Thomas Bell Monroe (October 7, 1791 – December 24, 1865) was the 15th Secretary of State of Kentucky and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky.

Education and career

Born on October 7, 1791, in Albemarle County, Virginia, Monroe attended Transylvania University and

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 th ...

in 1821. He was a member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

in 1816. He entered private practice in Frankfort,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

starting in 1821. He was the 15th Secretary of State of Kentucky from 1823 to 1824. He was reporter for the Kentucky Court of Appeals starting in 1825. He was the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the District of Kentucky from 1830 to 1834.

Federal judicial service

Monroe was nominated by President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame a ...

on February 20, 1834, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky vacated by Judge John Boyle. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

on March 6, 1834, and received his commission on March 8, 1834. His service terminated on September 18, 1861, due to his resignation.

Other service

Concurrent with his federal judicial service, Monroe was a law teacher in Montrose, Kentucky from 1843 to 1848, Chairman of the Law Department at Transylvania University starting in 1848, and a Professor of law at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pu ...

from 1848 to circa 1851.

Later career and death

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Monroe was a delegate from Kentucky to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. He resumed private practice in Richmond, Virginia in 1862. He died on December 24, 1865, in Pass Christian,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monroe, Thomas Bell 1791 births 1865 deaths United States Attorneys for the District of Kentucky Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky United States federal judges appointed by Andrew Jackson 19th-century American judges Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives People from Albemarle County, Virginia Secretaries of State of Kentucky Transylvania University alumni United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law