Thomas Minott Peters (December 4, 1810 – June 14, 1888) was an American lawyer, jurist, and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

who studied the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

Life and career

Born in Clarksville, the county seat of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

's Montgomery County, Peters was eight when his family moved to

Leighton Leighton may refer to: Places In Australia: * Leighton, Western Australia, a beachside locality In the United Kingdom: * Leighton, Cambridgeshire * Leighton, Cheshire * Leighton, North Yorkshire ** Leighton Reservoir * Leighton, Shropshire *Lei ...

, now in

Colbert County, Alabama Colbert County () is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the county's population was 57,227. The county seat is Tuscumbia. The largest city is Muscle Shoals. The county is named ...

in 1819. He briefly attended LaGrange College (located on the top of the LaGrange Mountain in Leighton, Alabama, which is now a famous historical site) and graduated from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 1834 and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1836; being admitted to practice law that same year. He practiced for several years in partnership with David G. Ligon.James Edmonds Saunders, Elizabeth Saunders Blair Stubbs, ''Early Settlers of Alabama - Part 1'' (1899), p. 221-22. He served in 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 ...

(1845–1846) and the

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district con ...

(1847–1848). He was elected to represent

Lawrence County, Alabama Lawrence County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,073. The county seat is Moulton. The county was named after James Lawrence, a captain in the United States Navy from ...

as by that time he had moved to

Moulton, Alabama Moulton is a city in Lawrence County, Alabama, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. Although it incorporated in 1819,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 ...

, he was a steadfast Unionist and left Alabama during the war. Peters considered the Confederates traitors and even wanted to hang

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

and "''all'' his traitorous set". Despite this, Peters, a Republican, was elected to the

Alabama Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six-year terms. The Supreme Court is hous ...

in 1868 and became the Chief Justice in 1873. He was defeated for reelection in 1874, likely because he supported

equal rights for women Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

and

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

. He returned to his law practice in Moulton and worked there until his death. He was inducted into the Alabama Lawyers' Hall of Fame in 2006. German-American botanist Charles Mohr praised Peters' botany work, writing in the book ''Plant Life of Alabama'': "In his love for botany homas Minott Petersfound recreation from his professional duties, and his greatest enjoyment was to wander through the adjacent mountains in search of plants. The study of lichens and fungi attracted him particularly, and he was one of the few mycologists working in the Southern field along with

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from the Old French ''curteis'' (Modern French">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of Fren ...

and Ravenel." The rare fern '' Trichomanes petersii'' ( A.Gray 1853) was discovered by and is the namesake of Peters. He also did notable work with the genus ''

Carex ''Carex'' is a vast genus of over 2,000 species of grass-like plants in the family (biology), family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges (or seg, in older books). Other members of the family Cyperaceae are also called sedges, however those of ge ...

''. He left his personal

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

to the University of Alabama. Peters married Naomi Sophia Leetch (20 September 1820 – 18 June 1880), who was from Moulton. They had six children. Peters died June 14, 1888, in Moulton and is buried in Moulton Cemetery, as are his family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Thomas Minott 1810 births 1888 deaths People from Clarksville, Tennessee People from Moulton, Alabama University of Alabama alumni Alabama lawyers Republican Party Alabama state senators American botanists Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama Republican Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives American slave owners 19th-century Alabama state court judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Alabama Legislature