Charles Monroe Start (October 4, 1839 – December 19, 1919) was a Minnesota jurist and a Chief Justice of the

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court was first assemb ...

Biography

Start was born in

Bakersfield, Vermont Bakersfield is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,273 at the 2020 census. Geography Bakersfield is located in southeastern Franklin County, bordered by Lamoille County to the southeast. Vermont Route 108 pa ...

, the son of Simeon Gould Start and Mary Sophia (Barnes) Start. His father was a farmer who also served in local offices including justice of the peace. Start's younger brother,

Henry R. Start Henry R. Start (December 28, 1845 – November 7, 1905) was a Vermont lawyer, judge, and politician who served as Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives and an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court. Biography Start was born in ...

, served as a member of the

Vermont Supreme Court The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont. Unlike most other states, the Vermont Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial courts, as Vermont has no intermediate appeals court. The court ...

. Charles Start was educated in Bakersfield and at Barre Academy, studied law with William C. Wilson, and attained admission to the bar. Wilson joined the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. In July 1862 he enlisted in Company I, 10th Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and he received a commission as a first lieutenant shortly after enlisting. However, ill health caused him to resign his commission in December, and he left the unit while it was serving in Virginia. In August 1863, Start married Wilson's daughter, Clara A. Wilson (1843-1924). They were the parents of two children, one of whom, daughter Clara L. (1868-1950), lived to adulthood. He moved to

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

in 1863, and established himself in a law practice. In 1866, he formed a law partnership with Ozora P. Stearns. Alternate link a
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A Republican, he served as Rochester city attorney beginning in 1864. His subsequent offices included Olmsted County Attorney (1871–1879),

Minnesota Attorney General The attorney general of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Thirty individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Keith Ellison, a Democratic-Farme ...

(1880–1881), Minnesota District Court Judge of the Third District (1881–1895), and Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (1895–1913). Start retired from the court in January 1913 and was succeeded as Chief Justice by Calvin L. Brown. Judge Start died at his home in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

on December 19, 1919. He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Rochester.

References

Sources

Proceedings in Memory of Chief Justice Start, April 30, 1920 - Minnesota State Law Library
1839 births 1919 deaths People from Bakersfield, Vermont Minnesota attorneys general Chief justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court Minnesota state court judges 19th-century Minnesota state court judges {{Minnesota-state-judge-stub