Milton D. Purdy

Milton Purdy, Judge of the United States Court for China

Milton Dwight Purdy (November 3, 1866 – February 11, 1937) was a United States federal judge. He held a recess appointment between 1908 and 1909 in Minnesota and, later, between 1924 and 1934 was the judge of the United States Court for China based in Shanghai.

Early life

Purdy was born in Mogadore, Ohio on November 3, 1866. In 1870, he moved with his parents to Illinois. He graduated from high school there in 1884 and taught school there. During vacations he worked in his father's factory and learned the potters trade.^[1]

After two years he moved to Minnesota to study at university. He received a A.B. in 1891 and an LL.B. in 1892, both from the University of Minnesota.

Career

Purdy was an assistant city attorney in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1893-1897 and an assistant county attorney of Hennepin County, Minnesota from 1897-1898 before becoming an assistant U.S. Attorney for Minnesota from 1898-1901. He was the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota from 1901-1902. He was an assistant U.S. Attorney General in Washington, D.C. from 1903-1905, and an assistant to the U.S. Attorney General from 1905-1908. In this latter years in Washington, he became known and the "chief trust buster" for his work on anti-trust cases.^[2]

On July 6, 1908, Purdy received a recess appointment from President Theodore Roosevelt to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, filling a vacated spot left by William Lochren. He was formally nominated on December 8, 1908, however, Purdy's service was terminated on March 3, 1909, after his nomination was not confirmed by the Senate. Purdy then received a second recess appointment to the same seat from President William Howard Taft on March 6, 1909, but Purdy resigned on May 1, 1909, before the matter was considered by the Senate. He then entered private practice.^[3]

Between 1912 and 1916 he was active in the Progressive political movement and was a national committee member of the Progressive Party. He returned to the Attorney General's Department during the Harding administration (1921–23).^[4]

In 1924, he was appointed by President Coolidge (who had become President on Harding's death) to a 10-year term as the Judge for the United States Court for China in Shanghai, China. He completed his term in 1934.

Retirement and death

Purdy remained in Shanghai working for a finance company until 1936, when he retired. He died in early 1937 in Honolulu, Hawaii.^[5]

Further reading

• Clark, Douglas (2015). Gunboat Justice: British and American Law Courts in China and Japan (1842-1943). Hong Kong: Earnshaw Books. , Vol. 1: ISBN 978-988-82730-8-9; Vol. 2: ISBN 978-988-82730-9-6; Vol. 3: ISBN 978-988-82731-9-5
• Scully, Eileen P. (2001). Bargaining with the State from Afar: American Citizenship in Treaty Port China, 1842-1942. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12109-5. 
• Milton D. Purdy at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

References