Grandson of Nicholas and Françoise/Frances (née Petitjean) Ducray of Gondenans-les-Moulins, France, who emigrated in 1839 to Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, with their nine children, and survived being shipwrecked and stranded on a sand island (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY ducray" online). Judge George M. Bourquin was descended from Servois Ducray, one of the Ducray Nine, nine Ducray brothers who saved the life of the French King Henry IV ("Henry the Great," "Good King Henry") during the 1590s, and were rewarded with knighthood and villages. The family crest is a shield and swords, with nine arrows crossed in the shape of an asterisk, representing the nine brothers.
Son of Celestine (née Ducray) and Justin Joseph Bourquin
Father of Judge George R. Bourquin,
attorney and author Marion Mitchell Bourquin, and
Justin Joseh Bourquin (named after George M.'s father)
George M. Bourquin Judicial Stats
Name: Bourquin, George McClellan Birth - Death: 1863-1958 Source Citation:
Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. A supplement. Six volumes. Edited by L.E. Dearborn. New York: Press Association Compilers, 1918-1931. Originally published as The Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Supplementary Edition. (ApCAB X)
Who Was Who in America. A component of Who's Who in American History. Volume 3, 1951-1960. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1966. (WhAm 3)
-------------------------
Name: Bourquin, George M Birth - Death: 1863-1958 Source Citation:
Biographical Dictionary of the Federal Judiciary. Compiled by Harold Chase, Samuel Krislov, Keith O. Boyum, and Jerry N. Clark. Detroit: Gale Research, 1976. (BiDFedJ)
Biographical Directory of the Federal Judiciary, 1789-2000. Lanham, MD, USA: Bernan, 2001. Biographies begin on page 347. (BiDrFJ)
-------------------------
Judge George M. Bourquin
-------------------------------
Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Montana
Nominated by President William H. Taft on February 13, 1912, to seat vacated by Carl Rasch. Confirmed by the Senate March 8, 1912, and received commission March 8, 1912. Assumed senior status March 9, 1934. Service terminated due to death, November 15, 1958.
Education:
Read law, 1894.
Professional Career:
Private practice, Helena, Montana, 1894-1899.
Private practice, Butte, Montana, 1899-1904.
District Court Judge, Silver Bow, Montana, 1904-1909.
Private practice, Butte, Montana, 1909-1912.
Landmark opinion regarding free speech
------------------------------------------------
"One of the nation's true judicial heroes of this era, federal District Court Judge George [M.] Bourquin of Montana, observed at the time that the prosecution of such individuals betrayed both 'the genius of democracy and spirit of our people.'
"Judge Bourquin's views later became the law of the United States." (as stated in Justice William Brennan's opinion for the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), finding that "a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.")
-- Excerpt from Letter and Petition to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzman by Jeffrey Renz and Clemens P. Work, for the Montana Sedition Project, March 27, 2006. [The letter in its entirety: www.seditionproject.net/pardon2.html]
George McLellan Bourquin was the 9th of 10 children of Celestine and Justin Joseph Bourquin. He was born during the Civil War, in 1863. In 1881, at 18 years old, George traveled by wagon train with his 11-years-older brother Augustus Dominick from Pennsylvania to Colorado, where Augustus Dominick successfully prospected for gold. Their mother Celestine and brother Amos Sebastian journeyed from Pennsylvania to join them in Aspen, where Augustus Dominick also became City Councilman, and built his mother an historic home that stands to this day. The adventurous Augustus Dominick also traveled to the Yukon prospecting for gold. Sadly, he passed away of la grippe (fever) at only 46 years old, while working in a claim near Aspen in 1899.
George, meanwhile, had traveled on to Montana. He married Mary M. Ratigan on September 25, 1891. They had three children:
1) George R. Bourquin, who, like his father, became a District Court Judge
2) Marion Mitchell Bourquin, who practiced law in San Francisco as M. Mitchell Bourquin, and argued cases before the Supreme Court; author of several books documenting cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court
3) Justin Joseph Bourquin (named after George M.'s father)
The family made their home in Helena, where George set up his private practice in 1894 after he earned his law degree. While studying law 1889-1894, in June, 1890,
he was appointed by President Harrison receiver of
the public money in the United States land office
at Helena, Montana; he held the office four years. In 1899, he entered private practice in Butte, Montana. In 1904, he was elected District Court Judge in Silver Bow, Montana. In 1909 he returned to private practice in Butte, until in 1912 President Taft appointed him to the U.S. District Court for Montana.
Judge Bourquin was a protector of free speech; and outspoken in criticism of what he called "police court cases" -- including numerous cases brought in his court against defendants charged under the Volstead Act which established Prohibition. He also was critical of political pressure that was brought to bear against Americans who peacefully sought to form unions in the still-young days of American industrialization, when unsafe working conditions and unpaid forced labor were serious issues imperiling the health and safety of workers, including children who were in the industrial work force.
Judge Bourquin's patriotism and refusal to be pressured against objectivity earned him a great many supporters and popularity, but not among all political groups. The FBI viewed him as an activist, and used scurrilous language in describing him.
In 1920, after George R. Bourquin also had become a Judge, FBI reports stated regarding Judge George R. Bourquin (and his father):
"He is yellow, has no back-bone, and, like his father, inclined toward radicalism ..."
(FBI Report, D. F. Costello, October 24, 1920.)
-- from books.google.com online version of "Red scare: FBI and the origins of anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943," by Regin Schmidt, p. 120, footnote. The footnote continues:
"The Bureau in particular blamed Judge Bourquin and his alleged sympathy for the radicals for the "serious" situation in Butte (for BI criticism of Bourquin and its attempts to remove him, see David Williams, "The Bureau of Investigation and its Critics, 1919-1921: The Origins of Federal Political Surveillance," The Journal of American History, Vol. 68, No. 3 (December 1983), 564-565.)"
In pre-union days, an employee had no choice but to accept dangerous and arbitrary conditions, or be fired and perhaps blacklisted so no other work could be found. Some examples: Mining and railroad building employed significant numbers of people in Colorado. Landslides were a threat to life during this work. However, employers would not pay for work done to make work sites safe. Employers would pay only for work they ordered, that contributed to profit: extraction of ore, laying of track. Employees were required to work hours at no pay to build safety walls, etc., on their own time, at the end of the work hours set by employers. In another instance, employers raised the number of hours in the work day from 8 to 10 (25% increase) with no increase in pay. Wanting safety in their workplace and fairness in being paid for their work, employees formed unions around these issues in 1903 to 1904 in Colorado, as described at Wikipedia for the topic Colorado Labor Wars.
The employers' response was overwhelming and violent. In addition to the employers' hiring armed militias, Federal, State and local governments sided with employers. Some strikers and citizens having nothing to do with the strikes were met with a military response by the Colorado National Guard. The struggles to achieve evenhandedness and fairness and safety for workers continued through George M. Bourquin's time as U.S. District Judge.
His deep respect for people and the Constitution underlay his commitment to defending rights and fairness.
The political pressure brought to bear against Judge George M. Bourquin was such that he made an announcement to President Roosevelt in March 1934 of his intention to resign the bench, as reported March 8, 1934:
Bourquin Retires as U.S. Judge in Montana District
Jurist Takes Parting Shot at Legislation Aimed to Make Court "Police Tribunal."
Has Been Mentioned As Senate Candidate
His Career on Bench Has Been Long and Colorful.
United States District Court Judge George M. Bourquin today announced his retirement as federal judge for the District of Montana to take effect May 17, 1934. Today, March 8, is the twenty-second anniversary of Judge Bourquin's appointment to the federal bench by President William H. Taft in 1912.
In his statement of retirement Judge Bourquin took a parting shot at the machinations which have threatened to reduce the federal courts "to glorified police tribunals." In this, undoubtedly, the judge has reference to the countless prohibition law violations which clouded the federal dockets in the prohibition era. Judge Bourquin dispensed with these cases speedily, sometimes one a minute, and often remarked that they were "police court cases."
There was no reference as to what will come after May 17 in the statement of retirement. Judge Bourquin said, however, that "I am persuaded that the very great debt I owe to the generous and kindly people of Montana may be more nearly paid, during perhaps the next 23 years, by service in due time at the bar and/or other occupation of greater activity and freedom." In political circles it has been mentioned that Judge Bourquin will be a candidate for the six-year term in the United States Senate, to succeed Barton K. Wheeler.
Judge Bourquin's statement of retirement, addressed to President Roosevelt, advises the chief executive that ...
Turn to Page Five, Col. Two.
(unfortunately, the rest of the article is not present; see scanned copy at web address below, item 3)
George M. did not entirely resign his federal bench after all; he served in senior status until he passed away November 15, 1958. He ran for the Senate, unsuccessfully, and continued to be available to serve in the federal district court for the State of Montana.
George M.'s views also were the subject of an article, "Western Justice and the Rule of Law: Bourquin on Loyalty, the 'Red Scare,' and Indians." Pacific Historical Review 65 (February 1996), 85-106.
George M. lived to be 90 years old. He passed away in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, southeast of his birthplace in Tidioute, Warren County, Pennsylvania, and his childhood home in East Fairfield Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. (see obituary published in the Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), 6 January 1959)
George M. had at least two first cousins in his Ducray family who were involved in the enforcement of Prohibition, in one way or another. His cousin Frank Nicholas Ducray (son of mother Celestine Ducray's brother Charles Celestin Ducray) was Sheriff of Colorado Springs 1921-1923, and Sheriff Ducray was avid in his enforcement of Prohibition. A bit amusingly (though certainly not to the principals involved), on the other side of the issue, George M.'s and Frank Nicholas's cousin George Oliver Ducray (son of Celestine's brother Justin Ducray) and George Oliver's wife were fined and given probation for violating Prohibition by having sold alcohol without a prescription at their pharmacy in East St. Louis, Illinois.
------------------------------------
Links to newspaper photos of Judge George M. Bourquin, and article regarding his retirement and proposed Senate run, posted at ancestry.com:
1) Judge Bourquin as a relatively young man
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/3180599/photo/yVda5nooKUdTmiDKRyOW34R_zWFEODZhfSiSpkhCoEVC59TlN_FJndbJbRnVjWnd/600
2) Judge Bourquin during Prohibition
http://d2.o.mfcreative.com/f1/file12/objects/b/e/2/cbe2692b-655b-49f6-98a1-92649e211a34-3.jpg
3) news article "GEORGE M. BOUQUIN FOR FEDERAL JUDGE" http://trees.ancestryinstitution.com/tree/9393406/person/-783614415/media/1?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid%7cpgNum
4) news article regarding Judge Bourquin's announcement to President Roosevelt of his retirement from Federal bench, with news speculation of his run for the Senate seat to succeed Burton K. Wheeler
http://trees.ancestryinstitution.com/tree/3180599/photo/yVda5nooKUdRukW8LQxzOjPechxGPKQqhlmnjectQ4R6HZw2LW2MGX1NRVExL!oR/600
--------
from U.S. Genealogy website www.usgwarchives.net/mt/silverbow/bios/bourquingm.txt:
SILVER BOW COUNTY, MONTANA
Judge Geo. M. Bourquin
Transcribed by: Lorene Frigaard
Extracted from A History of Montana, by Helen Fitzgerald
Sanders, Volume I, Illustrated, the Lewis Publishing Company (not incorporated), Chicago and New York, 1913, p. 1270.
Judge Geo. M. Bourquin, United States district judge for
Montana, appointed thereto by President Taft, executed
the oath and assumed the duties of the office on the
9th day of March, 1912. Judge Bourquin was born on the
24th day of June, 1863, on the banks of the Allegheny
river, near Tidioute, Warren county, Pennsylvania. He
is of French ancestry, his father, Justin Bourquin,
having been born in Switzerland, and his mother Celestine
Bourquin, née Ducray, born in France. In their youth they
came to America, met and married in the United States and
became the parents of ten children of whom George was the
ninth.
Justin Bourquin was by vocation a blacksmith and farmer.
As a boy Judge Bourquin attended the country schools of
Warren and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania; at the age
of seventeen he taught therein, and at eighteen, in 1881,
he went to Aspen, Colorado, where several of his brothers
had already located. In that vicinity and at Leadville
he was alternately engaged as a cowboy, miner and
smelterman, until in June, 1884, he came to Butte,
Montana. He first worked in the silver mills at
Walkerville, a suburb of Butte, then was employed
as a hoisting engineer at various Butte mines.
Republican in politics, in 1888 he was the candidate
of his party for the office of county clerk and
recorder of Silver Bow county, but was defeated,--
his first essay in politics. Active in the state
campaign of that and the next year, in June, 1890,
he was appointed by President Harrison receiver of
the public money in the United States land office
at Helena, Montana. This office he held four years.
Having commenced the study of law in 1889, in 1894 he
was admitted to the bar of Montana, first practicing
in Helena, and then, after 1899, in Butte. In 1904 he
was elected judge of the district court of the state
for Silver Bow county and served therein four years,
then resumed law practice in Butte, in which he
continued until his appointment to the Federal bench,
as before stated.
In 1891 Judge Bourquin was married to Miss Mary M.
Ratigan, of Butte, Montana, and three sons have been
born to them: George R., Marion M. and Justin J.,
all of whom are living. They reside in Butte, which
city represents the official residence of the Judge.
Of fraternal orders the Judge is a member of the
Knights of Pythias and of the Woodmen of the World.
_____________________________________________
USGenWeb Project NOTICE:
In keeping with our policy of providing free information on
the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization.
Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for
purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express written permission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.
---------------------------------------------
Text of news article:
GEORGE R. BOURQUIN FOR FEDERAL JUDGE
Butte Lawyers Sign a Telegram to President Taft Urging the Appointment of the Ex-District Judge to Succeed William H. Hunt.
Sixty members of the Butte Bar yesterday joined in a telegram to President Taft urging the appointment of George M. Bourquin of Butte to succeed William H. Hunt as judge of the federal court for the district of Montana.
Practically the same telegram was also sent to United States Senator Carter and Dixon and to Representative Prey. It is also stated that prominent and influential lawyers have sent personal telegrams to the president and to others in Washington indorsing Judge Bourquin and urging his appointment.
Other Candidates.
Friends of Judge Bourquin were impelled to take this action because ... (article continued elsewhere; no copy)
Son of Celestine (née Ducray) and Justin Joseph Bourquin
Father of Judge George R. Bourquin,
attorney and author Marion Mitchell Bourquin, and
Justin Joseh Bourquin (named after George M.'s father)
George M. Bourquin Judicial Stats
Name: Bourquin, George McClellan Birth - Death: 1863-1958 Source Citation:
Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. A supplement. Six volumes. Edited by L.E. Dearborn. New York: Press Association Compilers, 1918-1931. Originally published as The Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Supplementary Edition. (ApCAB X)
Who Was Who in America. A component of Who's Who in American History. Volume 3, 1951-1960. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1966. (WhAm 3)
-------------------------
Name: Bourquin, George M Birth - Death: 1863-1958 Source Citation:
Biographical Dictionary of the Federal Judiciary. Compiled by Harold Chase, Samuel Krislov, Keith O. Boyum, and Jerry N. Clark. Detroit: Gale Research, 1976. (BiDFedJ)
Biographical Directory of the Federal Judiciary, 1789-2000. Lanham, MD, USA: Bernan, 2001. Biographies begin on page 347. (BiDrFJ)
-------------------------
Judge George M. Bourquin
-------------------------------
Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Montana
Nominated by President William H. Taft on February 13, 1912, to seat vacated by Carl Rasch. Confirmed by the Senate March 8, 1912, and received commission March 8, 1912. Assumed senior status March 9, 1934. Service terminated due to death, November 15, 1958.
Education:
Read law, 1894.
Professional Career:
Private practice, Helena, Montana, 1894-1899.
Private practice, Butte, Montana, 1899-1904.
District Court Judge, Silver Bow, Montana, 1904-1909.
Private practice, Butte, Montana, 1909-1912.
Landmark opinion regarding free speech
------------------------------------------------
"One of the nation's true judicial heroes of this era, federal District Court Judge George [M.] Bourquin of Montana, observed at the time that the prosecution of such individuals betrayed both 'the genius of democracy and spirit of our people.'
"Judge Bourquin's views later became the law of the United States." (as stated in Justice William Brennan's opinion for the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), finding that "a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.")
-- Excerpt from Letter and Petition to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzman by Jeffrey Renz and Clemens P. Work, for the Montana Sedition Project, March 27, 2006. [The letter in its entirety: www.seditionproject.net/pardon2.html]
George McLellan Bourquin was the 9th of 10 children of Celestine and Justin Joseph Bourquin. He was born during the Civil War, in 1863. In 1881, at 18 years old, George traveled by wagon train with his 11-years-older brother Augustus Dominick from Pennsylvania to Colorado, where Augustus Dominick successfully prospected for gold. Their mother Celestine and brother Amos Sebastian journeyed from Pennsylvania to join them in Aspen, where Augustus Dominick also became City Councilman, and built his mother an historic home that stands to this day. The adventurous Augustus Dominick also traveled to the Yukon prospecting for gold. Sadly, he passed away of la grippe (fever) at only 46 years old, while working in a claim near Aspen in 1899.
George, meanwhile, had traveled on to Montana. He married Mary M. Ratigan on September 25, 1891. They had three children:
1) George R. Bourquin, who, like his father, became a District Court Judge
2) Marion Mitchell Bourquin, who practiced law in San Francisco as M. Mitchell Bourquin, and argued cases before the Supreme Court; author of several books documenting cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court
3) Justin Joseph Bourquin (named after George M.'s father)
The family made their home in Helena, where George set up his private practice in 1894 after he earned his law degree. While studying law 1889-1894, in June, 1890,
he was appointed by President Harrison receiver of
the public money in the United States land office
at Helena, Montana; he held the office four years. In 1899, he entered private practice in Butte, Montana. In 1904, he was elected District Court Judge in Silver Bow, Montana. In 1909 he returned to private practice in Butte, until in 1912 President Taft appointed him to the U.S. District Court for Montana.
Judge Bourquin was a protector of free speech; and outspoken in criticism of what he called "police court cases" -- including numerous cases brought in his court against defendants charged under the Volstead Act which established Prohibition. He also was critical of political pressure that was brought to bear against Americans who peacefully sought to form unions in the still-young days of American industrialization, when unsafe working conditions and unpaid forced labor were serious issues imperiling the health and safety of workers, including children who were in the industrial work force.
Judge Bourquin's patriotism and refusal to be pressured against objectivity earned him a great many supporters and popularity, but not among all political groups. The FBI viewed him as an activist, and used scurrilous language in describing him.
In 1920, after George R. Bourquin also had become a Judge, FBI reports stated regarding Judge George R. Bourquin (and his father):
"He is yellow, has no back-bone, and, like his father, inclined toward radicalism ..."
(FBI Report, D. F. Costello, October 24, 1920.)
-- from books.google.com online version of "Red scare: FBI and the origins of anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943," by Regin Schmidt, p. 120, footnote. The footnote continues:
"The Bureau in particular blamed Judge Bourquin and his alleged sympathy for the radicals for the "serious" situation in Butte (for BI criticism of Bourquin and its attempts to remove him, see David Williams, "The Bureau of Investigation and its Critics, 1919-1921: The Origins of Federal Political Surveillance," The Journal of American History, Vol. 68, No. 3 (December 1983), 564-565.)"
In pre-union days, an employee had no choice but to accept dangerous and arbitrary conditions, or be fired and perhaps blacklisted so no other work could be found. Some examples: Mining and railroad building employed significant numbers of people in Colorado. Landslides were a threat to life during this work. However, employers would not pay for work done to make work sites safe. Employers would pay only for work they ordered, that contributed to profit: extraction of ore, laying of track. Employees were required to work hours at no pay to build safety walls, etc., on their own time, at the end of the work hours set by employers. In another instance, employers raised the number of hours in the work day from 8 to 10 (25% increase) with no increase in pay. Wanting safety in their workplace and fairness in being paid for their work, employees formed unions around these issues in 1903 to 1904 in Colorado, as described at Wikipedia for the topic Colorado Labor Wars.
The employers' response was overwhelming and violent. In addition to the employers' hiring armed militias, Federal, State and local governments sided with employers. Some strikers and citizens having nothing to do with the strikes were met with a military response by the Colorado National Guard. The struggles to achieve evenhandedness and fairness and safety for workers continued through George M. Bourquin's time as U.S. District Judge.
His deep respect for people and the Constitution underlay his commitment to defending rights and fairness.
The political pressure brought to bear against Judge George M. Bourquin was such that he made an announcement to President Roosevelt in March 1934 of his intention to resign the bench, as reported March 8, 1934:
Bourquin Retires as U.S. Judge in Montana District
Jurist Takes Parting Shot at Legislation Aimed to Make Court "Police Tribunal."
Has Been Mentioned As Senate Candidate
His Career on Bench Has Been Long and Colorful.
United States District Court Judge George M. Bourquin today announced his retirement as federal judge for the District of Montana to take effect May 17, 1934. Today, March 8, is the twenty-second anniversary of Judge Bourquin's appointment to the federal bench by President William H. Taft in 1912.
In his statement of retirement Judge Bourquin took a parting shot at the machinations which have threatened to reduce the federal courts "to glorified police tribunals." In this, undoubtedly, the judge has reference to the countless prohibition law violations which clouded the federal dockets in the prohibition era. Judge Bourquin dispensed with these cases speedily, sometimes one a minute, and often remarked that they were "police court cases."
There was no reference as to what will come after May 17 in the statement of retirement. Judge Bourquin said, however, that "I am persuaded that the very great debt I owe to the generous and kindly people of Montana may be more nearly paid, during perhaps the next 23 years, by service in due time at the bar and/or other occupation of greater activity and freedom." In political circles it has been mentioned that Judge Bourquin will be a candidate for the six-year term in the United States Senate, to succeed Barton K. Wheeler.
Judge Bourquin's statement of retirement, addressed to President Roosevelt, advises the chief executive that ...
Turn to Page Five, Col. Two.
(unfortunately, the rest of the article is not present; see scanned copy at web address below, item 3)
George M. did not entirely resign his federal bench after all; he served in senior status until he passed away November 15, 1958. He ran for the Senate, unsuccessfully, and continued to be available to serve in the federal district court for the State of Montana.
George M.'s views also were the subject of an article, "Western Justice and the Rule of Law: Bourquin on Loyalty, the 'Red Scare,' and Indians." Pacific Historical Review 65 (February 1996), 85-106.
George M. lived to be 90 years old. He passed away in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, southeast of his birthplace in Tidioute, Warren County, Pennsylvania, and his childhood home in East Fairfield Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. (see obituary published in the Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), 6 January 1959)
George M. had at least two first cousins in his Ducray family who were involved in the enforcement of Prohibition, in one way or another. His cousin Frank Nicholas Ducray (son of mother Celestine Ducray's brother Charles Celestin Ducray) was Sheriff of Colorado Springs 1921-1923, and Sheriff Ducray was avid in his enforcement of Prohibition. A bit amusingly (though certainly not to the principals involved), on the other side of the issue, George M.'s and Frank Nicholas's cousin George Oliver Ducray (son of Celestine's brother Justin Ducray) and George Oliver's wife were fined and given probation for violating Prohibition by having sold alcohol without a prescription at their pharmacy in East St. Louis, Illinois.
------------------------------------
Links to newspaper photos of Judge George M. Bourquin, and article regarding his retirement and proposed Senate run, posted at ancestry.com:
1) Judge Bourquin as a relatively young man
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/3180599/photo/yVda5nooKUdTmiDKRyOW34R_zWFEODZhfSiSpkhCoEVC59TlN_FJndbJbRnVjWnd/600
2) Judge Bourquin during Prohibition
http://d2.o.mfcreative.com/f1/file12/objects/b/e/2/cbe2692b-655b-49f6-98a1-92649e211a34-3.jpg
3) news article "GEORGE M. BOUQUIN FOR FEDERAL JUDGE" http://trees.ancestryinstitution.com/tree/9393406/person/-783614415/media/1?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid%7cpgNum
4) news article regarding Judge Bourquin's announcement to President Roosevelt of his retirement from Federal bench, with news speculation of his run for the Senate seat to succeed Burton K. Wheeler
http://trees.ancestryinstitution.com/tree/3180599/photo/yVda5nooKUdRukW8LQxzOjPechxGPKQqhlmnjectQ4R6HZw2LW2MGX1NRVExL!oR/600
--------
from U.S. Genealogy website www.usgwarchives.net/mt/silverbow/bios/bourquingm.txt:
SILVER BOW COUNTY, MONTANA
Judge Geo. M. Bourquin
Transcribed by: Lorene Frigaard
Extracted from A History of Montana, by Helen Fitzgerald
Sanders, Volume I, Illustrated, the Lewis Publishing Company (not incorporated), Chicago and New York, 1913, p. 1270.
Judge Geo. M. Bourquin, United States district judge for
Montana, appointed thereto by President Taft, executed
the oath and assumed the duties of the office on the
9th day of March, 1912. Judge Bourquin was born on the
24th day of June, 1863, on the banks of the Allegheny
river, near Tidioute, Warren county, Pennsylvania. He
is of French ancestry, his father, Justin Bourquin,
having been born in Switzerland, and his mother Celestine
Bourquin, née Ducray, born in France. In their youth they
came to America, met and married in the United States and
became the parents of ten children of whom George was the
ninth.
Justin Bourquin was by vocation a blacksmith and farmer.
As a boy Judge Bourquin attended the country schools of
Warren and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania; at the age
of seventeen he taught therein, and at eighteen, in 1881,
he went to Aspen, Colorado, where several of his brothers
had already located. In that vicinity and at Leadville
he was alternately engaged as a cowboy, miner and
smelterman, until in June, 1884, he came to Butte,
Montana. He first worked in the silver mills at
Walkerville, a suburb of Butte, then was employed
as a hoisting engineer at various Butte mines.
Republican in politics, in 1888 he was the candidate
of his party for the office of county clerk and
recorder of Silver Bow county, but was defeated,--
his first essay in politics. Active in the state
campaign of that and the next year, in June, 1890,
he was appointed by President Harrison receiver of
the public money in the United States land office
at Helena, Montana. This office he held four years.
Having commenced the study of law in 1889, in 1894 he
was admitted to the bar of Montana, first practicing
in Helena, and then, after 1899, in Butte. In 1904 he
was elected judge of the district court of the state
for Silver Bow county and served therein four years,
then resumed law practice in Butte, in which he
continued until his appointment to the Federal bench,
as before stated.
In 1891 Judge Bourquin was married to Miss Mary M.
Ratigan, of Butte, Montana, and three sons have been
born to them: George R., Marion M. and Justin J.,
all of whom are living. They reside in Butte, which
city represents the official residence of the Judge.
Of fraternal orders the Judge is a member of the
Knights of Pythias and of the Woodmen of the World.
_____________________________________________
USGenWeb Project NOTICE:
In keeping with our policy of providing free information on
the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization.
Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for
purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express written permission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.
---------------------------------------------
Text of news article:
GEORGE R. BOURQUIN FOR FEDERAL JUDGE
Butte Lawyers Sign a Telegram to President Taft Urging the Appointment of the Ex-District Judge to Succeed William H. Hunt.
Sixty members of the Butte Bar yesterday joined in a telegram to President Taft urging the appointment of George M. Bourquin of Butte to succeed William H. Hunt as judge of the federal court for the district of Montana.
Practically the same telegram was also sent to United States Senator Carter and Dixon and to Representative Prey. It is also stated that prominent and influential lawyers have sent personal telegrams to the president and to others in Washington indorsing Judge Bourquin and urging his appointment.
Other Candidates.
Friends of Judge Bourquin were impelled to take this action because ... (article continued elsewhere; no copy)
Grandson of Nicholas and Françoise/Frances (née Petitjean) Ducray of Gondenans-les-Moulins, France, who emigrated in 1839 to Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, with their nine children, and survived being shipwrecked and stranded on a sand island (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY ducray" online). Judge George M. Bourquin was descended from Servois Ducray, one of the Ducray Nine, nine Ducray brothers who saved the life of the French King Henry IV ("Henry the Great," "Good King Henry") during the 1590s, and were rewarded with knighthood and villages. The family crest is a shield and swords, with nine arrows crossed in the shape of an asterisk, representing the nine brothers.
Son of Celestine (née Ducray) and Justin Joseph Bourquin
Father of Judge George R. Bourquin,
attorney and author Marion Mitchell Bourquin, and
Justin Joseh Bourquin (named after George M.'s father)
George M. Bourquin Judicial Stats
Name: Bourquin, George McClellan Birth - Death: 1863-1958 Source Citation:
Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. A supplement. Six volumes. Edited by L.E. Dearborn. New York: Press Association Compilers, 1918-1931. Originally published as The Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Supplementary Edition. (ApCAB X)
Who Was Who in America. A component of Who's Who in American History. Volume 3, 1951-1960. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1966. (WhAm 3)
-------------------------
Name: Bourquin, George M Birth - Death: 1863-1958 Source Citation:
Biographical Dictionary of the Federal Judiciary. Compiled by Harold Chase, Samuel Krislov, Keith O. Boyum, and Jerry N. Clark. Detroit: Gale Research, 1976. (BiDFedJ)
Biographical Directory of the Federal Judiciary, 1789-2000. Lanham, MD, USA: Bernan, 2001. Biographies begin on page 347. (BiDrFJ)
-------------------------
Judge George M. Bourquin
-------------------------------
Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Montana
Nominated by President William H. Taft on February 13, 1912, to seat vacated by Carl Rasch. Confirmed by the Senate March 8, 1912, and received commission March 8, 1912. Assumed senior status March 9, 1934. Service terminated due to death, November 15, 1958.
Education:
Read law, 1894.
Professional Career:
Private practice, Helena, Montana, 1894-1899.
Private practice, Butte, Montana, 1899-1904.
District Court Judge, Silver Bow, Montana, 1904-1909.
Private practice, Butte, Montana, 1909-1912.
Landmark opinion regarding free speech
------------------------------------------------
"One of the nation's true judicial heroes of this era, federal District Court Judge George [M.] Bourquin of Montana, observed at the time that the prosecution of such individuals betrayed both 'the genius of democracy and spirit of our people.'
"Judge Bourquin's views later became the law of the United States." (as stated in Justice William Brennan's opinion for the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), finding that "a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.")
-- Excerpt from Letter and Petition to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzman by Jeffrey Renz and Clemens P. Work, for the Montana Sedition Project, March 27, 2006. [The letter in its entirety: www.seditionproject.net/pardon2.html]
George McLellan Bourquin was the 9th of 10 children of Celestine and Justin Joseph Bourquin. He was born during the Civil War, in 1863. In 1881, at 18 years old, George traveled by wagon train with his 11-years-older brother Augustus Dominick from Pennsylvania to Colorado, where Augustus Dominick successfully prospected for gold. Their mother Celestine and brother Amos Sebastian journeyed from Pennsylvania to join them in Aspen, where Augustus Dominick also became City Councilman, and built his mother an historic home that stands to this day. The adventurous Augustus Dominick also traveled to the Yukon prospecting for gold. Sadly, he passed away of la grippe (fever) at only 46 years old, while working in a claim near Aspen in 1899.
George, meanwhile, had traveled on to Montana. He married Mary M. Ratigan on September 25, 1891. They had three children:
1) George R. Bourquin, who, like his father, became a District Court Judge
2) Marion Mitchell Bourquin, who practiced law in San Francisco as M. Mitchell Bourquin, and argued cases before the Supreme Court; author of several books documenting cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court
3) Justin Joseph Bourquin (named after George M.'s father)
The family made their home in Helena, where George set up his private practice in 1894 after he earned his law degree. While studying law 1889-1894, in June, 1890,
he was appointed by President Harrison receiver of
the public money in the United States land office
at Helena, Montana; he held the office four years. In 1899, he entered private practice in Butte, Montana. In 1904, he was elected District Court Judge in Silver Bow, Montana. In 1909 he returned to private practice in Butte, until in 1912 President Taft appointed him to the U.S. District Court for Montana.
Judge Bourquin was a protector of free speech; and outspoken in criticism of what he called "police court cases" -- including numerous cases brought in his court against defendants charged under the Volstead Act which established Prohibition. He also was critical of political pressure that was brought to bear against Americans who peacefully sought to form unions in the still-young days of American industrialization, when unsafe working conditions and unpaid forced labor were serious issues imperiling the health and safety of workers, including children who were in the industrial work force.
Judge Bourquin's patriotism and refusal to be pressured against objectivity earned him a great many supporters and popularity, but not among all political groups. The FBI viewed him as an activist, and used scurrilous language in describing him.
In 1920, after George R. Bourquin also had become a Judge, FBI reports stated regarding Judge George R. Bourquin (and his father):
"He is yellow, has no back-bone, and, like his father, inclined toward radicalism ..."
(FBI Report, D. F. Costello, October 24, 1920.)
-- from books.google.com online version of "Red scare: FBI and the origins of anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943," by Regin Schmidt, p. 120, footnote. The footnote continues:
"The Bureau in particular blamed Judge Bourquin and his alleged sympathy for the radicals for the "serious" situation in Butte (for BI criticism of Bourquin and its attempts to remove him, see David Williams, "The Bureau of Investigation and its Critics, 1919-1921: The Origins of Federal Political Surveillance," The Journal of American History, Vol. 68, No. 3 (December 1983), 564-565.)"
In pre-union days, an employee had no choice but to accept dangerous and arbitrary conditions, or be fired and perhaps blacklisted so no other work could be found. Some examples: Mining and railroad building employed significant numbers of people in Colorado. Landslides were a threat to life during this work. However, employers would not pay for work done to make work sites safe. Employers would pay only for work they ordered, that contributed to profit: extraction of ore, laying of track. Employees were required to work hours at no pay to build safety walls, etc., on their own time, at the end of the work hours set by employers. In another instance, employers raised the number of hours in the work day from 8 to 10 (25% increase) with no increase in pay. Wanting safety in their workplace and fairness in being paid for their work, employees formed unions around these issues in 1903 to 1904 in Colorado, as described at Wikipedia for the topic Colorado Labor Wars.
The employers' response was overwhelming and violent. In addition to the employers' hiring armed militias, Federal, State and local governments sided with employers. Some strikers and citizens having nothing to do with the strikes were met with a military response by the Colorado National Guard. The struggles to achieve evenhandedness and fairness and safety for workers continued through George M. Bourquin's time as U.S. District Judge.
His deep respect for people and the Constitution underlay his commitment to defending rights and fairness.
The political pressure brought to bear against Judge George M. Bourquin was such that he made an announcement to President Roosevelt in March 1934 of his intention to resign the bench, as reported March 8, 1934:
Bourquin Retires as U.S. Judge in Montana District
Jurist Takes Parting Shot at Legislation Aimed to Make Court "Police Tribunal."
Has Been Mentioned As Senate Candidate
His Career on Bench Has Been Long and Colorful.
United States District Court Judge George M. Bourquin today announced his retirement as federal judge for the District of Montana to take effect May 17, 1934. Today, March 8, is the twenty-second anniversary of Judge Bourquin's appointment to the federal bench by President William H. Taft in 1912.
In his statement of retirement Judge Bourquin took a parting shot at the machinations which have threatened to reduce the federal courts "to glorified police tribunals." In this, undoubtedly, the judge has reference to the countless prohibition law violations which clouded the federal dockets in the prohibition era. Judge Bourquin dispensed with these cases speedily, sometimes one a minute, and often remarked that they were "police court cases."
There was no reference as to what will come after May 17 in the statement of retirement. Judge Bourquin said, however, that "I am persuaded that the very great debt I owe to the generous and kindly people of Montana may be more nearly paid, during perhaps the next 23 years, by service in due time at the bar and/or other occupation of greater activity and freedom." In political circles it has been mentioned that Judge Bourquin will be a candidate for the six-year term in the United States Senate, to succeed Barton K. Wheeler.
Judge Bourquin's statement of retirement, addressed to President Roosevelt, advises the chief executive that ...
Turn to Page Five, Col. Two.
(unfortunately, the rest of the article is not present; see scanned copy at web address below, item 3)
George M. did not entirely resign his federal bench after all; he served in senior status until he passed away November 15, 1958. He ran for the Senate, unsuccessfully, and continued to be available to serve in the federal district court for the State of Montana.
George M.'s views also were the subject of an article, "Western Justice and the Rule of Law: Bourquin on Loyalty, the 'Red Scare,' and Indians." Pacific Historical Review 65 (February 1996), 85-106.
George M. lived to be 90 years old. He passed away in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, southeast of his birthplace in Tidioute, Warren County, Pennsylvania, and his childhood home in East Fairfield Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. (see obituary published in the Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), 6 January 1959)
George M. had at least two first cousins in his Ducray family who were involved in the enforcement of Prohibition, in one way or another. His cousin Frank Nicholas Ducray (son of mother Celestine Ducray's brother Charles Celestin Ducray) was Sheriff of Colorado Springs 1921-1923, and Sheriff Ducray was avid in his enforcement of Prohibition. A bit amusingly (though certainly not to the principals involved), on the other side of the issue, George M.'s and Frank Nicholas's cousin George Oliver Ducray (son of Celestine's brother Justin Ducray) and George Oliver's wife were fined and given probation for violating Prohibition by having sold alcohol without a prescription at their pharmacy in East St. Louis, Illinois.
------------------------------------
Links to newspaper photos of Judge George M. Bourquin, and article regarding his retirement and proposed Senate run, posted at ancestry.com:
1) Judge Bourquin as a relatively young man
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/3180599/photo/yVda5nooKUdTmiDKRyOW34R_zWFEODZhfSiSpkhCoEVC59TlN_FJndbJbRnVjWnd/600
2) Judge Bourquin during Prohibition
http://d2.o.mfcreative.com/f1/file12/objects/b/e/2/cbe2692b-655b-49f6-98a1-92649e211a34-3.jpg
3) news article "GEORGE M. BOUQUIN FOR FEDERAL JUDGE" http://trees.ancestryinstitution.com/tree/9393406/person/-783614415/media/1?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid%7cpgNum
4) news article regarding Judge Bourquin's announcement to President Roosevelt of his retirement from Federal bench, with news speculation of his run for the Senate seat to succeed Burton K. Wheeler
http://trees.ancestryinstitution.com/tree/3180599/photo/yVda5nooKUdRukW8LQxzOjPechxGPKQqhlmnjectQ4R6HZw2LW2MGX1NRVExL!oR/600
--------
from U.S. Genealogy website www.usgwarchives.net/mt/silverbow/bios/bourquingm.txt:
SILVER BOW COUNTY, MONTANA
Judge Geo. M. Bourquin
Transcribed by: Lorene Frigaard
Extracted from A History of Montana, by Helen Fitzgerald
Sanders, Volume I, Illustrated, the Lewis Publishing Company (not incorporated), Chicago and New York, 1913, p. 1270.
Judge Geo. M. Bourquin, United States district judge for
Montana, appointed thereto by President Taft, executed
the oath and assumed the duties of the office on the
9th day of March, 1912. Judge Bourquin was born on the
24th day of June, 1863, on the banks of the Allegheny
river, near Tidioute, Warren county, Pennsylvania. He
is of French ancestry, his father, Justin Bourquin,
having been born in Switzerland, and his mother Celestine
Bourquin, née Ducray, born in France. In their youth they
came to America, met and married in the United States and
became the parents of ten children of whom George was the
ninth.
Justin Bourquin was by vocation a blacksmith and farmer.
As a boy Judge Bourquin attended the country schools of
Warren and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania; at the age
of seventeen he taught therein, and at eighteen, in 1881,
he went to Aspen, Colorado, where several of his brothers
had already located. In that vicinity and at Leadville
he was alternately engaged as a cowboy, miner and
smelterman, until in June, 1884, he came to Butte,
Montana. He first worked in the silver mills at
Walkerville, a suburb of Butte, then was employed
as a hoisting engineer at various Butte mines.
Republican in politics, in 1888 he was the candidate
of his party for the office of county clerk and
recorder of Silver Bow county, but was defeated,--
his first essay in politics. Active in the state
campaign of that and the next year, in June, 1890,
he was appointed by President Harrison receiver of
the public money in the United States land office
at Helena, Montana. This office he held four years.
Having commenced the study of law in 1889, in 1894 he
was admitted to the bar of Montana, first practicing
in Helena, and then, after 1899, in Butte. In 1904 he
was elected judge of the district court of the state
for Silver Bow county and served therein four years,
then resumed law practice in Butte, in which he
continued until his appointment to the Federal bench,
as before stated.
In 1891 Judge Bourquin was married to Miss Mary M.
Ratigan, of Butte, Montana, and three sons have been
born to them: George R., Marion M. and Justin J.,
all of whom are living. They reside in Butte, which
city represents the official residence of the Judge.
Of fraternal orders the Judge is a member of the
Knights of Pythias and of the Woodmen of the World.
_____________________________________________
USGenWeb Project NOTICE:
In keeping with our policy of providing free information on
the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization.
Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for
purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express written permission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.
---------------------------------------------
Text of news article:
GEORGE R. BOURQUIN FOR FEDERAL JUDGE
Butte Lawyers Sign a Telegram to President Taft Urging the Appointment of the Ex-District Judge to Succeed William H. Hunt.
Sixty members of the Butte Bar yesterday joined in a telegram to President Taft urging the appointment of George M. Bourquin of Butte to succeed William H. Hunt as judge of the federal court for the district of Montana.
Practically the same telegram was also sent to United States Senator Carter and Dixon and to Representative Prey. It is also stated that prominent and influential lawyers have sent personal telegrams to the president and to others in Washington indorsing Judge Bourquin and urging his appointment.
Other Candidates.
Friends of Judge Bourquin were impelled to take this action because ... (article continued elsewhere; no copy)
Son of Celestine (née Ducray) and Justin Joseph Bourquin
Father of Judge George R. Bourquin,
attorney and author Marion Mitchell Bourquin, and
Justin Joseh Bourquin (named after George M.'s father)
George M. Bourquin Judicial Stats
Name: Bourquin, George McClellan Birth - Death: 1863-1958 Source Citation:
Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. A supplement. Six volumes. Edited by L.E. Dearborn. New York: Press Association Compilers, 1918-1931. Originally published as The Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Supplementary Edition. (ApCAB X)
Who Was Who in America. A component of Who's Who in American History. Volume 3, 1951-1960. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1966. (WhAm 3)
-------------------------
Name: Bourquin, George M Birth - Death: 1863-1958 Source Citation:
Biographical Dictionary of the Federal Judiciary. Compiled by Harold Chase, Samuel Krislov, Keith O. Boyum, and Jerry N. Clark. Detroit: Gale Research, 1976. (BiDFedJ)
Biographical Directory of the Federal Judiciary, 1789-2000. Lanham, MD, USA: Bernan, 2001. Biographies begin on page 347. (BiDrFJ)
-------------------------
Judge George M. Bourquin
-------------------------------
Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Montana
Nominated by President William H. Taft on February 13, 1912, to seat vacated by Carl Rasch. Confirmed by the Senate March 8, 1912, and received commission March 8, 1912. Assumed senior status March 9, 1934. Service terminated due to death, November 15, 1958.
Education:
Read law, 1894.
Professional Career:
Private practice, Helena, Montana, 1894-1899.
Private practice, Butte, Montana, 1899-1904.
District Court Judge, Silver Bow, Montana, 1904-1909.
Private practice, Butte, Montana, 1909-1912.
Landmark opinion regarding free speech
------------------------------------------------
"One of the nation's true judicial heroes of this era, federal District Court Judge George [M.] Bourquin of Montana, observed at the time that the prosecution of such individuals betrayed both 'the genius of democracy and spirit of our people.'
"Judge Bourquin's views later became the law of the United States." (as stated in Justice William Brennan's opinion for the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), finding that "a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.")
-- Excerpt from Letter and Petition to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzman by Jeffrey Renz and Clemens P. Work, for the Montana Sedition Project, March 27, 2006. [The letter in its entirety: www.seditionproject.net/pardon2.html]
George McLellan Bourquin was the 9th of 10 children of Celestine and Justin Joseph Bourquin. He was born during the Civil War, in 1863. In 1881, at 18 years old, George traveled by wagon train with his 11-years-older brother Augustus Dominick from Pennsylvania to Colorado, where Augustus Dominick successfully prospected for gold. Their mother Celestine and brother Amos Sebastian journeyed from Pennsylvania to join them in Aspen, where Augustus Dominick also became City Councilman, and built his mother an historic home that stands to this day. The adventurous Augustus Dominick also traveled to the Yukon prospecting for gold. Sadly, he passed away of la grippe (fever) at only 46 years old, while working in a claim near Aspen in 1899.
George, meanwhile, had traveled on to Montana. He married Mary M. Ratigan on September 25, 1891. They had three children:
1) George R. Bourquin, who, like his father, became a District Court Judge
2) Marion Mitchell Bourquin, who practiced law in San Francisco as M. Mitchell Bourquin, and argued cases before the Supreme Court; author of several books documenting cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court
3) Justin Joseph Bourquin (named after George M.'s father)
The family made their home in Helena, where George set up his private practice in 1894 after he earned his law degree. While studying law 1889-1894, in June, 1890,
he was appointed by President Harrison receiver of
the public money in the United States land office
at Helena, Montana; he held the office four years. In 1899, he entered private practice in Butte, Montana. In 1904, he was elected District Court Judge in Silver Bow, Montana. In 1909 he returned to private practice in Butte, until in 1912 President Taft appointed him to the U.S. District Court for Montana.
Judge Bourquin was a protector of free speech; and outspoken in criticism of what he called "police court cases" -- including numerous cases brought in his court against defendants charged under the Volstead Act which established Prohibition. He also was critical of political pressure that was brought to bear against Americans who peacefully sought to form unions in the still-young days of American industrialization, when unsafe working conditions and unpaid forced labor were serious issues imperiling the health and safety of workers, including children who were in the industrial work force.
Judge Bourquin's patriotism and refusal to be pressured against objectivity earned him a great many supporters and popularity, but not among all political groups. The FBI viewed him as an activist, and used scurrilous language in describing him.
In 1920, after George R. Bourquin also had become a Judge, FBI reports stated regarding Judge George R. Bourquin (and his father):
"He is yellow, has no back-bone, and, like his father, inclined toward radicalism ..."
(FBI Report, D. F. Costello, October 24, 1920.)
-- from books.google.com online version of "Red scare: FBI and the origins of anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943," by Regin Schmidt, p. 120, footnote. The footnote continues:
"The Bureau in particular blamed Judge Bourquin and his alleged sympathy for the radicals for the "serious" situation in Butte (for BI criticism of Bourquin and its attempts to remove him, see David Williams, "The Bureau of Investigation and its Critics, 1919-1921: The Origins of Federal Political Surveillance," The Journal of American History, Vol. 68, No. 3 (December 1983), 564-565.)"
In pre-union days, an employee had no choice but to accept dangerous and arbitrary conditions, or be fired and perhaps blacklisted so no other work could be found. Some examples: Mining and railroad building employed significant numbers of people in Colorado. Landslides were a threat to life during this work. However, employers would not pay for work done to make work sites safe. Employers would pay only for work they ordered, that contributed to profit: extraction of ore, laying of track. Employees were required to work hours at no pay to build safety walls, etc., on their own time, at the end of the work hours set by employers. In another instance, employers raised the number of hours in the work day from 8 to 10 (25% increase) with no increase in pay. Wanting safety in their workplace and fairness in being paid for their work, employees formed unions around these issues in 1903 to 1904 in Colorado, as described at Wikipedia for the topic Colorado Labor Wars.
The employers' response was overwhelming and violent. In addition to the employers' hiring armed militias, Federal, State and local governments sided with employers. Some strikers and citizens having nothing to do with the strikes were met with a military response by the Colorado National Guard. The struggles to achieve evenhandedness and fairness and safety for workers continued through George M. Bourquin's time as U.S. District Judge.
His deep respect for people and the Constitution underlay his commitment to defending rights and fairness.
The political pressure brought to bear against Judge George M. Bourquin was such that he made an announcement to President Roosevelt in March 1934 of his intention to resign the bench, as reported March 8, 1934:
Bourquin Retires as U.S. Judge in Montana District
Jurist Takes Parting Shot at Legislation Aimed to Make Court "Police Tribunal."
Has Been Mentioned As Senate Candidate
His Career on Bench Has Been Long and Colorful.
United States District Court Judge George M. Bourquin today announced his retirement as federal judge for the District of Montana to take effect May 17, 1934. Today, March 8, is the twenty-second anniversary of Judge Bourquin's appointment to the federal bench by President William H. Taft in 1912.
In his statement of retirement Judge Bourquin took a parting shot at the machinations which have threatened to reduce the federal courts "to glorified police tribunals." In this, undoubtedly, the judge has reference to the countless prohibition law violations which clouded the federal dockets in the prohibition era. Judge Bourquin dispensed with these cases speedily, sometimes one a minute, and often remarked that they were "police court cases."
There was no reference as to what will come after May 17 in the statement of retirement. Judge Bourquin said, however, that "I am persuaded that the very great debt I owe to the generous and kindly people of Montana may be more nearly paid, during perhaps the next 23 years, by service in due time at the bar and/or other occupation of greater activity and freedom." In political circles it has been mentioned that Judge Bourquin will be a candidate for the six-year term in the United States Senate, to succeed Barton K. Wheeler.
Judge Bourquin's statement of retirement, addressed to President Roosevelt, advises the chief executive that ...
Turn to Page Five, Col. Two.
(unfortunately, the rest of the article is not present; see scanned copy at web address below, item 3)
George M. did not entirely resign his federal bench after all; he served in senior status until he passed away November 15, 1958. He ran for the Senate, unsuccessfully, and continued to be available to serve in the federal district court for the State of Montana.
George M.'s views also were the subject of an article, "Western Justice and the Rule of Law: Bourquin on Loyalty, the 'Red Scare,' and Indians." Pacific Historical Review 65 (February 1996), 85-106.
George M. lived to be 90 years old. He passed away in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, southeast of his birthplace in Tidioute, Warren County, Pennsylvania, and his childhood home in East Fairfield Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. (see obituary published in the Montana Standard (Butte, Montana), 6 January 1959)
George M. had at least two first cousins in his Ducray family who were involved in the enforcement of Prohibition, in one way or another. His cousin Frank Nicholas Ducray (son of mother Celestine Ducray's brother Charles Celestin Ducray) was Sheriff of Colorado Springs 1921-1923, and Sheriff Ducray was avid in his enforcement of Prohibition. A bit amusingly (though certainly not to the principals involved), on the other side of the issue, George M.'s and Frank Nicholas's cousin George Oliver Ducray (son of Celestine's brother Justin Ducray) and George Oliver's wife were fined and given probation for violating Prohibition by having sold alcohol without a prescription at their pharmacy in East St. Louis, Illinois.
------------------------------------
Links to newspaper photos of Judge George M. Bourquin, and article regarding his retirement and proposed Senate run, posted at ancestry.com:
1) Judge Bourquin as a relatively young man
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/3180599/photo/yVda5nooKUdTmiDKRyOW34R_zWFEODZhfSiSpkhCoEVC59TlN_FJndbJbRnVjWnd/600
2) Judge Bourquin during Prohibition
http://d2.o.mfcreative.com/f1/file12/objects/b/e/2/cbe2692b-655b-49f6-98a1-92649e211a34-3.jpg
3) news article "GEORGE M. BOUQUIN FOR FEDERAL JUDGE" http://trees.ancestryinstitution.com/tree/9393406/person/-783614415/media/1?pgnum=1&pg=0&pgpl=pid%7cpgNum
4) news article regarding Judge Bourquin's announcement to President Roosevelt of his retirement from Federal bench, with news speculation of his run for the Senate seat to succeed Burton K. Wheeler
http://trees.ancestryinstitution.com/tree/3180599/photo/yVda5nooKUdRukW8LQxzOjPechxGPKQqhlmnjectQ4R6HZw2LW2MGX1NRVExL!oR/600
--------
from U.S. Genealogy website www.usgwarchives.net/mt/silverbow/bios/bourquingm.txt:
SILVER BOW COUNTY, MONTANA
Judge Geo. M. Bourquin
Transcribed by: Lorene Frigaard
Extracted from A History of Montana, by Helen Fitzgerald
Sanders, Volume I, Illustrated, the Lewis Publishing Company (not incorporated), Chicago and New York, 1913, p. 1270.
Judge Geo. M. Bourquin, United States district judge for
Montana, appointed thereto by President Taft, executed
the oath and assumed the duties of the office on the
9th day of March, 1912. Judge Bourquin was born on the
24th day of June, 1863, on the banks of the Allegheny
river, near Tidioute, Warren county, Pennsylvania. He
is of French ancestry, his father, Justin Bourquin,
having been born in Switzerland, and his mother Celestine
Bourquin, née Ducray, born in France. In their youth they
came to America, met and married in the United States and
became the parents of ten children of whom George was the
ninth.
Justin Bourquin was by vocation a blacksmith and farmer.
As a boy Judge Bourquin attended the country schools of
Warren and Crawford counties in Pennsylvania; at the age
of seventeen he taught therein, and at eighteen, in 1881,
he went to Aspen, Colorado, where several of his brothers
had already located. In that vicinity and at Leadville
he was alternately engaged as a cowboy, miner and
smelterman, until in June, 1884, he came to Butte,
Montana. He first worked in the silver mills at
Walkerville, a suburb of Butte, then was employed
as a hoisting engineer at various Butte mines.
Republican in politics, in 1888 he was the candidate
of his party for the office of county clerk and
recorder of Silver Bow county, but was defeated,--
his first essay in politics. Active in the state
campaign of that and the next year, in June, 1890,
he was appointed by President Harrison receiver of
the public money in the United States land office
at Helena, Montana. This office he held four years.
Having commenced the study of law in 1889, in 1894 he
was admitted to the bar of Montana, first practicing
in Helena, and then, after 1899, in Butte. In 1904 he
was elected judge of the district court of the state
for Silver Bow county and served therein four years,
then resumed law practice in Butte, in which he
continued until his appointment to the Federal bench,
as before stated.
In 1891 Judge Bourquin was married to Miss Mary M.
Ratigan, of Butte, Montana, and three sons have been
born to them: George R., Marion M. and Justin J.,
all of whom are living. They reside in Butte, which
city represents the official residence of the Judge.
Of fraternal orders the Judge is a member of the
Knights of Pythias and of the Woodmen of the World.
_____________________________________________
USGenWeb Project NOTICE:
In keeping with our policy of providing free information on
the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization.
Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for
purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express written permission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.
---------------------------------------------
Text of news article:
GEORGE R. BOURQUIN FOR FEDERAL JUDGE
Butte Lawyers Sign a Telegram to President Taft Urging the Appointment of the Ex-District Judge to Succeed William H. Hunt.
Sixty members of the Butte Bar yesterday joined in a telegram to President Taft urging the appointment of George M. Bourquin of Butte to succeed William H. Hunt as judge of the federal court for the district of Montana.
Practically the same telegram was also sent to United States Senator Carter and Dixon and to Representative Prey. It is also stated that prominent and influential lawyers have sent personal telegrams to the president and to others in Washington indorsing Judge Bourquin and urging his appointment.
Other Candidates.
Friends of Judge Bourquin were impelled to take this action because ... (article continued elsewhere; no copy)
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