Herman V.S. Groesbeck (July 8, 1849 – June 28, 1929) was an American jurist who served as a Justice of the

Wyoming Supreme Court The Wyoming Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. Each Justice is appointed by the Governor of Wyoming from a list of three nominees submitted by the ...

from October 11, 1890, to January 4, 1897, serving as chief justice for much of that time. Born in

Chittenango, New York Chittenango is a village in Madison County, New York, United States. It is in the southern part of the town of Sullivan. The population was 4,896 at the 2020 census. Chittenango is the birthplace of L. Frank Baum, author of '' The Wonderful W ...

, Groesbeck was a schoolteacher and a lawyer, working in several states before settling in

Laramie, Wyoming Laramie () is a List of municipalities in Wyoming, city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States, known for its high elevation at , for its railroad history, and as the home of the University of Wyoming. The population wa ...

, in 1880.Wyoming State Archives biography of Herman V. S. Groesbeck, available at 2301 Central Ave, Cheyenne, WY 82001. There, he served as "a county attorney, city attorney, and member of the territorial house of representatives". In September 1890, Groesbeck was elected as a Republican to the newly instituted Wyoming Supreme Court,David R. Berman, ''Radicalism in the Mountain West, 1890-1920: Socialists, Populists, Miners, and Wobblies'' (2007), p. 113. along with

Willis Van Devanter Willis Van Devanter (April 17, 1859 – February 8, 1941) was an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1911 to 1937. He was a staunch conservative and was regarded as a part of the Four ...

and Asbury B. Conaway.Ichabod S. Bartlett, ''History of Wyoming, Volume 1'' (1918), p. 466. The three justices drew straws to determine the length of their terms; Van Devanter drew the short term, and with it the position of chief justice. When Van Devanter resigned that same year, Groesbeck then became Chief Justice for the remainder of his term. Groesbeck was defeated in his bid for reelection in 1896, by opponent Samuel T. Corn, after which Groesbeck moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to serve as general counsel to the Federal Land Department within the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

, returning to his private practice in Laramie within a few years. In the early 1900s, Groesbeck switched his political allegiance to the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

, where he was one of the handful of political figures whose participation in the movement "almost made Socialism respectable". As a Socialist, Groesbeck ran for governor of Wyoming, and for the Supreme Court, garnering 5% of the vote in the latter race. In 1922, Groesbeck again ran for a seat on the Wyoming Supreme Court, this time on a nonpartisan ticket, but was again defeated.David R. Berman, ''Radicalism in the Mountain West, 1890-1920: Socialists, Populists, Miners, and Wobblies'' (2007), p. 293. In 1924, Groesbeck returned to his birth state of New York, moving to

Schenectady Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...

in 1924 to practice law. He was "re-admitted back into the Republican Party", and in 1928 he became an assistant

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the northern district of New York, a position which he held until he died the following year, in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

References

Justices of the Wyoming Supreme Court People from Wyoming Territory 1849 births 1929 deaths People from Chittenango, New York {{Wyoming-state-judge-stub