Obituary - J. Henry Felton

J. Henry Felton Dies, Former Lawyer in Area

J. Henry Felton -- no relation to Magistrate Judge Robert Felton of Moscow -- was a University of Idaho law graduate in 1921. He attended Moscow High School and had lived in Troy in the early 1900s. He was 75.

Felton was suspended from the Latah County Bar Association in the late 1930s and appealed for reinstatement to the Idaho Supreme Court. His appeal was granted in 1938.

"He was hard working, courageous, and bold. He had the nerve to go against the establishment when that wasn't the thing to do," commented long-time Moscow attorney J.M. O'Donnell.

Potlatch Corp. was a target of Felton's ire when the firm, then Potlatch Forests, Inc., announced plans for a pulp and paper mill in Lewiston. His bumper sticker read "PFI Stinks."

A champion of the underdog, Felton often was the choice of litigants who were turned down by other lawyers or who felt their changes in court weren't especially rosy.

James Henry Felton was a native of Corinth, W.V., where he was born Sept. 9, 1899, to Elias Warren and Ollie Felton. The family moved to California in 1909 and to Troy, Idaho, in 1911. He served in the U.S. Navy submarine service in World War I.

He began law practice in Troy and in 1930 moved his office to Moscow. He went to Lewiston in 1948, where he practiced until last year.

Felton married Florence L. Jeffries in 1926. They divorced in 1942. He later married Jewel Jean Thomas and that marriage ended last year.

Failing health caused him to give up his law practice in Lewiston and move to Boise, where he suffered a stroke three week [sic] ago. He was a patient at the Veterans Administration Hospital when he died.

Survivors include a son, Warren Felton, who is an Idaho assistant attorney general; a brother, Warren M. Felton in California, and two grandchildren.

Private cremation and committal services were held in Boise.

Unknown newspaper, Wednesday, April 9, 1975, p. 16
Transcribed by Jill Leonard Nock

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