Interesting Historical Trivia
Did you know . . . ?
That many of the articles in FCCA Newsletters and Journals from the 1960’s and 1970’s are reproductions of local newspaper articles that covered federal court clerk information and news. Federal court clerk appointments, promotions, retirements, and deaths were considered important local news back then, and these milestones were reported in newspapers. Our research has identified federal court articles going back to newspapers from the 1880s. (Of course, there are more to be found!)
We have learned many interesting facts about the history of the federal clerks of court from these old newspaper articles. One of the more important historical clerk of court stories comes from The Barbour County Index of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, dated February 1, 1905. The article reports that Miss Carrie Davison was appointed as the clerk of court in the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, and, according to the Free Press, “is the only woman in the United States honored with such an office.” Miss Davison may very well have been the first woman to ever serve as a federal clerk of court. She was appointed to her office by U.S. District Judge Henry Harrison Swan, succeeding her father, the late Darius J. Davison who was the prior clerk of court in the Eastern District of Michigan. Darius J. Davison had served as clerk of court since the 1880s.
The article further states that the appointment of Carrie Davison as clerk “comes as a reward for continuous meritorious service and naturally follows her work as a deputy clerk of court.”
Miss Davison began her court career in 1899 working as a clerk for her father. She was appointed as a “deputy” the following year. As reported in the article, Miss Davison seemed to be “very well known, very capable and was well liked by all attorneys who have had business dealings in the U.S. District Court.” Miss Davison served as clerk of court for almost seven years.
Court fees collected from litigants paid the salaries of the clerk of court during Miss Davison’s tenure. This practice began in colonial and state courts and continued into the 20th century. There are few old payroll records available, so it is difficult to trace the careers of clerks and other court clerk employees through this method.
When Judge Swan retired in 1911, his successor, Judge Alexis Caswell Angell, replaced Miss Davison with Mr. Elmer Voorheis, the clerk of the circuit court and former private secretary to Judge Angell. It is interesting to note that when Judge Angell replaced Miss Davison, it was understood that she would remain a member of the clerk’s office staff. It is also interesting to note that Judge Angell resigned the next year in 1912, but Miss Davison, having resumed her prior position as deputy clerk, served until sometime in the 1930s.
In addition to serving as clerk of court, Miss Davison was appointed as United States commissioner, also succeeding her father as a commissioner. Commissioners performed some of the preliminary criminal duties that are now handled by magistrate judges.
According to the December 31, 1911, edition of The Sunday Star, a newspaper in Washington D.C., Miss Davison “retired” from her position as clerk of court on January 1, 1911. This article notes that Miss Davison’s retirement “removes a unique figure from the federal judiciary.” They report that only one other woman had ever acted in a similar capacity in the federal judiciary at that time.
Notes:
The Barbour County Index of Medicine Lodge was founded by Michael L. Sherpy in June 1880. We note that the article entitled “Woman Court Clerk” is situated just below an article about a young, diminutive hunter who has “bagged his first deer”’ and next to an article entitled “The World of Medicine Recognizes Grip* as Epidemic.” The more things change, the more they stay the same!
Another source of excellent information about the Eastern District of Michigan can be found in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: People, Law, and Politics by David G. Chardavoyne.
We would like to thank Mr. Chardavoyne for the photo of Miss Carrie Davison and for permitting us to use this photo.
*”Grip” is an old fashioned word for influenza.
|