Sacramento Valley Biographies

Judge H. M. Albery

Transcribed by Sally Kaleta, March 2009.

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


          From labors incident to life on a farm in Ohio
to the honored position of superior judge of Colusa county, Cal., is the
life history of Judge H. M. Abery, a resident of Colusa since 1877, and
formerly a leading practitioner and district attorney of Colusa and Glenn
counties. Viewed from various standpoints, the career of Judge Albery
compels admiration and furnishes encouragement. Few men upholding the
jurisprudence of the west started in life with fewer advantages or were
reared in an atmosphere more opposed to that developed by their later energy
and perseverance. Born on a farm nine miles east of Columbus, Ohio, October
12, 1851, he is a son of John M. and Sarah (Baldwin) Albery, the latter a
daughter of Isaac Baldwin, formerly a millwright in Ohio. John M. Albery was
born in Ohio, of English descent. Reared on a farm, he married in early life
and resided near Columbus until 1865. Later he removed to Mercer county,
Ohio, where Mrs. Albery died. In 1871 he located near Knoxville, Marion
county, Iowa, where his death occurred in 1872. His twelve children all
attained maturity, and six of them came to California. Of these, Richard
came west during the war and then returned to Ohio and is now engaged in the
milling business in Covington, that state. Baldwin returned from the coast
and died in Ohio; Morgan is a resident of Shasta county; John W. is a
contractor of Butte City, and is now serving as supervisor; and Keepers is
an attorney in Willow.
           H. M. Albery not only worked from sunrise to sundown on his
father's farm, having few of the diversions or educational advantages valued
by the average boy, but in 1865 he removed to western Ohio and assisted in
clearing and improving a farm from its natural state, cutting down trees and
splitting them up into cordwood. His chief asset at this time was the strong
constitution developed by these exertions. In 1871 his father with other
members of the family drove overland to Iowa, where he forsook farming and
worked at the carpenter's trade. There the son attended school for a time,
thus to some extent making up for his defective education. His ambition to
be something more than a farmer or carpenter was the outgrowth of his
association with his teacher, Thomas Worth, a worthy and ambitious man whom
he now regards as a benefactor and wise counselor. He subsequently attended
the Bryant & Stratton Business College, in Burlington, Iowa, for one term,
and while on a visit to his brother, Keepers, at Salina, Mercer county,
Ohio, became interested in the study of law, and noted with pride the rapid
advance of his brother to the position of district attorney of that county.
For two years he studied in his brother's office, at the same time spent his
evenings in special studies in history, philosophy, and stenography. In
February, 1876, he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Ohio, his
examination reflecting credit upon his studious and persevering traits.
            During July, 1876, Mr. Albery arrived in California and after a
short stay in Colusa went to Oregon, traveled through the Willamette valley,
and finally arrived at Eugene. From there he went to the Coos Bay country,
after which he returned to Colusa and worked at the Carpenter's trade with
his brother. The times were favorable to this occupation, and the brothers
gained financial headway. He had soon earned $100, and with this he traveled
through the state in quest of a favorable location. Selecting Colusa as a
possible growing field of activity, he began to practice in July, 1877, for
one year making his headquarters in the office of W. F. Goad. For the
following two years, he was in partnership with Mr. Goad, succeeding to his
practice upon the retirement of the older man. His erudition and energy
gained him ready recognition, and in 1884, he was elected district attorney
for Colusa and Glenn counties, his re-election following at the expiration
of his first term. In 1896, on the Democratic ticket, he was nominated judge
of the superior court, was elected without opposition, and assumed his
judicial duties in January, 1897. In 1902 he was renominated and re-elected,
his term of service to extend to January, 1909.
           During the years on the bench Judge Albery has distinguished
himself by the wisdom and fairness of his rulings, and his literal
application of the law. As an attorney he has taken part in the majority of
important cases which have come before the people for the past decade,
including the Taylor case at Maxwell, in which the defendant was acquitted;
the Dr. Sehorn case of Glenn county, where in the first trial the jury
disagreed, and the second reduced the charge to manslaughter; the Hewlitt
case in which the defendant was acquitted; besides numerous civil cases, and
litigations affecting the separation of Glenn and Colusa counties. Judge
Albery's influence has invariably been on the side of progress and morality,
and he has accomplished as much if not more than any man in the city in the
way of placing free literature in the hands of the people. He was one of the
organizers of the free library in Colusa, and is president of the board.
During 1904, through his influence, the city of Colusa received a donation
of $10,000 from Mr. Carnegie for a public library. He is also president of
the Law Library Association of Colusa county, and one of the chief
organizers of the enterprise, and was one of the organizers of the Colusa
Cemetery Association, Inc., of which he is president. In the early days he
served as county commissioner, to which office he was elected by his
Democratic friends. He is perhaps one of the best known men in the
Sacramento valley, not only because of his prominence at the bar, but
because he has held court all over the section north of Sacramento. During
the last twelve years of his legal practice he was nestor of the bar. His
colleagues in the early days included such men as W. F. Goad, A. L. Hart,
later attorney-general; Jackson Hatch, of San Jose; Richard Bayne, of San
Francisco; and W. C. Belcher, now deceased.
           Through his marriage with Mrs. Florence Kirk, widow of Stephen
Kirk, one of the brilliant attorneys of Colusa, Judge Albery became
identified with a family prominent in the legal annals of the state, and
especially well-known in Colusa. Mrs. Albery was born in Texas, a daughter
of Judge F. L. Hatch, a pioneer jurist of Marysville, and later of Colusa,
and who was the first superior judge of Colusa county. One son has been born
to Judge and Mrs. Albery, Herman M., Jr., now attending the University of
California. Judge Albery is a genial and sociable man, finding relaxation in
various avenues of recreation which abound in the county, and fraternally he
is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Ancient
Order of United Workmen. Above all else Judge Albery is a lover of nature
and her various manifestations, and enjoys nothing better than a stroll in
the mountains and close communion with the elements not controlled by man.
He is a devotee of rod and gun, a delightful conversationalist and possesses
a nature rich in sympathy and good-will for all mankind. No man of legal
dignity in the Sacramento valley is more highly honored by his fellow
practitioners, business men and the public in general, nor do any furnish a
more convincing argument in favor of moderate living and high thinking, of
effort well directed, and work well done than Judge H. M. Albery.

"History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the
Sacramento Valley, California," J. M. Guinn, The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1906,  Pages 296-297.