Harlow South Orton (November 23, 1817 – July 4, 1895) was an American lawyer and judge. He was the 8th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and served on the court from 1878 until his death. He is chiefly remembered as the author of the Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion Vosburg v. Putney (1890), an important torts case in establishing the scope of liability from battery. Earlier in his career, he served three non-consecutive terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Madison and central Dane County.
In 1858, Orton was again elected to the Assembly, succeeding Democrat Frank Gault in a 5th District which now included the Towns of Dane, Vienna, Westport, Springfield, Middleton, and Madison (but only the 1st Ward of the City of Madison), and described his profession as "Capt. of the Dane Cavalry"; he was assigned to the standing committees on the judiciary and the militia. In 1859, Orton was appointed judge for the 9th Judicial Circuit to fill the vacancy left by Luther S. Dixon, who became a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice. (Orton was succeeded in the Assembly by RepublicanLeonard Farwell.) Orton resigned as circuit judge in 1865 and returned to private law practice.
U.W. Law School and elected offices
Orton served as dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School from 1869 to 1874. He was elected a final time to the Assembly in 1870, this time unopposed, as one of several "people's" candidates; he described himself as "a conservative democrat, or democratic-whig, or independent, [who] believes in a strong government of the people". (Democratic incumbent Alden Sanborn was not running for re-election.) He was succeeded in 1871 (the Assembly having been redistricted in the meantime) by Democrat John D. Gurnee. Orton ran for Congress in 1876 as a Democrat, against Republican incumbent Lucien B. Caswell, but lost by 348 votes (0.55% of the vote); and served one term as mayor of Madison in 1877.
Supreme Court
In 1877, Wisconsin amended its constitution to create two more seats on the Supreme Court and Orton was elected. Orton became the chief justice when Chief Justice William Lyon retired in 1894.
Orton was on the Supreme Court until he died July 4, 1895. He and his wife Elizabeth Cheney had four children.