Honorable Sherman D. Horton, Jr.

Judge Horton, born in Kansas City and raised in Minneapolis, didn't originally plan to be a lawyer. Rather, he'd planned on going into banking. But, after graduating from Dartmouth College, he joined the Navy and decided that he'd better make use of the three years of education offered to him by Uncle Sam.

In the Navy from 1953 to 1955, Judge Horton was stationed first off the coast of Korea during the end of the Korean War. "The Chinese heard I joined up and decided that they'd better call a truce," he joked of his service. "I loved the Navy. There were good people and good times and two years of service paid for law school."

After his Navy deployment he returned to the states to pursue a law degree at Harvard Law School. "I figured a law degree would be useful in a lot of different ways and Harvard was a good school."

When he graduated, Horton took a position in Nashua with the Sullivan & Gregg law firm. "I spent my entire career as an attorney, 40 years, at Sullivan & Gregg. I really enjoyed private practice. When you represent people you have a defined task and a target that you're trying to reach. It was exciting."

In 1990, Horton, upon the nomination of then Gov. Judd Gregg, a former partner of Sullivan & Gregg, joined the NH Supreme Court. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it," he said. "It's so different; deciding on whether something is right is a lot different from arguing a point-of-view as an attorney. It ended up being very rewarding and a good way to phase into retirement, since they kick you out at 70."

Since retiring, Judge Horton has traveled extensively, visiting much of Europe, Central America and Asia. He said that given the right trip, he may go abroad again, but for now, he is enjoying his peace and quiet by the lake where he lives.