JUDGE POWHATAN B. LOCKE

(1863-1864)
Territorial Court of Utah Petition

Powhatan B. Locke was born in Kentucky about 1828. The family later moved to Missouri. By 1850, Locke was practicing law and was elected Mayor of Savanna, Missouri in 1854, and reelected in 1885. In 1862 and 1863, he was the presiding Judge in the County Court in St. Joseph, Missouri.

When Horatio M. Jones resigned as an Associate Justice of the Nevada Territorial Supreme Court in 1863, President Lincoln appointed Locke to replace him. He took his oath of office in October, and in January 1864, Locke was commissioned as an associate justice for a four-year term. The district where he "rode circuit" as trial judge was comprised of Storey, Washoe, and Roop counties. Following an unpopular decision of the territorial court in the case of Chollar v. Potosi, Locke received tense public pressure. In August 1864, Locke resigned from the Territorial Supreme Court, just as Nevada became a State and elected its first Supreme Court Justices.

Locke and his wife Tabitha had four children. The family, following Locke’s resignation, returned to Missouri. He died of consumption at age 38, on June 12th, 1868.