court judge in California during the 19th century. He was president of the Los Angeles, California, Common Council—the legislative arm of the city—in 1871–72.

Biography

Family

O'Melveny was born on March 5, 1823, in Elkton, Kentucky, the son of William O'Melveny and Susan McKee,

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

who immigrated from Ireland. He had five brothers and five sisters. The O'Melvenys moved to

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

when Harvey was three years old, and he spent his youth in Waterloo, Illinois, where he attended school. Discipline was strict in the family, and Harvey once recalled that he was once "thrashed" for whistling on Sunday, the sabbath.

Education

A "family tradition" held that O'Melveny attended McKendree College at

Lebanon, Illinois Lebanon is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,418 at the 2010 census and had decreased to an estimated 4,256 as of 2018. Like many other places in " Little Egypt" or Southern Illinois, Lebanon was named afte ...

. At the age of 20 he began to

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

under the tutelage of James Shields and Governor

William H. Bissell William Henry Bissell (April 25, 1811March 18, 1860) was the 11th Governor of the U.S. state of Illinois from 1857 until his death. He was one of the first successful Republican Party candidates in the U.S., winning the election of 1856 just two ...

, and was admitted to the Illinois

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway' ...

Marriage

In summer 1850, he married Anna Wilhelmina Rose, sister of the noted California pioneer and state senator,

Leonard John Rose Leonard John Rose (1827 - May 17, 1899) was a California pioneer and politician who served in the California State Senate. He was one of the leaders of the ill-fated Rose-Baley Party, the first emigrant wagon train to attempt the journey from Ne ...

. Their children were Edward H., Henry William, Anna R. (Mrs. George Safford) and Adele (Mrs. Calvert Foy). In time, the entire family moved to Los Angeles.

Death

O'Melveny was stricken with his final illness (" apoplexy") while he was walking on

Spring Street Spring Street may refer to: * Spring Street (Los Angeles), USA * Spring Street (Manhattan), New York City, USA * Spring Street, Melbourne, Australia * Spring Street, Singapore * Spring St (website), a US based lifestyle website Subway and trolle ...

on November 7, 1893; he was taken to the home of his son Henry, 1148 South Pearl (Figueroa) Street (corner of 12th Street), where he died on November 18."Ebbed Away," ''Los Angeles Times'', November 19, 1893, page 5
/ref> Funeral services were held in the Pearl Street home on November 20.

Career

O'Melveny began his law practice in 1846 in

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The p ...

, and in 1849 he crossed the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

on horseback to reach Sacramento, California, on August 4 of that year; he formed a

law partnership A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

with

Murray Morrison Murray Morrison (1820–1871) was a California State Assembly member, president of the Los Angeles Common Council and a judge of the Superior Court. Biography Morrison was born in 1820 in Southern Illinois and graduated from the Roman Catholi ...

, whom he had known in

Kaskaskia, Illinois Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois. Having been inhabited by indigenous peoples, it was settled by France as part of the Illinois Country. It was named for the Kaskaskia people. Its population peaked at about 7,000 in the 18th c ...

. In Sacramento he was appointed

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

of land titles for the Sonoma District by General

Bennett Riley Bennet C. RileyHis name is sometimes written as Bennett, but his own correspondence uses the spelling of Bennet. See United States. Congress. House. 13th Congress, 2d Session-49th Congress. House Documents, Otherwise Publ. as Executive Documents: ...

, the military governor. Ill health prompted O'Melveny to move to

Benicia Benicia ( , ) is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the ...

, and practiced before a Major Cooper, "judge of the first instance under the Mexican regime (corresponding nearly to our

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

.)" After his temporary return to Illinois and his marriage, he established a "lucrative law practice" and had "achieved sufficient prominence" to become a Circuit Court judge of five southern counties in 1857. He held that position until 1862. During that time he became acquainted with Abraham Lincoln and

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

. O'Melveny was a Democrat and a political follower of the senator, "whom he admired so much that he named his second daughter, Adele, after Douglas' wife." In winter 1862–63, he was put forward as a candidate to fill the Senate vacancy caused by Douglas's death, "but was defeated in the Democratic caucus for the nomination by two votes." In 1869 the O'Melvenys moved to Los Angeles, where Harvey practiced law in partnership with Anson Brunson, and on December 4, 1871, he was elected to a one-year term on the Los Angeles Common Council and was promptly chosen as president. He was "connected" with ex-Mayor

Henry T. Hazard Henry T. Hazard (July 31, 1844 – August 7, 1921) was a California pioneer who became a land developer, a patent attorney and mayor of the city of Los Angeles. He gives his name to Hazard Park in Los Angeles. Personal Early Hazard was born o ...

—one source says as a law partner—and he was said to have taken "a vital part" in bringing the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

to Los Angeles in 1876.''Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850-1938'', compiled under direction of Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles (March 1938, reprinted 1966). "Prepared ... as a report on Project No. SA 3123-5703-6077-8121-9900 conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration." O'Melveny was elected a county judge in 1872, and in 1887 he was appointed to the

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

bench and served there "several years."

References

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