1853
Judge Whiton resigned as Circuit Judge at the April/spring term, 1853, having been elected Chief Justice of the separate Supreme Court established in 1853.
The evidence
“Judge Whiton continued to discharge the duties of Circuit Judge to the entire satisfaction of the people of the circuit, until the April term, 1853, when, having been elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, he resigned to accept that position. Wyman Spooner, of Walworth County, was appointed to fill the vacancy until a successor could be elected. In September, 1853, James R. Doolittle, of Racine, was elected, and entered upon the discharge of the duties of Judge of the First Judicial Circuit, and first held a special term for Rock County, commencing on the 7th day of February, 1854.”
1879-history-of-rock-county/10-rock-county-ch04-early-maps-courts-railroads.md, PDF p. 361 / book p. 365
Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.
Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources
On the printed page (PDF p. 361 / book p. 365) · open the whole page “At the origin of state government in 1849 he was elected a circuit judge and under the system which then prevailed became a judge of the Supreme court. When the Separate Supreme court was established, in 1853, he was elected chief justice and reelected in 1857. This high office he continued to hold until obliged to leave it by the attack of illness, from which he died at his home in Janesville, about noon, April 12, 1859.”
1908-brown-rock-county/32-courts-and-legal-profession.md, Vol. 2, PDF p. 217 / book p. 720
Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.
Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources
On the printed page (Vol. 2, PDF p. 217 / book p. 720) · open the whole page
