Appointed Associate Justice George Young did not run for another term. Cornell died in office on May 23, 1881. Governor John Pillsbury appointed former Mankato attorney and District Court Judge of the Sixth Judicial District Daniel Dickinson to fill the vacancy on June 3, 1881.
Cornell was a Minneapolis attorney, former three-term state Representative (HD 05, 1861-1863, 1865-1866), and former state Attorney General (1868-1874).
Lochren was an attorney from Saint Anthony, former state Senator (SD 04, 1869-1871), and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 1875.