8th Nevada Attorney General
Term: January 5, 1891 - January 7, 1895
Biography
James Duncan Torreyson, born February 14, 1854, in Wellsburg, West
Virginia, moved to Carson City, Nevada, with his family in 1863. At 20
years of age, he returned east to study at Yale University and graduated in
1879.
From the Biographical Record of the Class of `79 Yale College:[1]
JAMES DUNCAN TORREYSON is a native of West Virginia, having been born
in that State (or what is now that State) the 14th of February, 1854. His
parents were William D. and Statira C. Torreyson. His youth was passed
much in the usual manner of children attending school, and when out of school
being kept busy at work—or play. After the removal of his family to the Far
West, he entered the Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven, in 1873, where he
completed his preparation for college. After graduation, Torreyson studied law
in Carson City and was admitted to the bar of Nevada, January, 1882. In
November, 1882, he was elected district attorney of the county, and at the
expiration of his term, in 1884, was re-elected without opposition, the
Democrats making no nomination against him. This would seem to show that
Torreyson's popularity was as great in the territories as in college. The law
also makes him ex-officio city attorney of Carson City. His double duties,
together with his general practice, therefore combine to keep his mind in a
healthy condition of activity. He observes modestly that he has been moderately
successful, and like all who meet with success we presume he has worked hard for
it. He is not married, and may be found at any time at Carson City, Nev.
On January 4, 1882,[2]
Torreyson gained admittance to the Nevada State Bar and entered into a
partnership with Sardis Summerfield. Voters elected him as Ormsby County
District Attorney in 1882, and again in 1884, 1886, and 1888.[3]
Election of 1890
Elected as Nevada’s eighth Attorney General on November 4, 1890,
Torreyson (Republican) received 7,163 (58.1%) of the 12,338 votes cast, and W.C.
Love (Democrat) received 5,175 (41.9%) votes.[4]
Election of 1894
In this election, Torreyson lost his reelection effort to Robert
Beatty.
Office Administration and Duties
Torreyson had no deputies or other support staff according to the
Nevada Attorney General’s budgets for the 1891–1893 and 1893–1895 state biennial
fiscal periods:
1891–1893 Budget
|
$6,000
|
|
$6,000
|
Attorney General’s Salary
|
|
|
Office expenses came from an appropriation “[f]or current
expenses, telegraphic, postal, and contingent, of the state
officers, Supreme Court, and State Library, for transportation
of books and documents, and storage and transportation of
state property, $5,000”
|
1893–1895 Budget
|
$6,000
|
|
$6,000
|
Attorney General’s Salary
|
|
|
Office expenses came from an appropriation “[f]or a current
expense appropriation, to defray the telegraphic, postage, and
contingent expenses of the several state officers, Supreme
Court, and State Library, to be expended under the direction
of the Lieutenant Governor, State Controller, and Secretary
of State, $5,000”
|
The 1891 Nevada State Legislature added a number of duties to the
office of the Nevada Attorney General, including:
-
Nevada Attorney
General is to advise the Nevada State Board of Education; upon their request.
(Statutes of Nevada, 1891, Chapter II, page 14).
-
Nevada Attorney
General is an ex-officio member of the Nevada Board of Regents (Statutes of
Nevada, 1891, Chapter LXI, page 77).
-
Nevada Board of
Assessors and Equalization is created with the Nevada Attorney General as a
member thereof. (Statutes of Nevada, 1891, Chapter LL, pages 56–63).
-
Nevada Attorney
General is to take action to prevent an insurance company from doing business in
Nevada upon a statutory violation complaint by the Nevada State Controller
(Statutes of Nevada, 1891, Chapter XCVIII, page 134).
[1]The Biographical Record of the Class of
`79 Yale College, Complied for Its Sexennial, by F.W. Williams, pp
92-93. Harvard College Library from Yale University, catalog
number V educ U 8260.879.5.
[2] Nevada Reports, Number 22, p. 13
[3] Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, Volume
XXVII, Spring 1984, Number 1, pp. 22 – 23
[4] Political History of Nevada, 2006, p. 361