Viewing Judge William L. Windom (1860-1935).Judge William L. Windom (1860-1935).William Lincoln Windom, the nephew of the late Senator William Windom, began practicing law in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1896. He became active in Republican Party politics and was elected President of the State League of Republican Clubs in 1900. Something of a reformer, he challenged Congressman Page Morris, the candidate of the city machine, in the party primary for the Sixth Congressional District that year but lost. In 1902 Governor Van Sant appointed him Municipal Court Judge. He was elected to a full three year term in 1903, and re-elected in 1906, 1909 and 1912. In 1913 the municipal court law was amended to provide for a "preferential system" of voting. In the election in 1915, he garnered the most "first choice" votes but an opponent, William H. Smallwood, received a majority of the combined "first" and "second choice" votes. There then ensued two years of litigation and four trips to the Minnesota Supreme Court. When the dust settled, the "preferential system" had been declared unconstitutional, Smallwood was municipal court judge and Windom awarded a small sum for holding office for a few weeks after the election. He died on July 20, 1935, at age seventy-five. |