Cornelius Hanford was born in 1849 in Winchester, Iowa. He migrated to the Pacific Northwest with his parents in 1853. From 1861-67 he lived in San Francisco and attended commercial college. He then took up a pre-emption claim in Walla Walla, but was forced to give it up due to health failure. In 1872 he returned to Seattle where he studied law in the office of George N. McConaha. He was appointed to the Territorial Legislative Council, 1877-1878. In 1878-1880 he formed a law partnership with Colonel Charles H. Larrabee. Hanford was appointed Assistant U.S. Attornery for Washington in 1881. In 1883 he was elected city attorney of Seattle, and re-elected in 1884 and 1885. He served as chairman of the Republican Central Committee in 1888. Hanford was appointed Chief Justice of Washington Territory in 1889. He was the last Chief Justice of the territory and its first federal judge after statehood. He died in 1926.
Correspondence and speeches, relating to Hanford's career, together with bound vols. of decisions he made as U.S. district judge (1898-1912), rules of practice in Federal Court, and material relating to the Board of Trustees of Whitman College (Walla Walla, Wash.). Includes correspondence and ephemera concerning the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1901). Correspondents include Stephen B.L. Penrose, William Howard Taft, and League to Enforce Peace.
No restrictions on access.
Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Donated by UW Law Library: 1/71, 4/74, 7/80; Lucile Hanford Showalter. Dayton, Ohio: 7/74, 1/1/1971