Joseph Milton Bartholomew (June 17, 1843March 24, 1901) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

lawyer and judge. He was one of the first three justices of the

Supreme Court of North Dakota The North Dakota Supreme Court is the highest court of law in the state of North Dakota. The Court rules on questions of law in appeals from the state's district courts. Each of the five justices is elected on a no-party ballot for a ten-year ...

, serving from 1889 through 1900, and was the 2nd chief justice.

Early life

Bartholomew was the grandson of American major general Joseph Bartholomew, who had settled in Indiana after the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Joseph Milton Bartholomew was born in Indiana in June 1843. His parents moved the family to Columbia County,

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

, in 1845, and settled a farm. He entered the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 1861, but quit in 1862 to

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for duty in 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 ...

Civil War service

Bartholomew was mustered into federal service in Company H of the

23rd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment The 23rd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 23rd Wisconsin was organized at Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal service on August 30 ...

. The 23rd Wisconsin Infantry served in the western theater of the war. After drilling in southern Ohio and Kentucky, they set off on the

Vicksburg Campaign The Vicksburg campaigns were a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi ...

with General

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...

, where they were actively engaged through the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863, participating in many of the skirmishes around the siege to prevent supplies from reaching the besieged Confederate city. After the fall of Vicksburg, they participated in the expedition into Louisiana, and fought at the

Battle of Bayou Bourbeux The Battle of Bayou Bourbeux also known as the Battle of Grand Coteau, Battle of Boggy Creek or the Battle of Carrion Crow Bayou (Carencro is the Cajun French word for buzzard), which is present day Carencro Bayou, was fought in southwestern Lou ...

. They spent the rest of the Winter on provost duty at

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, except for a brief reconnaissance expedition into Texas. In March 1864, they joined the Red River campaign, seeking to consolidate Union control over Louisiana and Arkansas. Returning to Mississippi in May, they spent most of the rest of the year engaged in anti-guerilla activity in Mississippi and Alabama. Bartholomew later recounted that during this time he cast the first vote of his life for Abraham Lincoln in an empty cartridge box in the field. Through his two years on campaign, Bartholomew had risen from private to corporal to sergeant. In February 1865, he received a commission as 2nd lieutenant of Company I in the newly-raised

49th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment The 49th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 49th Wisconsin was organized at Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into federal servi ...

. He left the 23rd Wisconsin Infantry and went to meet the new regiment at

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, where they remained on guard duty protecting supply lines. While there, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant, which was his rank when the regiment mustered out of service in November 1865.

Postwar career

After the war, he resumed his studies and

read law Reading law was the primary 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 un ...

in the office of

William B. Allison William Boyd Allison (March 2, 1829 – August 4, 1908) was an American politician. An early leader of the Iowa Republican Party, he represented northeastern Iowa in the United States House of Representatives before representing his state in t ...

, in

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. There he was admitted to the bar in 1869 and engaged in a successful legal practice for the next decade. In 1883, he planned to move to Bismarck, which had just become the capital of the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

, but instead settled at LaMoure and became a leading attorney in the region. At the August 1889 Republican convention anticipating the first elections of the new state of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, Bartholomew was selected as one of their nominees for the

North Dakota Supreme Court The North Dakota Supreme Court is the highest court of law in the state of North Dakota. The Court rules on questions of law in appeals from the state's district courts. Each of the five justices is elected on a no-party ballot for a ten-year ...

. He was elected to a five year term and was subsequently re-elected to a six year term in 1894. He retired at the end of that term, in January 1901. He died of a sudden

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

while clearing snow from his sidewalk just two months later, on March 24, 1901, aged 57 years.

Family

Bartholomew was named for his paternal grandfather Joseph Bartholomew, who had volunteered for service in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

at only ten years old and rose to the rank of major general after distinguishing himself in the

. His father, George McNaught Bartholomew, was one of the founders of

Lodi, Wisconsin Lodi ( ) is a city in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,189 at the 2020 census. Lodi is part of the Madison metropolitan area. History The scenic Town of Lodi area had long been a home of Native Americans before ...

, and served one term in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

in 1857.

References

External links

North Dakota Supreme Court biography
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew, Joseph 1843 births 1901 deaths 19th-century American state court judges Chief justices of the North Dakota Supreme Court Union army officers People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War North Dakota Republicans People from Columbia County, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni North Dakota lawyers People from LaMoure County, North Dakota