The History of Family Relations on the Maryland Appellate Courts

By Carrie Williams

On February 8, 2024, Governor Wes Moore appointed the Honorable Stephen Kehoe to fill the vacancy that his older brother, the Honorable Christopher Kehoe, created when he took senior status in August of last year. This judicial family affair led me to wonder whether there were other familial relationships amongst the judges on the appellate courts.

After Google and Wikipedia proved only marginally helpful, I decided to consult the real expert of Maryland judicial history—Chief Justice Joseph M. Getty. Unlike the supposed all-knowing internet, Chief Justice Getty did not disappoint. He offered three examples of blood relatives that have served on the Court as well as two additional pairs of judges who were related by marriage. Those judges are discussed below, with my thanks to Chief Justice Getty for his kind assistance.

But first, a note. My idea for this blog post was to identify the prior judges related by blood or marriage and provide an interesting fact or two about each. I intended it to be light-hearted—simple to write and easy to read. As with any discussion of history and historical figures, however, it is neither simple nor easy. The list includes a Confederate sympathizer and a segregationist who actively worked to disenfranchise Black voters. It also includes a prominent civil rights activist and Union soldier.

I wondered whether to abandon the idea altogether. After all, a full discussion of the political ideologies and activities of our earlier judges, while certainly worthy of examination, is well beyond the scope of this post. I ultimately decided to stick with the idea of discussing prior family members who served on Maryland’s appellate courts and include one or two biographical facts about each, including the good, the bad, and the ugly. So, without further ado, below are the grandfathers, grandsons, fathers, sons, and in-laws who have served on the Maryland appellate courts:

Richard Grason (1867-1882) and C. Gus Grason (1942-1951)

In 1867, Richard Grason, the son of Maryland Governor William Grason, was appointed to represent the Third Judicial Circuit on the Maryland Supreme Court, then known as the Court of Appeals. Three years before his appointment to Maryland’s highest court, he narrowly won election to a seat on the Baltimore County Circuit Court, but the House of Delegates’ Committee on Elections ruled that he was constitutionally disqualified from holding office because he had supported the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Justice Grason had served as a lieutenant in the Baltimore County Horse Guards, a local militia responsible for burning bridges between Cockeysville and Pennsylvania to halt the advancement of the Union Army. The provision barring Confederate supporters from holding office was removed from the Maryland Constitution in 1867, paving the way for Justice Grason’s appointment that same year.

Seventy-five years later, Justice Richard Grason’s grandson, C. Gus Grason, was appointed to the Maryland Supreme Court, also representing the Third Circuit. The second Justice Grason was a Baltimore County Circuit Court judge for 15 years before serving on the highest court for another nine years.

William H. Adkins (1919-1934) and William H. Adkins, II (1986-1990)

William H. Adkins and William H. Adkins, II are another Maryland Supreme Court grandfather-grandson pair. I could not find much about William H. Adkins, except that he was a staple in the Easton community and was appointed a circuit court judge in 1906 and then a Maryland Supreme Court Justice in 1919.

 Justice Adkins’s grandson, William H. Adkins, II, was a well-known civil rights activist judicial reform advocate. In 1970, he was described in a Baltimore Sun profile as being “among the leading advocates of civil rights and liberalism on Maryland’s traditionally conservative Eastern Shore.” The younger Justice Adkins was appointed by Governor Harry R. Hughes to the Appellate Court of Maryland, then the Court of Special Appeals, in 1982 and was elevated to the Supreme Court of Maryland by Governor Hughes four years later.

W. Mitchell Digges (1923-34) and J. Dudley Digges (1969-72)

W. Mitchell Digges was a Charles County lawyer who was appointed to the Maryland Supreme Court in 1923. Prior to being appointed to the Court, Justice Digges served for two years in the House of Delegates representing Charles County, where he had the ignoble distinction of sponsoring the “Digges Amendment,” a proposed constitutional  amendment intended to disenfranchise Black voters. Justice Digges was still serving on the Court at the time of his death in 1934 at the age of 54.

His son, J. Dudley Digges, was appointed to the Supreme Court of Maryland 35 years later in 1969. The younger Justice Digges was known for his work in revamping the Maryland State Bar Association’s structure and programming.

While not related by blood, Justice Getty offered two additional historic family connections from the Maryland Supreme Court. Charles B. Roberts served on the Court from 1892-1899 and his son-in-law, William H. Thomas, served from 1907-1924. In addition to being the director of Union National Bank, the Westminster Gaslight Company, and the Mutual Fire Insurance Company, over the course of his career Justice Roberts managed the House of Corrections and served in the United States Congress before being appointed to the Maryland Supreme Court where he served until his death. William H. Thomas married Justice Roberts’ daughter, Katherine, and served on the Court until his own death in 1924.

Finally, Madison Nelson served on the Court from 1867-70, while his brother-in-law, William Pinkney Maulsby, served from 1870-71. Justice Nelson was the son of a Revolutionary War hero and brother of John Nelson, who served as United States Attorney General. Justice Nelson died while still on the bench after a long illness. Justice Maulsby married John Nelson’s daughter, Emily Nelson, and fought for the Union Army in the battles of Charlestown, Harpers Ferry, Martinsburg, Monacacy, and Gettysburg. He was appointed to the seat left vacant by Justice Nelson’s death.

To bring this story full circle, former Union soldier Justice Maulsby’s year on the Court overlapped with confederate sympathizer Justice Richard Grason’s 15-year term, bringing into sharp focus the divided loyalties of Marylanders during the Civil War.

If anyone is aware of additional familial connections between members of the Maryland appellate courts please comment below. If anyone knows of any legal historians who have, or are currently, exploring the history of the Court through the lens of racial justice, truth, and reconciliation, please also comment below.