Judge Martin Luther Pipes celebrated attorney, one-time Circuit Court Judge and a member of the Oregon Supreme Court for a brief period of three months in 1924. - NRHP, 23 January 1987
| Y/M/D | Description | Association | Composition | Place | Locale | Food | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y/M/D | Description | Association | Composition | Place | Locale | Food | Event |
| 1850/00/00 | Martin Luther Pipes is born at Houmas Plantation | Born | Houmas House Plantation and Gardens | Darrow | |||
| 1896/00/00 | Martin Luther Pipes becomes a Republican because of disagreements he had with the Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryant | Politics | |||||
| 1910/00/00 | Pipes House built for Martin L Pipes, Pipes family home until 1927 | Home | Pipes Family House | Portland | |||
| 1926/00/00 | Martin Luther Pipes House built for Martin Luther Pipes in 1926, Pipes' Home until c 1944 | Home | Martin Luther Pipes House | Portland | |||
| 1932/07/00 | Martin Luther Pipes dies | Died | Martin Luther Pipes House | Portland |
History
Judge Martin Luther Pipes was born in Ascension Parish, Louisiana on September 21, 1850. He attended the University of Louisiana at Baton Rouge and received his bachelor of arts in 1871. For the next four years, Judge Pipes studied law in Louisiana. In 1874, he married Mary C Skipworth and in 1875 they moved to Independence, Oregon, to be near Mary's parents who had moved to Oregon with the Methodist Church (Nathaniel Skipworth being a Methodist Minister). Because Oregon was a common law state, unlike civil law Louisiana, as Judge Pipes himself stated in an interview, "I had to prepare myself all over again." He taught school in Independence and in his spare time read law and edited the local newspaper. John Pipes and Wade Pipes were born in Independence during this period.
Judge Pipes was admitted to the bar in 1881 and in 1882 the Judge moved his family to Dallas, Oregon, where he practiced law until 1884. Nellie, George and Harriette Pipes were born in Dallas. The family then moved to Corvallis where they remained for the next 6 to 8 years. While in Corvallis, Judge Pipes edited the newspaper, The Benton Leader, and in conjunction with J R R Bell of Roseburg was responsible for establishing the Oregon Press Association. He became president of this association in 1887. In 1890, Judge Pipes was appointed Circuit Judge of the Second District by Governor Pennoyer. At the end of his term as Circuit Judge in 1892, Judge Pipes moved his family to Portland where he entered into partnership with Reuben Strahan and John Whalley.
In 1893, he left the partnership, moved his office to the Arlington Building and took up practice with A P Tifft, a man some 20 years his junior. Judge Pipes moved to the Chamber of Commerce Building in 1896 and remained their until shortly before his death in 1932. In 1907, A P Tifft was no longer associated with Pipes.
While in Portland, Judge Pipes was involved in numerous important legal matters and pieces of litigation. Perhaps his most significant case was that involving his defense of Amanda W Reed's will, the famous Reed's Will case, Pickering v. Winch, (1906) 87 Or 763. His victory in that case over the attempts of the Reed heirs to avoid the over $1 million bequest to establish Reed Institute, resulted in the creation of what is now known as Reed College.
Two of Judge Pipes' sons, John and George followed their father's example and entered the legal profession and each one spent time working in their father's office. George Pipes went on to become chief civil deputy district attorney in Portland.
Judge Pipes was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court in September, 1924, as a replacement for the late Judge McCourt. He served from September 24 to December 24 of that year, but refused to run for re-election. Throughout his career in Portland, he taught courses at the University of Oregon on contract as a lecturer.
Until shortly before his death in July, 1932, at age 82, Judge Pipes remained an active member of the legal profession, as well as participant in various civic activities, such as the Elks, Chamber of Commerce and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He was a member of the prestigious Lang Syne Society and the Dean of the Oregon Bar Association. He also contributed editorials to the newspapers from time to time. The Judge was a Democrat until 1896, at which time he broke with the party over disagreements he had with the Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryant. From that time on he was a Republican.
That he was greatly admired by his fellow members of the legal profession is evidenced by the honors he received late in life: On his 80th birthday, a luncheon was given in his honor by the Multnomah Bar Association and on his 81st birthday, one was given in his honor by the Lang Syne Society. On his death in 1932, flags were lowered to half-mast on the Supreme Court Building, and Chief Justice Henry Bean and Justice John Rand represented the Court at the funeral as honorary pallbearers. Members of the Bench and Bar also paid tribute to Judge Pipes by holding a memorial service in the Court of Circuit Judge Crawford. Resolutions of appreciation were drawn up and placed in the records of the Court. The Oregon Journal reported, Friends throughout the State will mourn the passing of ex-Justice Pipes, Oregon's oldest member of the bar and one of the most dynamic personalities in the Commonwealth." (7/15/32)
Judge Pipes' influence did not end with his death, for in 1937, five years after his death, an editorial in The Oregonian on another prestigious individual's party change referred to Judge Martin Luther Pipes and his break with the Democratic Party. The editorial included a lengthy quote from Pipes about the subject.
In addition to being a leader in his profession, he raised five bright and talented children. John and George Pipes became attorneys and Harriette married an attorney, Harry Beckett and was a community force in her own right. Wade Pipes became a talented architect, and Nellie Pipes was secretary/librarian/editor for the Oregon Historical Society. The Oregon Historical Quarterly contains numerous articles authored by Nellie Pipes. She married author Lewis McArthur in 1946 and assisted him in editing later editions of Oregon Geographic Names. - NRHP, 23 January 1987
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