81

JUDGE E. M. HEWLETT.

Judge E. M. Hewlett, one of the ablest lawyers the race has pro-
duced, is the son of the late Professor A Molyneaux Hewlett,
who was Professor of Physical Training- at Harvard University from
1852 until his death in1872.

Judge Hewlett is a graduate of Boston University, and has prac-
ticed law in Boston and Washington shire 1877. In 1890 he was
appointed by President Benjamin Harrison a Judge in the District
of Columbia, of what is now the Municipal Court, and was re-ap-
pointed by Presidents Cleveland. McKinley and Roosevelt, serving
sixteen years. Judge Hewlett had the united support of Democratic
and Republican members of the bar, and was pronounced the best
Judge holding a commission, never having been reversed but once
by the Upper Court during this whole period. He is now practicing
his profession.

He has appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States
oftener than all the other colored lawyers of the country put to-
gether, having ten cases to his credit. In the case of Gibson vs.
Mississippi, reported in 162-U. S., he is complimented by Judge
Harlan in his printed opinion. It was Judge Hewlett who caused
the Sheriff of Chattanooga. Tenn.. to be adjudged in contempt by
the Supreme Court of the United States, and then arrested and
sent to jail in Washington, for allowing Ed. Johnson to be lynched,
after he, Hewlett, had obtained a writ of error. This was the first
time the Court had ever had a contempt matter of this nature to
deal with.

He is considered one of the most eloquent lawyers at the District
Bar, and has ten murder cases to his credit, with the distinction of
never having had a man hanged. Judge Hewlett has also appeared
in several important cases before the U. S. Court of Claims. The
race has produced no abler nor more persistent defender of its
rights than Judge Hewlett.