Elisha Williams McKinstry was a California jurist of the nineteenth century. He served as a justice of the California Supreme Court from 1874-1888.

McKinstry was born April 10, 1824 in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

. In 1864 he married Annie Hedges. They had four children.

McKinstry came to California in 1849 on the steamship Panama. and was a member of the first state legislature. In 1851, he opened a law practice in Napa

Napa, California

-History:The name Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern Nappan village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and cougars for many centuries, according to Napa historian Kami Santiago. At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the...

, and was elected in 1852 as judge of the Seventh Judicial District Court. In 1873 he was elected to the California Supreme Court, serving from 1874-1888. From 1888 to 1895, he was a professor of law at the University of California

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

's Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

Justice McKinstry died on November 1, 1901 in San Jose, California

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

.