On April 4, 1853, Judge Bradley B. Meeker presided over a session of the district court in Hennepin County, which had been formed a year earlier. The St. Anthony Express ran an account of it four days later.
Curiously, Judge Meeker's term had expired over two weeks before he held court. He was confirmed by the Senate on March 19, 1849, to a four-year term, which would conclude on March 18, 1853. Because his first name was misspelled on his presidential commission, Meeker asked that it be revised, and it was. In all, three commissions were issued to him, and on the basis of the wording of the last, he claimed that he still held office beyond March 18. On April 5, 1853, President Pierce removed Meeker by nominating Moses Sherburne to the Territorial Supreme Court.
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