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Marshall Court, 1815-1835. ept." 70 Vir,i;i111a
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& Co.
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Taritory of Utah." Tlze A111c1:ica11Jo11rnal c~{Legal
History 23 (1979). © 1979 Temple Un1versi:y,
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Don E. Fehrenbacher. Tlze Drcd Scc>rr Cisc: /rs
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but Equal' Doctrine, I 865- 1896." Tiu· A111crirn11
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Karen Berger Mordlo. From The hll'isiblc B.ir:
The Woman Le1J11yer i11 America 1638-1986.@ i986
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George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. A
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Pniccss. © 1949, Yale University Press.
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emtio11 <lfWaw;~atc. © 1976 by The Leon Jaworski
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Turow. © 1977 by Scott Turow. Reprmted by
permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc.
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Belli and Robert B. Kaiser. C9 1976 by Melvin M.
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Mirrors. © 1978 by Louis Nizer. Used by pt:r-
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Houghton Mi£Rm Company
332
 "Gentlemen, I feel the great responsibility that rests upon me this day. This is no
ordinary case. On the contrary it is plain that it is the most solemn and awful that ever
man was called upon to decide. Gentlemen, I have listened attentively to the evidence,
and have perceived that the weight of it, the overwhelming weight of it, is in favor of
the plaintiff Hyde. I have listened also to the remarks of counsel, with high interest-and
especially will I commend the ma~terly and irrefutable logic of the distinguished gentle-
man who represents the plaintiff. But gentlemen, let us beware how we allow mere human
testimony, human ingenuity in argument and human ideas of equity, to influence us at a
moment so solemn as this. Gentlemen, it ill becomes us, worms as we are, to meddle
v· . with the decrees of Heaven. It is plain to me that Heaven, in its inscrutable wisdom, has
seen fit to move this defendant's ranch for a purpose. We are but creatures, and we must
;.'.!··
I
submit. If Heaven has chosen to favor the defendant Morgan in this marked and wonderful
manner; and if Heaven, dissatisfied with the position of the Morgan ranch upon the
mountain side, has chosen to remove it to a position more eligible and more advantageous
for its owner, it ill becomes us, insects as we are, to question the legality of the act or
inquire into the reasons that prompted it. No-Heaven created the ranches and it is
Heaven's prerogative to rearrange them, to experiment with them, to shift them around
at its pleasure. It is for us to submit, without repining. I warn you that this thing which
has happened is a thing with which the sacrilegious hands and brains and tongues of men
must not meddle. Gentlemen, it is the verdict of this court that the plaintiff, Richard
Hyde, has been deprived of his ranch by the visitation of God! And from this decision
;! there is no appeal."
Buncombe seized his cargo of law-books and plunged out of the court-room frantic
with indignation. He pronounced Roop to be a miraculous fool, an inspired idiot. In all
good faith he returned at night and remonstrated with Roop upon his extravagant deci-
sion, and implored him to walk the floor and think for half an hour, and see if he could
not figure out some sort of modification of the verdict. Roop yielded at last and got up
to walk. He walked two hours and a half, and at last his face lit up happily and he told
Buncombe it had occurred to him that the ranch underneath the new Morgan ranch still
belonged to Hyde, that his title to the ground was just as good as it had ever been, and
therefore he was of opinion that Hyde had a right to dig it out from under there and-
The General never waited to hear the end of it. He was always an impatient and
irascible man, that way. At the end of two months the fact that he had been played upon
with a joke had managed to bore itself, like another Hoosac Tunnel, through the solid
;-i adamant of his understanding.

Karen Berger Morello

FROM THE INVISIBLE BAR
((The First Women Lawyers"
After graduating in r873 from the National University Law School in Washington, D.C.,
with much difficulty because of prejudice against women students, Lockwood built up a
practice in the Capitol area. She handled cases in police and probate courts, filed divorce
and support proceedings and tried to specialize in claims against the United States gov-
ernment. Her interest in this area of the law began with a visit from a client who wanted

In thi~· selection_fl-om her history o_f women in law, Karen Berger Morello tells the story of Belva
Ann Lockwood (1830-1917), who fought against sexual discrimination in the bar and eventually
became rlzc first woman lawyer to aigue before the U.S. Supreme Cortrt.

J>;
333
 representation 111 a sun agamst tl1C governn1cnt ror uunngerncru ur m:r uusoauu s pau:::11L
on the design of a torpedo boat. Lockwood was not admitted to the United States Court
of Claims, but she filed her power of attorney and a certificate with the court and asked
attorney A. A. Hosmer to move ~er admission. When the five-man court convened,
Belva Lockwood's admission was the first matter on the calendar. After Hosmer com-
pleted his oral argument, Chief Judge Charles Drake looked Lockwood over, then said,
"Mistress Lockwood, you are a woman." Silence. Then, "This cause will be continued
for a week. The court will recess for ten minutes." Lockwood, who never forgot the
incident, remarked, "For the first time in my life I began to realize that it was a crime to
be a woman, but it was too late to put in a denial, so I pied guilty." The following week
Lockwood returned to the Court of Claims, and on the advice of counsel she was accom-
panied by her husband, Ezekiel Lockwood. This time Judge Drake sternly noted, "Mis-
tress Lockwood, you arc a married woman." Sensing the implication that she was barred
from practicing law because of the doctrine offeme covert, Lockwood answered, "Yes but
may it please the court, [ am here with the consent of my husband." Drake replied,
"Madam, women do not speak in this courtroom. You will sit down." The case was
continued for another week. After several more adjournments, attorney Charles W. Hor-
ner filed an application for admission on Lockwood's behalf. But Horner had no better
results than Hosmer or Lockwood herself had had-Judge Charles Nott, in delivering
the decision of the court, said, "The position which this court assumes is that under the
laws and Constitution of the United States a court is without power to grant such an
application and that a woman is without legal capacity to take the office of attorney. The
request is denied." Lockwood was not prepared to give up entirely. Unable to represent
her client in court she schemed to win the case another v.-ay. Lockwood prepared the
legal briefs in the case, then trained her client, Mrs. von Cort, to read them in open court,
since no judge could prevent a citizen from pleading her own case. But Lockwood knew
this method of practicing law could not continue. Ahead of her were countless cases
needing to be argued in court-among them Webster Raines v. United States.
Mr. and Mrs. Raines had disagreed about whether Belva Lockwood should represent
them. Mrs. Raines was determined to hire Lockwood as their attorney, but her husband
thought their case might be seriously jeopardized by the restrictions placed on Lockwood

-··->······· ···="== ~··~..,,,."':,,

.·\

David Dudley Fidel

addressing the first
women's law class at Nc\-v
Y ork Uni vcrsity, then
called the University of
_the City of New York.
April ro, 1891. New-York
Historical Society.

44 t ,,
334
 in the Court of Claims. Lockwood managed to convince them that it would be only a
little while longer before she would be eligible for admission to the federal courts. The
wording of the federal statute for admission to the United States Supreme Court was the
basis for her assumption. It held that "any attorney in good standing before the highest
court of any State or Territory for the space of three years shall be admitted to this court
when presented by a member of this bar." With no restrictions in the statute regarding
gender Lockwood was certain she would be able to take her clients' case all the way up
to the Supreme Court. In the meantime she would try her luck again with the Court of
Claims-this time with client Webster Raines close at her side.
When the Raines case was called, Judge Nott was amazed to see Lockwood daring to
make another appearance before him. "Madam," he asked, "what are you doing in my
courtroom?" But he apparently did not want to hear the answer because when Lockwood
l
attempted to explain her reason for being there Nott cut her off: "Mrs. Lockwood, if
you dare speak, I shall hold you in contempt." Webster Raines tried to intervene, even
demanding that the judge let him proceed with the attorney ofhis choice, but Judge Nott
ordered Raincs''to go out and get himself a "capable" lawyer.
Making no secret of her annoyance, Belva Lockwood conferred with her clients and
realized they would have no other choice but to hire substitute counsel for the oral
argument. Aft:C'r her replacement finished presenting his case before the court, Lockwood
complained tha·t "he said very badly in three days what I coul-d have said well in one
hour." Worse yet, they lost. The only optimistic note was that on appeal Belva Lockwood
might possibly argue the case before the United States Supreme Court, since its admis-
sions statute was not gender restrictive.
The opportunity arose in October l 876. Lockwood retained attorney Albert G. Riddle
to move her admission to the Supreme Court and expected to have little difficulty in
getting through the process. But as soon as Riddle stated his purpose, Chief Justice
Morrison R. Waite announced that the matter of Mrs. Lockwood's admission would have
to be taken under advisement. One week later the Chief Justice delivered the opinion of
the Court:

By the uniform practice of the court, from its· organization to the present time,
and by the fair construction of its rule, none but men arc admitted to practice
before it as attorneys and counselors. This is in accordance with immemorial
usage in England, and the law and practice in all the states until within a recent
period; and the court does not focl called upon to make a change, until such
change is required by statute, or a more extended practice in the highest courts
of the States .... As this court knows no English precedent for the admission of
women to the bar, it declines to admit, unless there shall be a more extended
public opinion or special legislation.

News of the Supreme Court's decision outraged Lockwood and supportive members of
the bar. Myra Bradwell was the first to ridicule Chief Justice Waite in the pages of the
Chicago Legal News:

The opinion delivered by Waite, C.J., refusing Mrs. Lockwood a license to

practice in the Supreme Court of the United States ... was unsound, and
contrary to the practice of the court in every case since its organization. The
same reasoning which the Chief Justice used to exclude Mrs. Lockwood, would
compel every attorney who appears in the Supreme Court of the United States
to wear a gown and wig. Women have never been admitted to practice in
Westminster Hall, and therefore Mrs. Lockwood is denied the right to practice
in the United States Supreme Court. Counsellors have never been allowed to
practice in W estrninster Hall, and other superior courts in England, unless they
wore gov·ms and wigs, and therefore it follows that they should not be allowed
to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States without these necessary
articles.

~;.
'·~:
n:. 335
 Belva Lockwood realized she would have to take the matter to Congress. She dratted a
bill specitically providing for the admission of women to the federal courts and persuaded
I~epresentativc lknjamin F. Butler to submit it to the House Judiciary Committee. The
bill, and a second one she drafted, never got to the floor of the House. But finally, in
April 1878, the House did pass B{ll No. 1077-"An Act to Relive Certain Legal Disabil-
ities of Women," which gave women attorneys access to the federal courts. Lockwood
knew the battle would be even more difficult in the Senate and she publicly urged women
to "get up a fight all along the line." She buttonholed senators in the corridors of the
Capitol and cultivated the interest of the courthouse reporters who had always found
Belva to be a lively source for articles. The favorable publicity she received in turn brought
in more mail and more supporters.
Senators Aaron Sargent of California and Joseph McDonald of Indiana proved to be
the greatest supporters of the bill in the Senate. In an impassioned argument, Sargent
said:

Mr. President, the best evidence that mcmbe~s of the legal profession have no
jealousy against the admission to the Bar of women who have the proper
learning, is shown by that document which I hold in my hand, signed by one
hundred and fifty-five lawyers of the District of Columbia, embracing the most
eminent .men in the ranks of that profession [exhibiting a petition in support of
the bill]. .
Where is the propriety in opening our colleges, our higher institutions of
learning, or any institutions of learning to women and then, when they have
acquired in the race with men the cultivation for higher employments, to shut
them out? There certainly is none. -
Some excellent lady lawyers in the United States arc now practicing at the
Bar, behaving themselves with propriety, acceptably received before courts and
juries; and when they h~ve conducted their cases to a successful issue, or to an
unsuccessful one in any court below, why should the United States Courts, to
which an appeal may be taken, and where their adversary of the male sex may
follow the case up, why should they be debarred from appearing before those
tribunals ..

On February 7, r 879, the "Lockwood" bill passed the Senate; shortly thereafter President
Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law. The Washington Star said: "The credit for this
victory belongs to Mrs. Belva Lockwood of this city, having been refused admission to
the bar of the United States Supreme Court, appealed to Congress and by dint of hard
work has finally succeeded in having her bill passed by both houses."

C. L. Sonnichsen
FROM ROY BEAN
Long before the coaches jarred to a halt in the shadow of the Langrry water tank, the
greenhorns in the smoking car would have full information, some of it true, about the
Law West of the Pecos, as Roy Bean called himself. With their curiosity already on edge
they would take in the handful of adobe buildings which was Langtry, the little station
and the big water tank, and finally the small frame shack twenty steps north of the tracks

Approaching the west Texas settlement that Roy Bean (1825?-1903) named after his glamorous
mistress Lillie Langtry, railroad passengers bask in the le,i?end ofthe notorious, se[f-appointedjustice
of the peace. This selection by Charles L. Sonnichsen (i901- ) is taken _fom his standard biog-
raphy of the wild west 'j"udJ;.e" published in 1943.

274
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336