Daniel Ringo (October 27, 1803 – September 3, 1873) was a justice of the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction ...

, and later a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arkansas, the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (in case citations, E.D. Ark.) is a federal court in the Eighth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appea ...

and the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

Education and career

Born on October 27, 1803, in Cross Plains,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, Ringo moved to

Arkadelphia, Arkansas Arkadelphia is a city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,380. The city is the county seat of Clark County. It is situated at the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. Two universities, Hender ...

, in 1820, and became deputy clerk of the district court, and in 1825, clerk.Fay Hempstead, ''Historical Review of Arkansas'' (1911)
p. 443-44
Ringo read law in 1830, and entered private practice in

Washington, Arkansas Washington is a city in Ozan Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 180 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 148 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. It is part of the Hope, Arkansas, Hope Hope ...

. In 1833 he moved to

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

Arkansas Territory The Arkansas Territory was a organized incorporated territory of the United States, territory of the United States from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the ...

(State of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

from June 15, 1836). where he continued to practice law until 1836. In 1836 was elected to the

, drawing the long term of eight years. He was chief justice until 1844, when he was defeated for re-election. One evaluation of his service on the state supreme court said:

Federal judicial service

Ringo received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the President of the United States, president of a Officer of the United States, federal official when the United States Senate, U.S. Senate is in Recess (motion), recess. Under the ...

from President

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

on November 5, 1849, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Arkansas vacated by the death of Judge Benjamin Johnson. He was nominated to the same position by President Taylor on December 21, 1849. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on June 10, 1850, and received his commission the same day. Ringo was reassigned by

operation of law The phrase "by operation of law" is a legal term that indicates that a right or liability has been created for a party, irrespective of the intent of that party, because it is dictated by existing legal principles. For example, if a person dies wi ...

to the

and the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas on March 3, 1851, to a new joint seat authorized by 9 Stat. 594. His service terminated on May 6, 1861, due to his resignation, which came at the beginning of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Later career and death

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Ringo served as a Judge of the Confederate District Court for the Districts of Arkansas from 1862 to 1863. He resumed private practice in Little Rock from 1865 to 1873, though " his later years he did little, for the adoption of the civil code had deprived him of his principal engine of legal warfare, the common-law pleading". He died on September 3, 1873, in Little Rock.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ringo, Daniel 1803 births 1873 deaths 19th-century Arkansas state court judges 19th-century American lawyers Lawyers from Little Rock, Arkansas Chief justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court Judges of the Confederate States of America Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Arkansas Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law United States federal judges appointed by Zachary Taylor U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law