Logan Edwin Bleckley (July 3, 1827 – March 6, 1907) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Un ...

. Born in 1827 on Screamer Mountain in Rabun County,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, Bleckley became a self-taught lawyer. At age eleven, he started working in his father's office (Clerk of the Court in Clayton). He was admitted to the bar in 1846 at age nineteen. During this period of his life, he authored a state

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

that outlawed the imprisonment of women for debt and worked with state legislators to have it passed into law. Two years later, he became a bookkeeper for the State Railroad Office in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. In 1851, he was appointed as a secretary to the

governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legi ...

George W. Towns George Washington Bonaparte Towns (May 4, 1801 – July 15, 1854) was a United States lawyer, legislator, and politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives on three occasions and was the List of Governors of Georgia, 39th G ...

in Milledgeville (the capital of Georgia at that time), but he left later that year when the new governor,

Howell Cobb Howell Cobb (September 7, 1815 – October 9, 1868) was an American and later Confederate political figure. A southern Democrat, Cobb was a five-term member of the United States House of Representatives and the speaker of the House from 184 ...

took office. Bleckley opened his own practice in Atlanta in 1852 at the age of twenty-four. Bleckley partnered with

Basil H. Overby Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also ...

in 1854 to form the firm of Bleckley and Overby. The following year, they added

John Brown Gordon John Brown Gordon () was an attorney, a slaveholding plantation owner, general in the Confederate States Army, and politician in the postwar years. By the end of the Civil War, he had become "one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted generals." A ...

, but he left in 1856 to pursue other interests. An interesting note is that all three gentlemen married daughters of General Hugh A. Haralson, a former major general in the state militia, a state congressional representative and a

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for the state of Georgia. Bleckley married Clara Caroline Haralson, the General's third daughter. Their son, Haralson Bleckley, became an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and designed the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Library Building built in 1904. In 1857, Bleckley was elected to the office of Solicitor General in his judicial circuit covering eight

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and served in that capacity for the next four years while still maintaining his practice. In 1861, Bleckley briefly joined the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

but was discharged due to health reasons and returned to his law practice in Atlanta. He was appointed to office of Supreme Court of Georgia

Reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

in 1864. He resigned that position in 1867 and returned to his private practice. In 1875, he was appointed an

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

of the Supreme Court of Georgia by his former law partner, John Brown Gordon, the governor of Georgia at the time. He resigned in 1880. When presiding Chief Justice James Jackson died, Bleckley was appointed as the chief justice of the court in 1887 and presided until his resignation in 1894. Bleckley died in

Clarkesville Clarkesville is a city that is the county seat of Habersham County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,911, up from the 2010 census population of 1,733, up from 1,248 at the 2000 census. History Clarkesvil ...

, Georgia on March 6, 1907 and is buried at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. Bleckley County is named in his honor. His son, Logan Bleckley Jr. would later be appointed the first

Clerk of Court A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court, administer oaths to witn ...

to the

Georgia Court of Appeals The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia. History Founding of the court The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, suggesting that the ...

Notes

References

'History of the University of Georgia by Thomas Walter Reed; Frontmatter and Chapter I: The Beginnings of the University'', Thomas Walter Reed, Imprint: Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia, ca. 1949New Georgia Encyclopedia entry for Logan Bleckley

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleckley, Logan Edwin Bleckley, Logan E. Bleckley, Logan E. Bleckley, Logan E. People from Rabun County, Georgia Bleckley, Logan E. People from Milledgeville, Georgia Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta) 19th-century American judges