Edward Byers Watson was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 jurist in the state of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. He was the 12th Chief Justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 on the Oregon Supreme Court

Oregon Supreme Court

The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...

. Watson served for four years on the state’s highest court, and his brother served for two years on the court.

Early life

Watson was born on October 7, 1844, in Garnavillo, Iowa

Garnavillo, Iowa

Garnavillo is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 754 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Garnavillo is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

, as the child of James Watson and Emily Adams Franklin Watson. His older brother James Watson

James F. Watson

James Finley Watson was an American judge and politician in Oregon. A native of Iowa, he was the 25th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court serving from 1876 until 1878...

 who would also serve on the Oregon Supreme Court was born in 1840. The family moved to Oregon Territory

Oregon Territory

The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...

 in 1853 and settled in Douglas County

Douglas County, Oregon

-National protected areas:* Crater Lake National Park * Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest * Siuslaw National Forest * Umpqua National Forest * Willamette National Forest -Adjacent counties:* Lane County, Oregon -...

. In Oregon Edward Watson received an education in the public schools and at Wilbur Academy. Then in June 1866 he graduated with a bachelors of art from Pacific University

Pacific University

Pacific University is a private university located in Oregon, United States. The first campus began more than 160 years ago and is located about 38 km west of Portland in Forest Grove...

 in Forest Grove, Oregon

Forest Grove, Oregon

Forest Grove is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, west of Portland. Originally a small farm town, it is now primarily a bedroom suburb of Portland. Settled in the 1840s, the town was platted in 1850 and then incorporated in 1872 and was the first city in Washington County...

. He then studied law and began practicing in 1868 in Jacksonville, Oregon

Jacksonville, Oregon

Jacksonville is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, a few miles west of Medford. It was named for Jackson Creek, which runs through the community and was the site of one of the first placer gold claims in the area. It includes Jacksonville Historic District which was designated a U.S....

. Watson studied the law under the supervision of his brother.

Legal career

While in Southern Oregon

Southern Oregon

Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern Oregon American Viticultural Area, which consists of the...

 Watson served as a county judge for Jackson County

Jackson County, Oregon

-National protected areas:* Cascade–Siskiyou National Monument* Crater Lake National Park * Klamath National Forest * Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest * Umpqua National Forest -Demographics:...

 from 1872 to 1876. Next he served as county clerk from 1878 to 1880. Then in 1880 Watson was elected to the Oregon Supreme Court to Paine Page Prim

Paine Page Prim

Paine Page Prim was an American attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. He was the 6th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court serving in that role from three times between 1864 and 1878. Prim served on Oregon’s highest court for 21 years...

. His four year term expired in 1884 and he left the court. During his tenure he served as chief justice from 1882 to 1884.

Later life

After leaving the bench Edward Watson returned to private practice, but moved to Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

. He had married Eleanor Kubli in Jacksonville, and the two had two daughters. Edward B. Watson died in Portland on February 1, 1915.