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William Curtis "Curt" Whitson (1840 – December 24, 1875) was an American jurist who served as Associate Justice of the Idaho Territorial Supreme Court from 1870 to 1875.

Biography

Whitson was born in 1840 in Indiana, the son of Benjamin F. and Elisa J. Whitson. At the age of ten, he moved to Polk County, Oregon, where he married Roxy Anna Moore in 1864; they lived in Dallas and would have two children. He studied law and was involved in local Republican politics, and was elected Polk County clerk, and then judge. He resigned as county judge in 1868 to practice law.

On July 13, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Whitson to be Associate Justice of the Idaho Territorial Supreme Court, and he was confirmed by the senate later that day. As Whitson's four-year term was drawing to a close, Grant renominated him to the same position on June 8, 1874, and he was confirmed by the senate eleven days later. From September 1874 through June 1875, Justice Whitson was the editor of Lewiston's short-lived The Northerner for its entire 39-issue run, and for the latter two-thirds of that run, he was also its owner. Whitson's judicial service station was changed from Lewiston to Boise in June 1875.

On December 24, 1875, Whitson died from consumption (tuberculosis) at the Grand Central Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska. He was en route to Boise, accompanied by his successor on the supreme court, Henry E. Prickett, having travelled to New York City to seek remedies to his ailments.

References

1. Judicial Conference of the United States Bicentennial Committee (1983). Judges of the United States.
2. "Marriage of Wm. Curtis Whitson to Roxy Anna Moore". Polk County Clerk. December 24, 1864.
3. ^ "Judge W. C. Whitson". The Idaho Statesman. January 1, 1876.
4. "Meeting of the Union State Central Committee". The Albany Journal. February 16, 1866.
5. "Resigned". The Albany Register. December 26, 1868.
6. United States Senate (1901). Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America, from March 5, 1869, to March 3, 1871, inclusive. Government Printing Office.
7. United States Senate (1901). Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America, from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1875, inclusive. Government Printing Office.
8. "Changed Hands". The Idaho Statesman. September 22, 1874.
9. "Mr. J.M. Dormer has disposed of his interest in the Northerner". The Idaho World. January 2, 1875.
10. "The valedictory of Judge W.C. Whitson". Idaho Semi-Weekly World. June 16, 1875.
11. "About The northerner. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1874-1875". US Newspaper Directory, 1690–present. Library of Congress. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
12. "Judge Whitson passed through town". Weekly Oregon Statesman. June 19, 1875.
13. "The Associate Justice of the Supreme Court for Idaho". Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette. December 27, 1875.
14. "Obituary". The South Bend Tribune. December 27, 1875.

• 1840 births
• 1875 deaths
• People from Polk County, Oregon
• People from Lewiston, Idaho
• Associate justices of the Idaho Territorial Supreme Court
• Editors of Idaho newspapers