THE VALLEY OF HEART'S DELIGHT
HON. JAMES R. WELCH
-Superior Court Judge, Santa Clara County, California
WELCH HOME
A jurist of state wide reputation. Hon. Jams R. Welch has been on the
State Superior Bench since 1904, in Santa Clara County. He has
frequently been called to other counties of the state to sit in
important cases and has also sat as Justice pro tem in the Appellate
District Court. Santa Clara County being one of the busiest counties in
the state in legal matters, Judge Welch, during his occupancy of the
bench has disposed of many large cases of statewide interest. He
presides over Department One of the Superior Court, and is the senior
member of the bench in and for Santa Clara County. He stands amongst
the foremost thinkers and jurists of the state.
He was born February 12, 1860, near Plainview, Macoupin County, Ill.,
where his father was a well to do farmer, stockraiser and owner and
operator of a flour mill. In 1866 his father moved to Missouri where
with his family he resided a short time. The family suffered great
monetary loss in the financial depression in the '70s, and when a lad
of fourteen, young Welch was thrown on his own resources. He set about
deliberately and persistently to get an education. He crossed the
plains in a prairie schooner in 1877 and located in Boise City, Idaho.
where he succeeded in preparing himself to enter the highest public
school of the capital city. At the age of twenty years, he became a
teacher there in a position next to that of the principal.
In the Indian outbreak in the late '70's he entered service under Capt.
Maxon against the depredations of the Indians. This old solder did not
raise his company to stay at home, but went out on the sage brush plains
and drove the marauders into the mountains of Montana. Mr. Welch came
to San Jose in 1882, and has since resided in here. He entered the
University of the Pacific in 1882 and graduated in 1887 with the Ph. D.
degree. Three years later the degree of A.M. was conferred upon him by
his Alma Mater. During a vacation period while he was a student at the
university, he graduated at Heald's Business College, and throughout
this entire college course, was principal of the the commercial
department of the university. Upon graduation he took up the study of
law alone and was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of the state
in 1888. The legal records of Santa Clara County would not be complete
without a reference to the Unions Savings Bank, California Cured Fruit
Association and the Tarpey-Nicholson 40-year old litigation, as well as
many other important cases in which Judge Welch successfully
participated before he went on the bench. During the fifteen years as a
attorney, his rise was rapid and sure. He was city attorney of San Jose
from 1894 to 1897, when he resigned to devote his entire time to his
private practice.
Judge Welch's family consists of a wife and four children-three daughters
and one son. He is a Mason and an Elk, and also a member of the Phi
Kappa Psi fraternity. He registers as a Republican. In addition to his
official duties he takes an active interest in public and civic affairs.
He is a fruit grower and at the present time a member of the voting
board of the California Prune and Apricot Growers Association, and is
ardent in the cause of the growers of the state in successfully
marketing their fruit cooperatively. He has also espoused the cause of
Santa Clara County and the State against the city of Santa Cruz in that
city's endeavor to divert the Skyline Boulevard from the Summit Ridge of
the Santa Cruz Mountains to a canyon route. He has recently present
argument before the State Highway Commission in favor of retaining and
building the Skyline drive along the crest of the mountains, as a great
scenic trunk line, for the use of the whole state. Before many chamber
of commerce, civic and commercial organizations of the state, he has
been untiring in his advocacy of this highway and its routing along the
skyline of the mountains.
Transcribed by Carolyn Feroben, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1057
SANTA CLARA COUNTY PIONEER BIOGRAPHIES
SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORY AND RESEARCH