Thomas James Judge (November 1, 1815 – March 3, 1876)"Death of Hon. T. J. Judge", ''The Tuskegee News'' (March 9, 1876), p. 2."Death of Thomas J. Judge", ''The Autauga Citizen'' (March 9, 1876), p. 4. was an Alabama lawyer and politician who served as justice of the

Supreme Court of Alabama The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the U.S. state, state of Alabama. The court consists of a Chief Justice, chief justice and eight Associate Justice, associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for stagge ...

from 1866 to 1867 and from 1874 until his death in 1876.

Early life and military service

Born in Richland, South Carolina, Judge's family moved to Alabama during his childhood. In the 1850s, Judge was in a law partnership with George W. Stone. After working as a newspaper editor in

Greenville, Alabama Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,374. Greenville is known as the Camellia City, wherein originated the movement to change t ...

, he was elected to the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

, and was described as leading an "extreme southern rights faction". In June 1850, Judge was among several delegates chosen by the Alabama legislature "to discuss measures to secure redress of grievances" stemming from dissatisfaction with the

Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that temporarily defused tensions between slave and free states during the years leading up to the American Civil War. Designe ...

.Walter L. Fleming, ''Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama'' (1905), p. 14-15; 47-48. As Walter L. Fleming notes in his history 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 ...

: Judge twice ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives as the candidate of the

Know Nothing The American Party, known as the Native American Party before 1855 and colloquially referred to as the Know Nothings, or the Know Nothing Party, was an Old Stock Americans, Old Stock Nativism in United States politics, nativist political movem ...

Party, losing to James F. Dowdell in the 1857 election and to

David Clopton David Clopton (September 29, 1820 – February 5, 1892) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and associate judge of the Alabama Supreme Court. Biography Clopton was born in Putnam County, Georgia, near Milledgeville, Georgia, on S ...

in the 1859 election. During the

, he served as a colonel of

14th Alabama Infantry Regiment The 14th Alabama Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Service The 14th Alabama Infantry Regiment was mustered in at Richmond, Virginia, on August 1, 1861. Wilcox's Brigad ...

from 1861 to 1862, which was brigaded with other Alabama regiments under General

LeRoy Pope Walker LeRoy Pope Walker (February 7, 1817 – August 23, 1884) was the first Confederate States Secretary of War. Early life and career Walker was born near Huntsville, Alabama in 1817, the son of John Williams Walker and Matilda Pope, and a gran ...

in September 1861. Judge resigned on July 10, 1862, due to a leg fracture, and was succeeded in that role by Alfred Campbell Wood. Judge remained in service, presiding as judge of a Confederate military court. In 1864, he organized reserve troops in Mobile, Alabama, and he was paroled from service at Meridian, Alabama, on May 9, 1865.

Judicial service

After the war, the legislature convened and elected Judge to the state supreme court, along with Abram Joseph Walker and William M. Byrd, effective January 1, 1866. The Constitution of 1868 reorganized the court, and in the general election of 1874, Judge was again elected to the court, along with Chief Justice Brickell and Amos R. Manning. Judge served on the Alabama Supreme Court until his death, and his seat on the court was then filled by the appointment of Judge's former law partner, George W. Stone.

Personal life and death

Judge married Susan Jane Graves, with whom he had two daughters. Judge died at his home in

, at the age of 60.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Judge, Thomas J. 1815 births 1876 deaths Know Nothings Members of the Alabama House of Representatives Confederate States Army officers Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama 19th-century Alabama state court judges