The Supreme Court of Minnesota.
161
THE SUPREME COURT OF MINNESOTA. By Hon. Charles B. Elliott, of Minneapolis. II. THE location of the seat of government is a great event in the history of a Territory or State. The territorial capital of Minnesota had been located at the village of St. Paul; but in 1856, through some occult influence, the Legislature suddenly passed an act providing for its removal from St. Paul to St. Peter. In the course of the contest an application was made to Judge Nelson for a writ of man damus to compel the territorial officers to remove from St. Paul. Great interest was felt in the decision of this question. Judge Nelson denied the application. The opinion, delivered at chamber, does not appear in the Reports; .but the manuscript is preserved in the records of the State Historical Society, and is an in teresting record of one of the most exciting events in the history of the Territory.1 The decision was based upon the ground that the Legislature had exhausted its power and authority to locate the seat of government by previous legislation. On the 11th day of May, 1858, President Buchanan nominated Judge Nelson as Judge of the United States District Court for the district of Minnesota, and the nomination was at once confirmed without the reference of his name to a committee. From that time to the present, Judge Nelson has ably discharged the onerous duties of the high position to which he was called, and is now the oldest judge in point of service on the Federal bench. Charles E. Flandrau was born in New York City in 1828, and obtained his early education at Georgetown, D. C. At the age of thirteen he made an attempt to obtain a midshipman's warrant in the navy, but was 1 Since the above was written, Tarn informed that the manuscript was destroyed by fire. . 21
unsuccessful on account of his extreme youth. Determined upon a seafaring life, he shipped before the mast, and in that capacity made several voyages, occupying in all three years. By this time the life of a common sailor had lost its charm, and we soon after find the young man in New York City learning the business of mahogany sawing. After three years spent in this business, he decided to study law, and entered the office of his father, with whom he afterwards formed a partnership which continued until 1853. But progress was too slow, and the attractions held out by the recently created Territory of Minnesota were sufficient to draw him to the Northwest. In the latter part of November, 1853, the firm of Bigelow & Flandrau opened an office in the village of St. Paul. The practice of law in Minnesota in those days was neither arduous nor particularly lucrative. Railroads, corporations, and the various aggregations of capital which now furnish employment for lawyers, were then unknown. The probate courts were without work. Criminal and commercial law occu pied almost the entire attention of the courts. The lawyers took such practice as came to them in the courts and land offices, and in the mean time speculated in real estate. Consequently in 1853-1854 we find Mr. Flandrau engaged in exploring the Minne sota valley, and negotiating for the purchase of lands for capitalists. Impressed with the future of this region, and not being burdened with practice in St. Paul, he concluded to locate at Traverse des Sioux, then the only settlement in that part of the Territory. Business still failed to come, and the young lawyer engaged in the somewhat unusual practice of attracting the wolf to his door. A dead pony placed within
