James K. Kelly

:"See also James Kelly (U.S. representative) and James Kelly."Infobox Judge
name = James Kerr Kelly

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imagesize = 120px
caption =
office = 10th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
termstart = 1878
termend = 1880
nominator =
appointer =
predecessor = Paine Page Prim
successor = William Paine Lord
office2 = 26th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
termstart2 = 1878
termend2 = 1880
nominator2 =
appointer2 = Stephen F. Chadwick
predecessor2 = James F. Watson
successor2 = Edward B. Watson
jr/sr3 = United States Senator
state3 = Oregon
term_start3 = March 4 1871
term_end3 = March 3 1877
preceded3 = George Henry Williams
succeeded3 = La Fayette Grover
birthdate = birth date|1819|2|16|mf=y
birthplace = Center County, Pennsylvania
deathdate = death date and age|1903|9|15|1819|2|16|mf=y
deathplace = Washington, D.C.
spouse =

James Kerr Kelly (1819-1903) was an American politician born in Pennsylvania. He was a United States Senator for Oregon from 1871 to 1877, and later Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Prior to his election to the Senate he had been elected to both houses of the local legislature, serving in the Territorial House and State Senate, and was a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857.

Early life

Kelly was born in Center County, Pennsylvania in 1819.cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Kelly, James Kerr
work = Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
publisher = U.S. Congress
date =
url = http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000074
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-01-11 ] There he attended the school at Milton, and later the Lewisburg Academies. For his higher education, the future Congressman graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1839. James Kelly then studied law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and was admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania in 1842.

Career

Upon entering the legal profession, Mr. Kelly began private practice in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, then was the deputy attorney general for Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. In 1849 he left for California and the newly discovered gold fields, then moved on to the Oregon Territory in 1851. In Oregon he set up a law practice in Portland and was one of three people selected to help re-write the laws of the territory.

Political career

While living in Oregon, Kelly became active in politics and was elected as a Democrat to the territorial legislature serving from 1853 to 1857, and was selected as president of the legislature twice. In 1857 he was a member of the constitutional convention formed to prepare for Oregon's admission into the Union in 1859. Upon statehood, Kelly was elected to the Oregon State Senate and served from 1860 to 1864. In 1864, he ran for a seat in the U. S. House of Representatives, but lost to Republican James H. D. Henderson. He was also unsuccessful in running for governor in 1866. Then in 1870, he was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat and served from March 4, 1871 to March 3, 1877. He did not run for re-election.

From 1878-1880 Kelly was a justice on the Oregon Supreme Court. He also served as Chief Justice of the court during that time. Kelly was appointed to the position by Governor W. W. Thayer, (along with Justices Reuben P. Boise and Paine Page Prim) as a temporary justice until elections could be held following a reorganization of the Oregon court system. Kelly was not elected to a full term after his partial term expired.cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Oregon Supreme Court Justices
work = Oregon Blue Book
publisher = State of Oregon
date =
url = http://www.bluebook.state.or.us/state/elections/elections27.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2006-12-06 ]

Later life

After retiring from the bench, Kelly went back into private practice in Portland. In 1890 he returned to the east coast, settling in Washington, DC, where he practiced law. James Kerr Kelly died on September 15 1903 with burial at Rock Creek Cemetery.

References

*CongBio|K000074