Earl C. Latourette

Earl Cornelius Latourette (February 10, 1889 – August 18, 1956) was the 32nd Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and a Clackamas County Circuit Court judge. He served as chief justice for two years and died while still in office as a justice in 1956. Early life Latourette was born in Oregon City, Oregon, on February 10, 1889, to Charles David Latourette and his wife Sedonia Bird Shaw Latourette. Both parents were pioneer settlers to Oregon. He had three brothers; Mortimer Dillon, Howard Fenton, and John Randolph. The LaTourette family were French Huguenots who fled persecution and settled in Staten Island, New York in the late 1600s. Family members began moving westward in the 1800s, settling in St. Louis and Michigan. In 1879 LaTourette's father moved from Michigan to Oregon City to form a law partnership with his cousin, Dewitt Clinton Latourette. LaTourette attended the University of Oregon, where he was on the football and track teams. He was the quarterback on the 1910 Oregon football team and scored the winning touchdown to beat what is now Oregon State University, and received All-Northwest Honors for two seasons. Following college, he enrolled at the University of Oregon School of Law, which at that time was located in Portland. He graduated in 1912, and then passed the bar in 1915. Latourette began practicing law in Oregon City after passing the bar, and remained in private practice until 1931.