Micah Chrisman Saufley (May 13, 1842 – August 12, 1910) was a justice of the Territorial

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 April 23, 1888, to October 11, 1890. Born in

Wayne County, Kentucky Wayne County is a county in the U.S. state of Kentucky along the southern border with Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,555. Its county seat is Monticello. The county, on the south-central border with Tennessee, was name ...

,"Kentucky Jurist Passes Away", ''The Bourbon News'' (August 16, 1910), p. 2. Saufley served in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

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 which he was first lieutenant in Morgan's Men of the Confederate cavalry."First Lieutenant Morgan's Calvary", ''Paducah News-Democrat'' (August 13, 1910), p. 8. During the war, he was imprisoned for a time at

Johnson's Island Johnson's Island is a island in Sandusky Bay, located on the coast of Lake Erie, from the city of Sandusky, Ohio. It was the site of a prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate officers captured during the American Civil War. Initially, ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Upon his return, he studied law in

Monticello, Kentucky Monticello is a city in Wayne County, Kentucky, United States. It is the county seat, seat of its county. Its population was 5,753 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Monticello claims to be "the Houseboat Capital of the World", as nu ...

and

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

to gain

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

of that state, and then "established a successful practice in

Stanford, Kentucky Stanford is a home rule-class city in Lincoln County, Kentucky, United States. It is one of the oldest settlements in Kentucky, having been founded in 1775. Its population was 3,487 at the 2010 census and an estimated 3,686 in 2018. It is the ...

.Wyoming State Archives biography of Micah C. Saufley, available at 2301 Central Ave, Cheyenne, WY 82001. In 1888, President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

appointed Saufley to a seat as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Wyoming. In 1890, when Wyoming achieved statehood, the territorial court was abolished, and Saufley resumed the private practice of law in

. Saufley later returned to the bench as a judge of the Thirteenth Judicial district of Kentucky, a position he held at the time of his death. It was thought that he would be "one of the leading candidates for the Democratic nomination for Governor in the next election", but the death of one his sons in 1909 led him to withdraw from politics. Saufley died from sudden

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

in his barn where he had gone to feed the chickens.

References

1842 births 1910 deaths People from Wayne County, Kentucky U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law United States Article I federal judges appointed by Grover Cleveland Justices of the Wyoming Supreme Court Kentucky state court judges {{Wyoming-state-judge-stub