William F. Fitzgerald - Arizona Territory

Arizona Territory

In February 1883, Fitzgerald represented the Vicksburg Cotton Exchange and Chamber of Commerce at the National Mississippi River Improvement convention in Washington D.C. During the convention, Fitzgerald met President Chester A. Arthur who asked if the Mississippi attorney would be interested in a Federal post.Fitzgerald requested a judgeship in Dakota Territory, a request that was repeated in December 1883.

On March 3, 1884, following the death of Justice A. W. Sheldon, President Arthur nominated Fitzgerald for a seat on the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court.Senate confirmation occurred a week later. Fitzgerald was assigned to judicial district one, consisting initially of Graham, Pima and Pinal counties and changed to Cochise, Graham, and Pima counties in 1885, and made his home in Tucson, Arizona Territory. Only a single ruling survives from his time on the Arizona bench, Smith v. County of Mohave, (1885) 2 Arizona 27.The one page ruling determined that an 1881 act by the legislature did not remove the right to file suit against an Arizona county.

The inauguration of Grover Cleveland in 1885 signaled the end of Fitzgerald's time on the Arizona bench.The judge was popular among the territorial population and protest meetings were organized to fight the expected removal. Despite these efforts, President Cleveland named Fitzgerald's replacement, John C. Shields, and the new judge took the oath of office on November 9, 1885.