Curtis D. Wilbur

Curtis D. Wilbur
Wilbur in 1924
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office
May 10, 1945 – September 8, 1954
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office
May 2, 1929 – May 10, 1945
Appointed byHerbert Hoover
Preceded bySeat established by 45 Stat. 1414
Succeeded byWilliam Edwin Orr
43rd United States Secretary of the Navy
In office
March 19, 1924 – March 4, 1929
PresidentCalvin Coolidge
Preceded byEdwin Denby
Succeeded byCharles Francis Adams III
Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office
January 13, 1923 – March 19, 1924
Appointed byWilliam Stephens
Preceded byLucien Shaw
Succeeded byLouis Wescott Myers
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office
January 1, 1918 – January 13, 1923
Appointed byWilliam Stephens
Preceded byFrederick W. Henshaw
Succeeded byLouis W. Myers
Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court
In office
1903 – January 1, 1918
Preceded byLucien Shaw
Succeeded byDana R. Weller
Personal details
BornCurtis Dwight Wilbur
(1867-05-10)May 10, 1867
Boonesboro, Iowa
DiedSeptember 8, 1954(1954-09-08) (aged 87)
Palo Alto, California
PartyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Ella T. Chilson
​
​
(m. 1893; died 1896)​

Olive Doolittle
​
​
(m. 1898; died 1942)​
Children4, including Lyman Dwight Wilbur
EducationUnited States Naval Academy (BS)

Curtis Dwight Wilbur (May 10, 1867 – September 8, 1954) was an American lawyer, California state judge, 43rd United States Secretary of the Navy and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Early life and education

Wilbur was born May 10, 1867, in Boonesboro, Iowa, to Dwight Locke Wilbur and Edna M. Lyman. His family moved to Jamestown, Dakota Territory (now North Dakota), where he graduated high school. In 1884, he was appointed to the United States Naval Academy, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1888. Shortly after graduation, Wilbur resigned his commission, a common practice at the time, and moved to Riverside, California. He read law at night while teaching mathematics during the day, and was admitted to the California bar in 1890.

Career

Wilbur associated with the firm of Bruson, Wilson & Lamme, and engaged in private practice for eight years in Los Angeles, California. He was active in Republican politics, and in 1898 was president of the Fourth Ward Republican club. In 1898, he served as Los Angeles County Deputy Assistant District Attorney in the office of John C. Donnell, and by 1899 he was the Chief Deputy under District Attorney James C. Rives.

In September 1902, the Republican Party nominated Wilbur for the post of judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court to the take the seat of Lucien Shaw, who was running for Supreme Court. Wilbur won the election and in November 1902 began to hear cases pro tempore. He was especially interested in promoting children's welfare. While on the Superior Court, he was presiding judge of the juvenile department; in 1906 he was a director of the Bethlehem Benevolent Board; in 1910, he was a founding director of the Juvenile Improvement Association; in 1912, he was president of the Social Purity League, which offered religious lectures to the public; in 1915, he helped organize the Boy Scouts in Los Angeles, and was named permanent chairman of the executive committee; and he served as president of the state Sunday School Association, organizing evangelical gatherings for young people.

It was during his time on the California Superior Court that he wrote and first published (in 1905) his popular children's book "The Bear Family at Home, and How the Circus Came to Visit Them".

He taught at the newly founded law school of the University of Southern California from about 1904 until 1917, while he sat on the Superior Court.[citation needed] Annually, he taught one course, extraordinary legal remedies.[citation needed]

In 1917, Governor William Stephens appointed Wilbur to the California Supreme Court, where he served as an associate justice from January 1, 1918. In September 1922, Wilbur defeated William P. Lawlor in the primary election, and in November was chosen as the 19th Chief Justice of California, holding the position from January 1923 to March 19, 1924. When Wilbur resigned, Governor Friend Richardson appointed Louis Wescott Myers to take the post of chief justice.

Secretary of the Navy

The Secretary of the Navy, Curtis D. Wilbur, was presented with a floral Poppy Anchor (1927)

On March 19, 1924, Wilbur was sworn in as United States Secretary of the Navy. The first appointee of President Calvin Coolidge, Wilbur came into the position with a reputation as a man of high intellect and a character of "unimpeachable integrity." However, one critic called Wilbur "a good Sunday school teacher who wants to make the Navy safe for boys." In July 1925, he accompanied three battleships on a cruise of the Pacific coast, stopping in Marin County for a picnic of 600 midshipmen with a group of more than 100 society women on Mount Tamalpais. In August 1928, he again accompanied a fleet to San Francisco, California on its way to Pacific training exercises. By the end of his term, Wilbur had achieved success in enlarging and modernizing the fleet and established a naval air force, which would grow to become a potent component in the war with Japan during World War II.

Federal judicial service

On March 1, 1929, in the last hours of his presidency, President Coolidge nominated Wilbur to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. However, when the 70th Congress ended that week, the Senate had not acted on the nomination, so it expired. Wilbur was nominated by President Herbert Hoover on April 18, 1929, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 45 Stat. 1414. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 2, 1929, and received his commission the same day. He was a member of the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges (now the Judicial Conference of the United States) from 1931 to 1944. He assumed senior status on May 10, 1945. His service terminated on September 8, 1954, due to his death in Palo Alto, California.

Legacy

The guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) is named for him.

Personal life

Wilbur was married twice. On November 9, 1893, Wilbur married Ella T. Chilson. She died on December 10, 1896. On January 13, 1898, he remarried to Olive Doolittle. They lived in a grand home completed in 1904 on Frederick Knob in San Francisco. Following retirement, Wilbur spent time with his wife and their three surviving children: Edna, Paul C. and Lyman Dwight.

In the summer of 1933, one of Wilbur's children, Dr. Leonard F. Wilbur (March 2, 1907, Los Angeles – March 24th 1940, China), travelled to China with his wife Jean B. Spaulding. He studied at the College of Chinese Studies in Beijing in 1933–1934, achieving relative proficiency in Chinese. From the autumn of 1934 he worked at the American Board Mission Hospital in Taigu in the province of Shanxi, becoming its superintendent in 1936. He died of a typhus fever on March 24, 1940, at the age of 33, shortly after having returned from a furlough he spent at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and after having been ill for two weeks. He was survived by his wife and a daughter named Ruth.

Wilbur's brother, Ray Lyman Wilbur, was United States Secretary of the Interior under Herbert Hoover, and a president of Stanford University.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Judge L. W. Myers of L.A. Will Take Supreme Bench". Los Angeles Evening Express. January 12, 1923. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  2. ↑ State of Iowa ... Official Register, Volume 39 (1941). Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Judge Wilbur to Preside at Dinner". Los Angeles Herald. No. 49. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 28 December 1914. p. 9. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Mrs. Wilbur Buried Today; Superior Court Adjourns". Los Angeles Herald. No. 71. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 18 December 1911. p. 15. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Notable Graduates: Curtis Dwight Wilbur". U.S. Naval Academy. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  6. ↑ "College Men Jubilate". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 25, no. 290. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 17 July 1898. p. 11. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Music and Drama Notes". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 41, no. 155. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 25 March 1894. p. 16. Retrieved September 14, 2017. Curtis D. Wilbur, a graduate of the United States naval academy.
  8. ↑ "Judge Sees Old Neighborhood". Los Angeles Herald. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 12 April 1921. p. A7. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Briefs". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 34, no. 182. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 14 October 1890. p. 8. Retrieved September 14, 2017. The following applicants were examined yesterday for admission to practice before the state supreme court:...Curtis D. Wilbur
  10. ↑ "Humane Society Sued". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 45, no. 71. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 December 1895. p. 3. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Noah Lee Is Free". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 25, no. 107. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 15 January 1898. p. 10. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Candidates Galore". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 25, no. 330. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 26 August 1898. p. 8. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Deposit of Funds". Los Angeles Herald. No. 239. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 27 May 1899. p. 8. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Duty, Not Courtesy, The Coroner Asked for Advice and Got It Frankly". Los Angeles Herald. No. 32. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 1 November 1899. p. 8. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Citizens' Opinions, All Sorts and Conditions of Men Discuss the Propositions". Los Angeles Herald. No. 250. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 7 June 1899. p. 5. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Not Affected by Code Decision". Los Angeles Herald. No. 22. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 23 October 1901. p. 14. Retrieved September 14, 2017. The opinion was prepared by Chief Deputy Curtis D. Wilbur and was concurred in by District Attorney Rives
  17. ↑ "Nominated to Succeed Shaw". San Francisco Call. Vol. 87, no. 111. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 September 1902. p. 5. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Wilbur is the Man". Los Angeles Herald. No. 351. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 September 1902. p. 9. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Politics and Politicians". Los Angeles Herald. No. 349. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 17 September 1902. p. 7. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  20. ↑ "New Superior Judge, Curtis D. Wilbur Will Take His Seat Pro Tempore Today". Los Angeles Herald. No. 41. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 12 November 1902. p. 9. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  21. ↑ "The Dustless Roads Case". Evening Transcript. Vol. 9, no. 105. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 December 1902. p. 4. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Judge Names Two for Probation Committee". Los Angeles Herald. No. 309. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 6 August 1911. p. 7. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Wilbur Has the Best of it in Juvenile Court Probe". Los Angeles Herald. No. 124. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 February 1913. p. 3. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  24. ↑ "Japanese Jurist Is Juvenile Court Guest". Los Angeles Herald. No. 222. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 11 June 1912. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  25. ↑ Gaines, Thomas F. (17 October 1963). "Boy in Trouble Finds a Home". Highland Park News-Herald & Journal. California Digital Newspaper Collection. p. 15. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  26. ↑ "Social Plant To Be Erected; Rev. Dana Bartlett Plans Extensive Work; Additional Institutions to Be Founded by the Man Who Is Called "the Jacob Riis of Los Angeles"". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 34, no. 80. California Digital Newspaper Collection. December 20, 1906. p. 9. Retrieved 16 August 2021. Signed by Curtis D. Wilbur, as 1 of 6 directors of the Bethlehem Benevolent Board
  27. ↑ "Children's Protectors Incorporate Society". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 37, no. 114. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 23 January 1910. p. 10. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Purity League Lectures". Los Angeles Herald. No. 297. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 7 September 1912. p. 16. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  29. ↑ "County Council of Boy Scouts is Organized". Los Angeles Herald. No. 101. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 26 February 1915. p. 3. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  30. ↑ "Sunday School Meet Opens Tuesday". Sacramento Union. No. 26. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 26 May 1919. p. 7. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Judge Wilbur to Address Long Beach Young Men". Los Angeles Herald. No. 238. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 29 June 1912. p. 14. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  32. ↑ "State Convention of Sunday Schools in Two Sections". Red Bluff Daily News. No. 158. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 6 May 1920. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2017. Justice Curtis D. Wilbur of the slate supreme court, who is president of the association.
  33. ↑ Davies, Ross E. (September 6, 2017). "A Generous Judicial Parabolist: Curtis D. Wilbur". Green Bag 2d. 20: 381. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Wilbur Succeeds Henshaw on Supreme Bench". Los Angeles Herald. No. 34. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 11 December 1917. p. 3. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Justice Shaw is not to Ask for Re-election, Wilbur Will Be Candidate". Sacramento Union. No. 25900. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 15 February 1922. p. 2. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Justice Lawlor Will Be Candidate For Chief Justice of State Supreme Court". Sacramento Union. No. 26029. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 June 1922. p. 2. Retrieved September 14, 2017. Supreme Justice Curtis D. Wilbur having stated several weeks ago that he would seek the same position.
  37. ↑ Johnson, J. Edward (1966). History of Supreme Court, Vol 2, Justices, 1900-1950 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bancroft-Whitney Co. pp. 41–44. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 25, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  38. ↑ "Political Arena is Center of Spotlight". Sacramento Union. No. 26166. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 6 November 1922. p. 2. Retrieved September 14, 2017. In the judicial offices Judge Curtis D. Wilbur Is unopposed for chief justice of the supreme court, having eliminated William P. Lawlor in the primaries.
  39. ↑ "Chief Justice Has Resigned". Madera Tribune. No. 11. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 14 November 1925. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  40. ↑ "Wilbur May Be Navy Secretary". Madera Mercury. No. 302. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 14 March 1924. p. 4. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  41. ↑ "Navy Day Speaker Criticizes Wilbur". Healdsburg Tribune. California Digital Newspaper Collection. Tribune Service. 28 October 1925. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  42. ↑ "Middies Visited Marin Co. and Mt. Tamalpais". Sausalito News. No. 29. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 18 July 1925. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  43. ↑ "Fleet Arrives In San Francisco; Will Remain One Week". Healdsburg Tribune. No. 243. California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 24 August 1928. p. 2. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  44. ↑ "Giant Plane Tender Navy is Launched". Madera Tribune. No. 128. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 7 April 1925. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  45. ↑ "President Honored By Cruiser Nam". Coronado Eagle and Journal. No. 49. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 5 December 1928. p. 12. Retrieved September 14, 2017. The cruiser...is the third of the ten that were approved by the navy general board in 1924.
  46. ↑ "Wilbur Nominated for Judge Post," Woodland Daily Democrat, 1929-03-01 at p. 1 (noting, as the Coolidge Administration ended, that Coolidge nominated Wilbur for the new judgeship).
  47. ↑ "Sentence Cut Out by Hoover," Oakland Tribune, 1929-03-04, Section D, p. 1 (noting that the Wilbur nomination was not acted upon before the 70th Congress ended).
  48. ↑ "Wilbur's Nomination Before Subcommittee". Madera Tribune. No. 143. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 April 1929. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  49. 1 2 3 4 5 "Wilbur, Curtis Dwight - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  50. ↑ "Hoover Renominates 8 out of 10 Judicial Selections of Coolidge Caught in March Jam". San Bernardino Sun. Vol. 64, no. 50. California Digital Newspaper Collection. Associated Press. 19 April 1929. p. 2. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  51. ↑ "Wilbur, Lenroot Nominations Approved by Senate Body". San Bernardino Sun. Vol. 64, no. 61. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 April 1929. p. 17. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  52. ↑ Frederick, David C. (1994). Rugged Justice: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the American West, 1891-1941. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 220. ISBN 0520083814. Retrieved September 14, 2017. curtis d. wilbur obituary.
  53. ↑ Davies, Ross E. (September 6, 2017). "A Generous Judicial Parabolist: Curtis D. Wilbur". Green Bag 2d. 20: 381. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  54. ↑ "USS Curtis Wilbur, Named for Curtis D. Wilbur, former Secretary of the Navy". U.S. Navy. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  55. ↑ Harper, Franklin (1913). Who's who on the Pacific Coast. Harper Publishing Company. pp. 607-608. Retrieved September 14, 2017. who's who on the pacific coast wilbur, curtis dwight.
  56. ↑ "Deaths-Wilbur". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 26, no. 73. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 12 December 1896. p. 10. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  57. ↑ "New Suits Filed". Los Angeles Herald. Vol. 26, no. 95. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 3 January 1897. p. 12. Retrieved September 14, 2017. The estate of Ella C. Wilbur, deceased —The petition of Curtis D. Wilbur and Henry G. Chilson for probate of will. The estate is valued at $7600.
  58. ↑ "Births". Los Angeles Herald. No. 171. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 21 March 1902. p. 10. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  59. ↑ "Obituary: Paul C. Wilbur". San Jose Mercury News. MercuryNews.com. June 10, 2003. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  60. ↑ The Chinese Recorder and Educational Review, Volume 71 (1940), p. 308
  61. ↑ "Wilbur Keeping Silence on Possible Cabinet Job". San Bernardino Sun. Vol. 63, no. 153. California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 31 January 1929. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2017.

Sources