Joseph Bartholomew

Joseph Milton Bartholomew (June 17, 1843 – March 24, 1901) was an American lawyer and judge. He was one of the first three justices of the Supreme Court of North Dakota, serving from 1889 through 1900, and was the 2nd chief justice.

Early life Bartholomew was the grandson of American major general Joseph Bartholomew, who had settled in Indiana after the War of 1812. Joseph Milton Bartholomew was born in Indiana in June 1843. His parents moved the family to Columbia County, Wisconsin Territory, in 1845, and settled a farm.

He entered the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1861, but quit in 1862 to volunteer for duty in the American Civil War. After drilling in southern Ohio and Kentucky, they set off on the Vicksburg Campaign with General William Tecumseh Sherman, where they were actively engaged through the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863, participating in many of the skirmishes around the siege to prevent supplies from reaching the besieged Confederate city. He left the 23rd Wisconsin Infantry and went to meet the new regiment at Rolla, Missouri, where they remained on guard duty protecting supply lines. While there, he was promoted to 1st lieutenant, which was his rank when the regiment mustered out of service in November 1865. He was elected to a five year term and was subsequently re-elected to a six year term in 1894. He retired at the end of that term, in January 1901.

Family Bartholomew was named for his paternal grandfather Joseph Bartholomew, who had volunteered for service in the American Revolutionary War at only ten years old and rose to the rank of major general after distinguishing himself in the War of 1812.