Erasmus Darwin Shattuck (December 31, 1824-July 26, 1900) was an American

United States

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

 politician and judge 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 served as the 7th Chief Justice of 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...

 serving from 1866 to 1867. He served two separate terms on the Oregon's high court, was a district attorney, and a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention

Oregon Constitutional Convention

The Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857 drafted the Oregon Constitution in preparation for the Oregon Territory to become a U.S. state. Held from mid-August through September, 60 men met in Salem, Oregon, and created the foundation for Oregon's law. The proposal passed with a vote of 35 for...

 in 1857.

Early life

In Bakersfield, Vermont

Bakersfield, Vermont

Bakersfield is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,215 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 44.6 square miles , of which, 44.6 square miles of it is land and 0.04 square miles of...

, on December 31, 1824, Erasmus Shattuck was born to Oliver and Sally Start Shattuck. Erasmus graduated from the University of Vermont

University of Vermont

The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...

 in 1848 and then taught in Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 and Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. In 1852 he was admitted to the New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 state bar association. Also in 1852 he married Sarah A. Armstrong, and the two would have six children.

Then in 1853 he immigrated to what was then the 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...

 via the Isthmus of Panama

Isthmus of Panama

The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal...

. He arrived on February 15, 1853, and began teaching at Oregon City College and the Clackamas County Female Seminary until 1855. That year he began teaching at 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...

. From 1855 to 1856 he served as Washington County

Washington County, Oregon

- Major highways :* Interstate 5* Interstate 205* U.S. Route 26* Oregon Route 6* Oregon Route 8* Oregon Route 10* Oregon Route 47* Oregon Route 99W* Oregon Route 210* Oregon Route 217* Oregon Route 219-Demographics:...

 School Superintendent.

Legal career

In 1856, Shattuck was elected to be a probate

Probate

Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate court decides the validity of a testator's will...

 judge as he had been practicing law in 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...

. Then in 1857 he was a delegate to Oregon’s Constitutional Convention

Oregon Constitutional Convention

The Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857 drafted the Oregon Constitution in preparation for the Oregon Territory to become a U.S. state. Held from mid-August through September, 60 men met in Salem, Oregon, and created the foundation for Oregon's law. The proposal passed with a vote of 35 for...

 representing Washington County. The following year he served in Oregon’s last territorial legislature

Oregon Territorial Legislature

Oregon’s Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory...

 representing Washington and Multnomah counties. In 1861, he was a district attorney, and from 1862 to 1863 was the United States Attorney for Oregon.

Shattuck was then elected in 1862 to the Oregon Supreme Court. During this time on the court he served as 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...

 from 1866 to 1867. He resigned from the bench in December 1867 and was replaced by William W. Upton

William W. Upton

William W. Upton was an American jurist and politician. He served as Oregon’s 8th Chief Justice of the state’s highest court. William Upton served from 1867 until 1874 on the Oregon Supreme Court before appointment to a position with the United States Treasury in 1877...

. Shattuck was then elected a second time to the court in 1874 to replace Upton, and then left the bench in 1878 at the end of his term. After his time on the high court, Shattuck returned to the bench as a circuit court judge from 1886 to 1898.

Later years

Shattuck served as a trustee for Portland Academy and was one of the founders of the Portland Library. In Portland, both Shattuck School and Road are named for him. Erasmus Shattuck died on July 26, 1900.