William L. Maginnis
| William L. Maginnis | |
|---|---|
| Born |
William Lyman Maginnis November 4, 1858 Somerset, Ohio |
| Died | October 26, 1910 Ogden, Utah |
| Occupation | Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Wyoming Territory |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
William Lyman Maginnis (November 4, 1858 – October 26, 1910) was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Wyoming Territory from November 8, 1886 to October 1, 1889.
Born in Somerset, Ohio, he attended schools in Zanesville, Ohio, and St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the bar in the State of Ohio in January 1881 and practiced law in Ohio for the next five years with the exception of nine months spent working on a newspaper in Gunnison, Colorado, from May 1881 to March 1882. On October 16, 1884, he married Letie Abbot of Zanesville; they would have ten children.
Maginnis, who was active in the Democratic Party, was appointed Chief Justice of Wyoming by President Grover Cleveland in October 1886. During his term as Chief Justice, Maginnis took part in decisions involving land, water, cattle, railroads, and other issues reflecting Wyoming’s economy. His criticism of the powerful and his position in a case threatening cattlemen-politicians Francis E. Warren and Joseph M. Carey (United States v. Douglas-Willan Sartoris Company, 3 Wyo. 287; 22 P. 92) made him a somewhat controversial figure.
Like other territories, Wyoming had three supreme court justices, who also served as district court judges, the latter function taking most of their time. Maginnis’s district was the eastern third of Wyoming, including Cheyenne (Laramie County). The trial court work included divorce, robbery, murder, rustling, and other criminal and civil cases. In one such case, in Sundance (Crook County), on August 5, 1887, Maginnis sentenced to 18 months in prison a young horse thief, Harry Longabaugh, who later became famous as “the Sundance Kid.”
Of the 16 men who served on the Wyoming Territory Supreme Court between 1869 and 1890, Maginnis was the only justice who was removed. Although he had been appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a four-year term, his tenure was in jeopardy after Cleveland’s defeat by Republican Benjamin Harrison in November 1888. During the next several months there were extensive discussions and representations in Wyoming and Washington, D.C., about a possible successor to Maginnis. Shortly after taking office in March 1889, Harrison began removing territorial governors, secretaries, and judges appointed by his Democratic predecessor.
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