Born near Philadelphia, Pa., in the year 1808, of English Quaker stock, his ancestors came to Pennsylvania with Penn himself. Of his boyhood no facts or incidents are known, except that he studied law in the office of the famous David Paul Brown, and went west long before Horace Greeley began giving his admirable advice to young men on the subject of migration. He “grew up” with the Prairie State, became distinguished at the Bar and as an orator, and won the warm friendship of Lincoln and Baker. During the height of the excitement over the lead mines, he practiced at Galena with marked success. Mr. Churchman made himself one of the foremost men of Illinois, and came within a very few votes of an election to the United States Senate. Removing to Iowa he lived some years at Dubuque, where, about 1845, he married. Mr. Churchman came to California in 1851. After a short stay in El Dorado County, he settled at Nevada City, where he passed that portion of his life which made his character and qualities known to this section of the country. He soon was in active practice, dealing principally with actions affecting mining claims and water rights, which comprised the bulk of litigation. He was a delegate from this State to the National Republican Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln the first time. He warmly supported his old friend in convention. He never sought or held a public office in California. He went to Washington to see his friend’s inauguration as President, in March, 1861. There he volunteered as a member of General Cassius M. Clay’s guard for the defense of the capital. Shortly afterwards President Lincoln appointed him United States Consul to Valparaiso, Chile. At the end of his four years term he sent his family back to this State and himself went to the mountains of Bolivia in search of gold mines. His explorations led to no valuable discovery, and returning here he went with his family to Austin, Nevada, where he settled, and after following his profession for five years, he died there in 1869, of mountain fever, aged sixty-one years. A son and daughter, both grown, survived him, the former being a mining engineer, and the daughter, Mrs. Nina Larowe, a lady of literary tastes. The latter was one of the "Innocents Abroad," who had the pleasure of Mark Twain's company in the Holy Land.
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