Milton D. Purdy

Born on November 3, 1866, in Mogadore, Ohio,[1] Purdy moved with his parents to Illinois in 1870.[2] He graduated from high school there in 1884 and taught school there.[2] During vacations he worked in his father's factory and learned the potters trade.[2] Purdy received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1891 from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Laws in 1892 from the University of Minnesota Law School.[1] He was an assistant city attorney for Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1893 to 1897.[1] He was an assistant county attorney for Hennepin County, Minnesota from 1897 to 1898.[1] He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota from 1898 to 1901.[1] He was the United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota from 1901 to 1902.[1] He served with the United States Department of Justice from 1903 to 1908, as a United States Assistant Attorney General from 1903 to 1905, and as an assistant to the Attorney General of the United States from 1905 to 1908.[1] In his latter years in Washington, D.C., he became known as the "chief trust buster" for his work on anti-trust cases.[3] He won the Northern Securities Co. v. United States case for the U.S.[4]

Purdy received a recess appointment from President Theodore Roosevelt on July 6, 1908, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota vacated by Judge William Lochren.[1] He was nominated to the same position by President Roosevelt on December 8, 1908.[1] His service terminated on March 3, 1909, after his nomination was not confirmed by the United States Senate.[1] He received a second recess appointment from President William Howard Taft on March 6, 1909, to the same position, however, President Taft did not renominate him.[1] His service terminated on May 1, 1909, due to his resignation.[1]

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Purdy returned to private practice from 1909 to 1922.[5] He again served with the United States Department of Justice from 1922 to 1924, as a special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States.[1] He was Judge of the United States Court for China from 1924 to 1934.[1]

Between 1912 and 1916, Purdy was active in the Progressive political movement and was a national committee member of the Progressive Party.[3]

Purdy remained in Shanghai, China, working for a finance company until 1936, when he retired.[3] Purdy died on February 11, 1937, in Honolulu, Hawaii.[1]

• Clark, Douglas (2015). Gunboat Justice: British and American Law Courts in China and Japan (1842–1943). Hong Kong: Earnshaw Books., Vol. 1: ISBN 978-988-82730-8-9; Vol. 2: ISBN 978-988-82730-9-6; Vol. 3: ISBN 978-988-82731-9-5
• Scully, Eileen P. (2001). Bargaining with the State from Afar: American Citizenship in Treaty Port China, 1842-1942. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-12109-5.
• Milton Dwight Purdy at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.