Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 26/Memorial Tribute to Judge J. A. Stratton
MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO JUDGE J. A. STRATTON
By JUDGE PETER H. D'ARCY
In the death of Judge J. A. Stratton of Seattle, on the 23rd of September, 1924, a noted and distinguished pioneer of Oregon passed away.
Judge Stratton was formely a resident of Salem. Few people who live there now were personally acquainted with him. He was one of the old time residents of the city. In former days he was well known. He moved to Seattle in 1889. He occupied important positions in our state. Among the number, clerk of the supreme court of Oregon and superintendent of our state penitentiary. He was elected one of the judges of the superior court of Seattle. He discharged the duties of his office in a manner to reflect credit upon himself and to the entire satisfaction of the people of the state of Washington.
Judge Stratton was born in Indiana in 1844. He came with his parents to Oregon in 1854. His family was a prominent one in the annals of the history of our state. His brother, Riley E. Stratton, was an able lawyer and judge of the supreme court of Oregon. His brother, Rev. C. C . Stratton, was an eminent minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was pastor of the church at Salem for some time. His brothers, Milton and Horace Stratton, were notable merchants in Oregon. His sisters were womanly women of the pioneer period.
Judge Stratton came to Salem from Roseburg, Or., about 1860, and was a resident here until he moved to Seattle.
He was a warm friend of my boyhood years, which friendship continued until his death. He worked as a printer for a long time. When the writer of this was a "printer's devil" in the Unionist and Statesman offices he was the foreman. Judge Stratton was a graduate of Willamette university, a splendid lawyer and an able judge. His foresight in business enabled him to accumulate a large amount of property, to secure his family and himself a competency in his declining years and old age. He lived beyond the Biblical period, being at his death eighty years. He was filled with the milk of human kindness. His legal and business ability enabled the poor printer boy to obtain a standing in the northwest that is a pleasure for his friends to note and a fine example for the young men and women to follow, who are striving for success in the various walks of life.
My close acquaintance with Judge Stratton, for over fifty years from my early boyhood to the time of his death, prompts me to say that he is worthy of any eulogy that can be offered for one of sterling integrity and honorable endeavor.
Judge Stratton belonged to the romantic and chivalric days of the Oregon country. Was familiar with the struggles and vicissitudes the pioneers were compelled to encounter. In his high and noble qualities, love of justice and right, he represented the best type of men and women who blazed the way that we might enjoy the refinement and culture that we now possess.
From out the mysteries of life and the great silence of the unknown I think I could hear the friend of olden time say:
"Sunset and Evening Star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea."
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1933, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 90 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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