Connally Findlay Trigg (March 8, 1810 – April 25, 1880) was a
United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the
United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and the
United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
Education and career
Born on March 8, 1810, in
Abingdon,
Virginia,
Trigg
read law
Reading law was the 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 under the ...
in 1833.
He entered private practice in Abingdon until 1856.
He was a town councilman for Abingdon starting in 1835.
He was clerk of the
Washington County, Virginia Court from 1838 to 1852.
Trigg was elected to the
Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850, one of four chosen for the delegate district including his home Washington County and
Smyth
Smyth is an early variant of the common surname Smith commonly found in Ireland.Citation: Bardsley, 1901 Shown below are notable people who share the surname "Smyth".
Notable people sharing the Smyth surname
Listed here are people who share the ...
and
Wythe Counties. A
Whig, he ran for the
United States House of Representatives in 1855, but was defeated by the
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
incumbent,
Fayette McMullen.
[Oliver Perry Temple, Mary Boyce Temple (ed.),]
Judge Connally F. Trigg
" ''Notable Men of Tennessee'' (Cosmopolitan Press, 1912), pp. 208-212.[James Pinkney Hambleton, ]
A History of the Political Campaign in Virginia, in 1855
' (J.W. Randolph, 1856), p. 419. He continued private practice in
Knoxville,
Tennessee from 1856 to 1861.
From 1856 to 1861, he was in partnership with
Oliver Perry Temple.
Unionist
Trigg largely avoided Knoxville politics until the secession crisis intensified in the weeks following the election of President
Abraham Lincoln.
During this crisis, Trigg remained a steadfast supporter of the Union.
In February 1861, he was one of
Knox County's pro-Union candidates for the proposed statewide secession convention (voters ultimately rejected holding the convention).
In May and June 1861, he was one of Knox's delegates to the Unionist
East Tennessee Convention
The East Tennessee Convention was an assembly of Southern Unionist delegates primarily from East Tennessee that met on three occasions during the Civil War. The Convention most notably declared the secessionist actions taken by the Tennessee sta ...
.
He served as Chairman of the convention's business committee, which was tasked with drafting a set of grievances and resolutions.
Federal judicial service
Trigg was nominated by President
Abraham Lincoln on July 16, 1862, to a joint seat on the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the
United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and the
United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee vacated by Judge
West Hughes Humphreys
West Hughes Humphreys (August 26, 1806 – October 16, 1882) was the 3rd Attorney General of Tennessee and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the United States District Court ...
, who had been removed from office by the
United States Senate on June 26, 1862, for siding with the
Confederate States of America.
He was confirmed by the
United States Senate on July 17, 1862, and received his commission the same day.
He was reassigned to serve only in the Eastern District and Middle District on June 14, 1878.
His service terminated on April 25, 1880, due to his death in
Bristol, Tennessee.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Trigg, Connally Findlay
1810 births
1880 deaths
Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
United States federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln
19th-century American judges
Southern Unionists in the American Civil War
19th-century American politicians
United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law