Who’s on First in Lincoln County? Judge George G. Berry
Researched by Jeff Kintop and Peter J. Smith
Composed by Susan Southwick
It would seem simple to determine who was the first judge to preside in a Nevada county, especially in a relatively early, small county, but in Lincoln County there are complications, with perhaps three judges who could be considered “first.” This essay attempts to clarify why George G. Berry should be considered the County’s first judge, although it is unlikely that he ever actually held court there.
Lincoln County was created February 26, 1866 (Stats. 1866, 131) with the provision that its judiciary be a part of the Fifth Judicial District until otherwise provided by law. George G. Berry was the judge for the Fifth Judicial District, and the court was in Winnemucca. Statutes at the time, unless specified otherwise, were to take effect from and after the date of passage. (Stats., 1865, 90). The very next day, February 27 (Stats. 1866, 139), the Nevada legislature reorganized the state’s judicial districts, specifying that the statute would be effective January 1, 1867. Humboldt County was put in the Ninth Judicial District and Lincoln was no longer included, nor assigned to another district. It would have been left in limbo except that the law did not go into effect until the beginning of the next year, as specified. To further muddy the waters, in The State of Nevada ex. Rel. Charles A. Leake v. Henry G. Blasdel, 6 Nev. 40, 40 (1870), the Nevada Supreme Court, apparently not paying attention to the effective date of the statute, held that “Lincoln County was not included in any judicial district after February 27th 1866, until the taking effect of the Act of 1867 (Stats. 1867, 129).” This ruling, being more than three years after the fact, does not negate Judge Berry’s actually serving as judge for Lincoln from February 26 through December 31, 1866.
Born in 1830, George Berry had served in the Mexican War in Texas, and in 1849 traveled to California. He was elected as a justice of the peace in Butte County, California in 1861 before moving to Humboldt City, Nevada Territory in 1862. He was admitted to practice law there in 1863. He was elected Fifth Judicial District judge in 1866, serving until he resigned in 1871. While judge, he became part owner and editor of the Humboldt Register and, in fact, seemed to combine the practice of law with publishing newspapers for the rest of his life. There is no known photo of Judge Berry, but he was described in one newspaper as being tall and resembling Senator Stewart; another referred to him as handsome, but he described himself in a “pen picture” in his own newspaper as follows:
My head measures just twenty-three and one-half inches, and I wear number
twelve boots—two significant facts that it should be well to note. I am just
six feet high, spare built and weigh one hundred and sixteen pounds—fighting
weight. With rifles or pistols I am a dead shot, and am now practicing the sword
exercise. I never shoot a political adversary, but I scalp him—been so long on the
border that it comes natural. The summit of my ambition now is to have the
editorial sanctum of the Humboldt Register gorgeously decorated with Radical
(Republican) scalps—immaterial as to color or texture; black, auburn, tan or
kinky, will do.
This self-description indicates he had a sense of humor, as well.
Because he was such a staunchly Democratic partisan, he was sometimes called the “Copperhead Judge of Humboldt County.” He had aspirations to run for governor in 1870, but his partisanship led him to be roundly attacked in the Republican press and the effort failed. In 1872 he purchased an interest in the Pioche Record, and at last moved to Lincoln County where he began to practice law again in partnership with former Virginia City lawyer, Francis L. Aud.
In 1880 he was practicing law in Tucson, Arizona Territory, and in 1881 began a partnership with former Nevada Supreme Court Justice James F. Lewis in Tombstone . He served as a court commissioner there until 1885 and owned an interest in the Tombstone Epitaph. George G. Berry died in Tombstone February 13, 1891 at the age of sixty-one.
When Berry was Lincoln County’s judge, the county seat was in Crystal Springs, moving to Hiko in 1867; there is no record of an actual courthouse in Crystal Springs at that time, but the Annual Report of the State Mineralogist, 1867-68 (p. 80) did report one of sorts for Hiko. James Hulse quotes a manuscript of the proceedings of the first Lincoln County Commission (October 29, 1867, pp. 18, 27) where Butler and Pearson’s Saloon was acquired for “county purposes.” Six months later they made arrangements to lease other property in Hiko to serve as a courthouse. The famous Million Dollar Courthouse wasn’t built until 1872 in Pioche. Lincoln County Clerk Lisa Lloyd could find no court records dating back as far as 1866, and, as there was not even a stage route between Winnemucca and Hiko, it is doubtful that Judge Berry actually heard cases in Lincoln County. In those early days, there was a sparse population of mostly Mormon farming communities, among whom major crime was probably not an issue. Things were rougher in the mining areas such as Pahranagat, and at least one murder was reported, but it was handled by vigilante action. According to James Hulse, in Lincoln County, Nevada: 1864-1909 (p.68), things were so quiet that the county commission did not create a justice court and appoint a justice of the peace until 1869.
While it seems evident that Judge Berry was the first judge, there are contenders for the position if one considers “first” to be a judge who actually had an impact on Lincoln County by being there to decide cases. The Act of 1867 (Stats. 1867, 129) named Hiko the county seat, stated that Lincoln County constituted the Ninth Judicial District and required the Governor (Blasdel) to appoint a judge for Lincoln County until an election could be held. George G. Hubbard was appointed and Charles A. Leake was elected in November 1868 and served until his death in August 1870.
Sources utilized:
Russell McDonald. Nevada Judicial Biographies. Upublished manuscript. Pp. 14-15 Source of all personal information about Judge Berry, including quotations from newspapers.
James Hulse. Lincoln County, Nevada: 1864-1909. University of Nevada Press, 1971. Source of information on early government in Lincoln County, including extensive citations to original documents.
Statutes of Nevada, 1866, 1867
Leake v. Blasdel, 6 Nev. 40, 1870
