Albert G. Semmes (August 18, 1810 – November 25, 1883) was an American lawyer in the states of Georgia and Florida. He was a member of the Whig Party, elected as a delegate to the 1838 Florida Constitutional Convention and was appointed by the Florida Legislature to the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

where he served from 1851 to 1853. He then moved to New Orleans. Semmes was born August 18, 1810, at Sand Hills near

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

, the son of Andrew Green and Frances née Herbert Semmes. He was related to Admiral

Raphael Semmes Raphael Semmes ( ; September 27, 1809 – August 30, 1877) was an officer in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. He had served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1826 to 1860. During the American Civil War, Semmes was c ...

of the

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...

and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Thomas Semmes of Louisiana. Semmes graduated from the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

and became a member of the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

reading law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship u ...

. On February 22, 1834, he married his cousin, Isabella V. Semmes. He was appointed solicitor general for Georgia's southern circuit by Governor

Wilson Lumpkin Wilson Lumpkin (January 14, 1783 – December 28, 1870) was an American planter, attorney, and politician. He served two terms as the governor of Georgia, from 1831 to 1835, in the period of Indian Removal of the Creek and Cherokee peoples to ...

. In 1837, he and his wife moved to Florida, where he became active politically as a pro-statehood, pro-banking Middle Florida Whig. Franklin County elected him a delegate to the St. Joseph Florida Constitutional Convention in 1838. His bid for election as mayor of Apalachicola in 1840 was not successful. The Legislature appointed him to the Florida Supreme Court in January 1851. He stood for popular election in 1853, but was not re-elected. Semmes then moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, where he practiced law. He died on November 25, 1883.

References

* Manley, Walter W., Brown, E. Canter. and Rise, Eric W. ''The Supreme Court of Florida and Its Predecessor Courts, 1821-1917.'' pp 145 – 146. University Press of Florida.

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

. 1997. eBook . . a
Netlbrary
Online. April 23, 2008.

1810 births 1883 deaths Justices of the Supreme Court of Florida Florida Whigs 19th-century American politicians Florida lawyers Politicians from Augusta, Georgia Politicians from New Orleans Lawyers from New Orleans U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers {{Florida-state-judge-stub