Isham Reavis was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Arizona Territory.
Background
Reavis was born on a farm in Morgan County, Illinois (now in Cass County) to Isham and Mahala (Beck) Reavis on January 28, 1836. Reavis was enrolled for a time at Illinois College before the death of his mother forced him to leave school. He sent a request to his father"s friend, Abraham Lincoln, asking the Illinois lawyer oversee his studies but was informed that Lincoln"s schedule did not allow him to take an apprentice at the time.
Education
He was educated at schools in Beardstown and Virginia, Illinois.
Career
In August 1855, Reavis went to work at a law office in Beardstown and began reading law. He was admitted to the bar in 1857 and, after practicing law for a short time in Illinois, moved to Falls City, Nebraska in May 1858 where he opened a private law practice. Reavis married Anne Mariah Dorrington on May 19, 1864.
Four of the couple"s five children survived to adulthood: Annie M, David Doctorate., C. Frank, and Burton.
This was followed by his election to the Nebraska state senate in 1868. When Ulysses South. Grant was inaugurated in 1869, Reavis wrote to him requesting appointment as a judge in Wyoming Territory.
He was instead nominated for a bench on the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court and confirmed by the United States. Senate on April 20, 1869. The new judge left Nebraska in August 1869, taking the newly completed Transcontinental Railroad to California before boarding a ship south to the mouth of the Colorado River.
From there he proceeded north to Louisiana Paz, Arizona Territory, arriving in time for the September 2, 1868 court session.
Reavis lived in Louisiana Paz till early 1871 when seat for the second judicial district was moved to Yuma. Most of Justices Reavis" opinions have been lost over time. Two exceptions are his ruling in Territory of Arizona v.
Milton B. Duffield, one of the legal proceedings against the territory"s first United States. Marshal, and his dissenting opinion in United States v.
Certain Property and William Bichard and Company, which dealt with the Federal government"s ability to regulate commerce outside Indian reservations. Reavis submitted his resignation on December 1, 1871 and remained on the bench till his replacement, DeForest Porter, arrived in April 1872.
At the time, the Miner in Prescott printed claims the judge had accepted bribes and was being removed from office. Documents in the National Archives and Records Administration however provide no evidence of anything other than a voluntary resignation.
After leaving the bench, Reavis opened a private law practice in Yuma.
He remained there until May 1873 when he moved his family back to Falls City, Nebraska. Reavis died in his home on May 8, 1914 and was entombed in a family mausoleum in Steele Cemetery.