author
Curtis Dwight Wilbur
1867–1954
Best known for moving from the California bench to the U.S. Cabinet and then the federal appeals court, this Iowa-born lawyer built a long public career around law, naval administration, and reform. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the 1920s and later sat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
1 Audiobook
The Bear Family at Home, and How the Circus Came to Visit Them
by Curtis Dwight Wilbur
About the author
Born in Boonesboro, Iowa, on May 10, 1867, he grew up partly in the Dakota Territory and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1888. After leaving naval service, he studied law, settled in Los Angeles, and built a career as both an attorney and a judge.
His public life stretched across several major roles. He served on the California Superior Court, then on the California Supreme Court, becoming chief justice before President Calvin Coolidge appointed him Secretary of the Navy in 1924. In that post, he helped lead the department in the years after the Teapot Dome scandal and remained in office until 1929.
President Herbert Hoover then named him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where he served for many years. He died in California on September 8, 1954, remembered as a figure whose career linked state law, national politics, and the federal judiciary.