Nevada Genealogy Trails Churchill County Hon. Benjamin F. Curler Biography

HON. BENJAMIN F. CURLER. The legal profession demands a high order of ability and a rare combination of talent, learning, tact, patience and industry. The successful lawyer and the competent judge must be a man of well balanced intellect, thoroughly familiar with the law and practice, of comprehensive general information, possessed of an analytical mind and a self-control that will enable him to lose his individuality, his personal feelings, his prejudices anil his peculiarities of disposition in the dignity, impartiality and equity of the office to which life, property, right and liberty must look for protection. Possessing these qualities. Hon. Benjamin F. Curler justly merits the high honor which was conferred upon him by his election to the bench of the second judicial district of Nevada.

Judge Curler was born in La Plata, Churchill county, Nevada, on the 18th of February, 1866, and on the paternal side is connected with the prominent and well known Van Cuyler family of New York, of Holland Dutch ancestry. Representatives of this family were among the first settlers of New Netherland, now New York city, and Dr. Theodore Van Cuyler, a prominent divine of Brooklyn, is of the same family. On the maternal side Mr. Curler is a representative of the Thompson family, of Scotch and English lineage. Judge Benjamin Curler, the father of Judge Curler, was formerly upon the bench of the fifth judicial district of Nevada, which district then comprised one of the counties which is now in the present judge's district. He was elected to that position when thirty-two years of age. and a strange coincidence is that Judge Curler was chosen to the same high and important office when also thirty-two years of age, and just thirty-two years after his father's first election.

Judge Curler was educated in the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and in the California State University at Berkeley. When he had acquired broad literary learning he took up the study of law with the desire of becoming a member of the bar, matriculating in the law college in San Francisco. Previous to this time he had engaged in teaching school for one year in Hawthorne, Nevada, and it was subsequently that he entered the California University. Following the completion of his legal course he returned to Hawthorne and opened an office in that place. He was elected district attorney and served for a term of two years. His first case was the prosecution of a man named Pollock, who had killed the postmaster of Silver Peak, Nevada. Robert Linsey, a distinguished criminal lawyer, was employed on the defense, but Mr. Curler carefully prepared his case, marshaled with precision the points in evidence and presented his case so clearly and forcefully that the prisoner was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years. The next criminal case with which he was connected was that of the state against Stephanzyn, and on this suit the Judge's father, who is also a noted criminal lawyer, was on the defense. The son, however, put forth his best efforts and gained a verdict of manslaughter, and again the prisoner was sentenced to a term of ten years. Winning in contests with men of greater years and experience. Judge Curler soon manifested his marked ability and won high reputation as an able public prosecutor.

On the close of his term of service he removed to Reno, where he practiced law for two years, and was then elected district attorney of Washoe county, and by reelection was continued in that Office for two terms, during which time he conducted many noted criminal cases, which he prosecuted with his usual ability. In 1896 he was nominated on the Populist ticket for supreme judge, and ran far ahead of the party vote, although defeated by Judge Massey, a very able and popular lawyer representing the opposition. In 1898 Mr. Curler was elected district judge, and after serving for four years was re-elected in 1902. so that he is the present incumbent and will continue in the office until his service on the bench shall have covered eight years. He is making a most satisfactory record, his decisions indicate strong mentality, careful analysis, a thorough knowledge of law and an unbiased judgment. His legal learning and the readiness with which he grasps the points in an argument combine to make him one of the most capable jurists that has ever sat upon this bench, and the public and the profession acknowledge him the peer of many of the strongest rq>resentatives of the Nevada bar. Judge Curler was a stanch Republican up to the time that the silver question came prominently before the people, since which time he has favored bimetallism.

In 1888 Judge Curler was united in marriage to Miss Dirsey D. Vogel, a native of Mississippi and a daughter of A. B. Vogel. of that state. They are now the parents of three children: Gussic R., Mollie D. and Ben Vogel. The attractive home of Judge and Mrs. Curler is situated in Reno and its hospitality is enjoyed by many. They are members of the Baptist church, and it is their good fortune to enjoy the friendship of many of the leading citizens of Reno and of the state. The Judge's nature is kindly, his temperament jovial and genial, and his manner courteous. He is a most companionable gentleman, but when on the bench his attitude at once indicates the studious, earnest and scholarly judge, whose course fully upholds the majesty of the law.

Source:
A History of the State of Nevada: Its Resources and People
By Thomas Wren, Lewis Publishing Company
Published by The Lewis publishing company, 1904