Hezekiah Lord Hosmer (judge)

Hezekiah Lord Hosmer (born Hudson, New York, December 10, 1814; died San Francisco, California, October 31, 1893) was a lawyer, judge, journalist, and author.

Hosmer was born into a prominent family. His grandfather Titus Hosmer signed the Articles of Confederation for Connecticut, his uncle Stephen Hosmer was Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. His father, Hezekiah Lord Hosmer, was a U. S. Representative from New York who died six months before Hosmer's birth.

Hosmer started studying law in Cleveland, Ohio at the age of 16. At 22 he moved west to the Maumee Valley of Ohio. From 1848 to 1854 he was the editor of the Toledo Blade newspaper. After serving as secretary to the Committee of Territories of the U. S. House of Representatives, Hosmer was appointed first Chief Justice of the Montana Territory Supreme Court in 1864 by President Abraham Lincoln, serving until 1868. From 1869 to 1872 he was the postmaster in Virginia City. He then moved to San Francisco, California and remained there until his death.

Hosmer was active in Freemasonry for most of his life. While in Toledo he was Master of a lodge and held offices on the state level, serving as Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. In Montana he was the first Master of Montana Lodge #2 and served several terms as the Grand Secretary of the Montana Grand Lodge. At his death he had for ten years been the Grand Prelate of the Grand Commandery of California.

Hosmer was one of the original incorporators of the Montana Historical Society and was its first Historian.

Hosmer authored a number of works on various subjects: a history, Early History of the Maumee Valley (1858); an anti-slavery novel, Adela, the Octoroon (1860); and Bacon and Shakespeare in the Sonnets (1887).

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