7, /MA 



DORCHESTER has the distinction of 

 numbering- among- its citizens a man 

 who has presided over a court of 

 law for a longer period than anyone else 

 in America. He is Judge Joseph R. 

 Churchill, justice of the Dorchester court, 

 who, on Sunday, win reach the fiftieth an- 

 niversary of his appointment. Last evening 

 the judge was (he guest of honor at a ban- 

 quet given at Younsfs Hotel by Dorchester 

 business men,, associates in the court and 

 members of the police department. The 

 dinner was in the nature of a surprise to 

 Judge Churchill, who, after a number of 

 speeches had been heard, was presented 

 a travelling bag, the presentation being 

 made by former Building Commissioner 

 Patrick O'Hearn. 



Among the speakers were Sarell J. Wil- 

 lis, still active in business at the age of 

 nir.ety-one, who gave an interesting his- 

 torical sketch of Dorchester. He told of 

 having known Judge Churchill's father 

 and grandfathers. Tributes were also' paid* 

 to Judge Churchill by Associate Justices 

 Michael H. Sullivan and William T. Mer- 

 ritt. Court Clerk Alpheus S-anford, former 

 Clerk N. Thomas Merritt, Captain Charles 

 fc Reardon of the Fields Corner police 

 station, John E. Berry, Hon. Thomas 

 Leavitt, Representative Frank L. Brier, 



John R. McVey, George Wyma... . 

 Churchill, a nephew of the judge, and 

 Peter J. Donoghue. 



Judge Churchill has presided over the 

 present Dorchester Court ever since it 

 was opened, and before that held sessions 

 on the second floor of an old building that 

 still stands at Adams street and Dorches- 

 ter avenue, diagonally opposite the pres- 

 ent court building. 



As a further indication of his fixed habits 

 he points out that he was born in Dor- 

 chester and has always lived there; in 

 fact, he has occupied the same house, at 

 32- Percival street from a time soon after 

 ' is marriage in 1871. 



Judge Churchill was born July 29, 1845. 

 He attended the public schools pf the 

 town and prepared for Harvard at the old 

 Dorchester High School, under Mr. Kim- 

 ball and Increase Smith. His father was 

 Asaph Churchill, who had law offices in 

 Milton Village and afterwards in Boston. 



Joseph R. Churchill was graduated from 

 Harvard in the class of 1867 and from 

 Harvard Law School in 1860. He entered 

 his father's office and later succeeded him. 

 The father died in 1892 and another of 

 his sons, who was also a lawyer, died 

 many years ago. 



On Jan. 9, 1871, Governor Clafiin ap- 

 pointed Mr. Churchill justice of the Dor- 

 chester Court, which, at that time, had 

 jurisdiction over Ward 16. Although the 



ward lines have several times been 

 changed since then the court still has 

 jurisdiction over the territory contained in 

 the original ward boundaries and, accord- 

 ing to the venerable - judge,, this is often- 

 times confusing in the discharge of his of- 

 ficial duties. 



On Feb. 21, 1871, Judge Churchill married 

 M.ss Mary Cushing, whose father, Dr. Ben- 

 jamin" Cushing, wa3 a noted surgeon and 

 particularly well known for his work in 

 the schools of that district. The Cushing 

 School, named for him, is not far from 

 the courthouse. The couple have had three 

 children. Two boys died years ago and a 

 daughter, Anna Quincy Churchill, is an 

 instructor at Tufts Medical School, where 

 she was formerly a student. 



Judge Churchill has never affiliated him- 

 self with fraternal organiaations. In poli- 

 tics he is an independent. He enjoys 

 excellent health and has a remarkable 

 memory for names and incidents. It is his 

 custom to walk from his home to the court- 

 house each day and he hopes to occupy the 

 Dorchester bench for many years to come. 



Asked as to approximately how many 

 cases he has sat on during his half-century 

 of service, he declared that the number 

 could not be computed, but added that last 

 year, which was the largest on record, he 

 disposed c^f more than 4000, of which 3333 

 were criminal cases. 



