Lithographed certificate filled out in ink, with ornate border and a representation of a knight on horseback. embossed seal. 36x25 cm (14¼x9¾").

Scarce and fairly attractive membership certificate in the frontier fraternal society of the Knights Templar in Nevada City, California, which organization still exists today, with a miniature museum displaying a splendid assortment or regalia and mementos. Niles Searls (sometimes spelled Searles), to whom the certificate was made out, was an attorney, politician, and the Chief Justice of California. In 1850, he settled in the town of Nevada), where he practiced law. Two years later, he was elected district attorney of Nevada County. From 1855 through 1862, he was a judge of the 14th judicial district. After a brief retirement, in 1877, Searls was elected to represent Nevada County in the California Senate, and in 1887-8 he was briefly the 14th Chief Justice of California.