Search goes on to complete county judge display

Missing: two Snohomish County judges.

Well, not exactly.

Bob Terwilliger, administrator for Snohomish County Superior Court and Juvenile Court, is working on a history project. He has nearly completed the court’s

collection of official photographs of the county’s judges past and present.

What may sound like a tedious school assignment has turned up some colorful characters.

One former Snohomish County judge, Frank T. Reid, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War and was Tennessee’s Republican nominee for governor in 1884. He lost the race.

Another, J.R. Winn, was Snohomish County’s first judge. Winn later made a fortune as a partner in an Alaska law firm that worked in mining litigation. He invested in California and Seattle real estate, and was living in the Venice area of Los Angeles when he died in 1926.

Most of the formal pictures are on display in a hallway on the second floor of the courthouse. The county’s 150th anniversary this year has spurred Terwilliger to finish the task.

It was Jan. 14, 1861, when the Washington Territorial Legislature granted a petition from settlers in what was then Island County to form a new county.

Since 1889, the year Washington became a state, Terwilliger said Snohomish County has had 44 Superior Court judges. Fifteen are currently on the bench, 10 are living but retired. And one former judge on the Superior Court, Judge Stephen Dwyer, now sits on the state Court of Appeals.

Of the 44, just two former judges’ pictures are still needed. The hallway outside C-201, a high-profile courtroom, is missing photographs of Reid, who served from 1897 to 1900, and of Guy C. Alston, who was on the bench from 1913 to 1935.

Also, a picture of Judge Richard Okrent, appointed by Gov. Chris Gregoire in January, has yet to be hung on the wall. Several vintage photos that are now in hand will soon be added to the display.

It took research by several historians and the help of one judge’s ancestor to gather the latest acquisitions, which include a wonderful portrait of the mustachioed Winn. He served here from 1889 to 1890. That picture was obtained from the Alaska State Library.

“I’m impressed with Bob and the court staff, to try to get all that,” said Wendy Becker, the county’s economic and cultural development officer. Their effort will tell in pictures the court’s complete history. “It’s a representation of who guides the court’s policies and principles, since the beginning of our existence,” Becker said.

Terwilliger reached out to an Alaska state archivist, and to Everett Public Library historian David Dilgard and other local sources.

Tracy Tallman, a former member of the Snohomish County Historic Preservation Commission, found obituaries for Reid and Alston — neither had photos. She used the RootsWeb ancestry website to track down an ancestor of two former judges, W.W. Black and Lloyd Black.

Andrew Black, grandson of Lloyd Black and great-grandson of William Wilson Black, was able to send a formal portrait of W.W. Black, who was elected as a Superior Court Judge in 1904 and 1908 before running unsuccessfully for governor in 1910.

Tallman, of Edmonds, found Reid’s obituary from May 13, 1923. The Tennessee native, who had served in Forrest’s Cavalry Corps during the Civil War, died at home in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. Reid was survived by four sons, John, Frank, Robert and Stanley, and two daughters, Mrs. Alexander Hunter and Mrs. Edward J. McGavock.

For Terwilliger, the biggest mystery is why the court has no picture of Judge Guy C. Alston, who served 22 years on the bench here, until 1935. Tallman also found Alston’s obituary, datelined Everett. He died on Christmas Day, 1936, and was survived by a son, John — who was said in the obituary to work for a Seattle newspaper. Lloyd Black was Alston’s successor on the court.

For Tallman, the search has been fascinating, especially’s Reid’s journey from Tennessee.

“It’s important to honor those men who served in the past,” she said. “It’s not easy to be a judge. Perhaps the community doesn’t always recognize it as the trial that it is — no pun intended.”

Court is looking for photos
Snohomish County Superior Court is working to complete its collection of official photographs of all 44 judges to have served since 1889.

Two pictures are still needed. They are of Judge Frank T. Reid, who served 1897-1900; and Judge Guy C. Alston, who served 1913-1935.

If you have a photo or information, email muhlstein@heraldnet.com or bob.terwilliger@ snoco.org.

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; muhlstein@heraldnet.com.