Milton Dwight Purdy (November 3, 1866 – February 11, 1937) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Minnesota The United States District Court for the District of Minnesota (in case citations, D. Minn.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Minnesota. Its two primary courthouses are in Minneapolis ...

and later was a Judge of the

United States Court for China The United States Court for China was a United States district court that had Extraterritoriality, extraterritorial jurisdiction over United States nationality law, U.S. citizens in Taiwan, China. It existed from 1906 to 1943 and had jurisdiction ...

Education and career

Born on November 3, 1866, in Mogadore,

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 ...

, Purdy moved with his parents to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in 1870. He graduated from high school there in 1884 and taught school there. During vacations he worked in his father's factory and learned the potters trade.Purdy profile, History of the United States Court of Minnesota, 1976 Purdy received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1891 from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1892 from the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, a public university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Pa ...

. He was an assistant city attorney for

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

from 1893 to 1897. He was an assistant county attorney for

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

, Minnesota from 1897 to 1898. He was an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

for the District of Minnesota from 1898 to 1901. He was the

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 District of Minnesota from 1901 to 1902. He served with the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

from 1903 to 1908, as a

United States Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the adv ...

from 1903 to 1905, and as an assistant to the

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

from 1905 to 1908. In his latter years in

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 ...

, he became known as the "chief trust buster" for his work on anti-trust cases.New York Times, February 14, 1937 He won the Northern Securities Co. v. United States case for the U.S.

Federal judicial service

Purdy received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the President of the United States, president of a Officer of the United States, federal official when the United States Senate, U.S. Senate is in Recess (motion), recess. Under the ...

from President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

on July 6, 1908, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge William Lochren. He was nominated to the same position by President Roosevelt on December 8, 1908. His service terminated on March 3, 1909, after his nomination was not confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. He received a second recess appointment from President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

on March 6, 1909, to the same position, however, President Taft did not renominate him. His service terminated on May 1, 1909, due to his resignation.

Later career

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Purdy returned to private practice from 1909 to 1922. He again served with the United States Department of Justice from 1922 to 1924, as a special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States. He was Judge of the

from 1924 to 1934.

Political activity

Between 1912 and 1916, Purdy was active in the Progressive political movement and was a national committee member of the Progressive Party.

Final years and death

Purdy remained in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, working for a finance company until 1936, when he retired. Purdy died on February 11, 1937, in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

References

Sources

* , Vol. 1: ; Vol. 2: ; Vol. 3: * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Purdy, Milton Dwight 1866 births 1937 deaths United States attorneys for the District of Minnesota Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota United States district court judges appointed by Theodore Roosevelt United States district court judges appointed by William Howard Taft Unsuccessful recess appointments to United States federal courts Judges of the United States Court for China University of Minnesota alumni University of Minnesota Law School alumni Assistant United States attorneys People from Mogadore, Ohio Lawyers from Minneapolis United States district court judges appointed by Calvin Coolidge