Royal Tyler Sprague (January 23, 1814 – February 24, 1872) was the 11th

Chief Justice of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...

Biography

Sprague taught elementary school in

Potsdam, New York Potsdam is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The town population was 14,901 at the 2020 census. When the State University of New York at Potsdam and Clarkson University are in sess ...

and later opened a school in

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located at the confluence of the Licking River (Ohio), Licking and Muskingum River, Muskingum rivers, the city is approximately east of Columbus, Ohio, Columb ...

. In 1838 he began to study law and was admitted to the bar in Ohio. The finding of gold in the Sierra Nevada prompted Sprague to become a " Forty-Niner". After arriving in California in September 1849, Sprague worked a claim on Clear Creek on the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

. He settled in Reading's Springs, now

Shasta, California Shasta is a census-designated place (CDP) in Shasta County, California, United States. Shasta sits at an elevation of . Its population is 1,043 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,771 from the 2010 census. Shasta State Historic Park located at ...

, and once again became an attorney. In 1852, he was elected to the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

representing the 18th District, and in 1855 served as its President pro tempore. In 1867, Sprague was elected to the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...

as a Democrat; he was chosen to be Chief Justice in January 1872 and died the next month. He is interred in Sacramento Historic City Cemetery. A collection of his journals is in the Bancroft Library at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

Personal life

On, May 30, 1844, he married Francis Blocksom at Muskingum, Ohio. In 1852, Sprague returned to Ohio briefly to retrieve his wife and their family; they returned to California with him. The couple had four children: Anna Maria Sprague (1845–1879); Arthur Hale Sprague (1848–1922); Ella Sprague (1853-1855); and Frances Royal Sprague (1864–1957).Royal Sprague genealogy
Retrieved July 10, 2017.

References

External links

In Memoriam Royal T. Sprague
43 Cal. Rpts. 3 (1872). California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved July 18, 2017.

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

Biography

Personal life

References

External links

See also