Jesse Addison Udall (June 24, 1893 – April 18, 1980) was an American jurist and member of the
Udall political family who served as chief justice of the
Arizona Supreme Court
The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Each justice ...
.
Udall was born and raised in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...
, he was the son of
David King Udall
David King Udall, Sr. (September 7, 1851 – February 18, 1938) was an American politician who was a representative to the Arizona Territorial Legislature and the founder of the Udall political family.
Childhood years
David King Udall was born ...
and
Ida Frances (Hunt) Udall and was named after
Jesse Nathaniel Smith
Jesse Nathaniel Smith (December 2, 1834 – June 5, 1906) was a Mormon pioneer, church leader, colonizer, politician and frontiersman. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was a first cousin to Josep ...
and
Addison Pratt
Addison Pratt (February 21, 1802 – October 10, 1872) was an early Latter-day Saint convert and missionary. Pratt preached in French Polynesia from 1844 to 1848 and from 1850 to 1852, and is recognized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
, his great-grandfather. He was a member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...
. He served in the Arizona National Guard and was a veteran of both
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and graduated from the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...
Law School in 1924.
From 1931 to 1938, he was a member of the
Arizona House of Representatives
The Arizona State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arizona Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. The upper house is the Senate. The House convenes in the legislative chambers at the Arizona State ...
. He later served as a judge of the Arizona Superior Court from
Graham County. From 1960 to 1972 he served as a justice of the Arizona Supreme Court, succeeding his brother
Levi Stewart Udall
Levi Stewart Udall (January 20, 1891 – May 30, 1960) was an American lawyer who served as chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. He was a member of the Udall political family.
Born and raised in Arizona, he was the son of David King Uda ...
in that position. In 1964 and 1969, he was chief justice. He died in Phoenix in 1980.
Legacy

His grandson,
Gordon H. Smith
Gordon Harold Smith (born May 25, 1952) is an American politician, businessman, and academic administrator who served as a United States Senator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served two terms in the Senate from 1997 to 2009. On Sept ...
was a U.S. Senator from Oregon. His grandson Jesse Udall is the husband of
Michelle Udall
Michelle Udall ( Miles; born March 23, 1976) is an American politician and a former Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives elected to represent District 25 in 2016 until 2023. She is also a former member of the Mesa school bo ...
.
External links
Jesse Addison Udall collection at the University of Arizonaat the
Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Udall, Jesse Addison
1893 births
1980 deaths
20th-century American judges
American Latter Day Saints
American military personnel of World War I
American military personnel of World War II
Chief Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court
Justices of the Arizona Supreme Court
Republican Party members of the Arizona House of Representatives
People of pre-statehood Arizona
People from Apache County, Arizona
Udall family
University of Arizona alumni