- Horace Harmon Lurton
Infobox Judge
name = Horace Harmon Lurton
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office = Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
termstart =January 3 1910
termend =July 12 1914
nominator =William Howard Taft
appointer =
predecessor =Rufus Wheeler Peckham
successor =James Clark McReynolds
office2 =
termstart2 =
termend2 =
nominator2 =
appointer2 =
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birthdate = birth date|1844|2|26|mf=y
birthplace = Newport,Kentucky
deathdate = death date and age|1914|7|12|1844|2|26|mf=y
deathplace = Atlantic City,New Jersey
spouse =Horace Harmon Lurton (
February 26 ,1844 –July 12 ,1914 ) was an Americanjurist who served for four years as a Justice of theSupreme Court of the United States . Appointed at the age of 65, Lurton was the oldest justice appointed to the Court.Life
Lurton was born in
Newport, Kentucky , the son of a physician turned clergyman. He was asergeant major in theConfederate Army during the Civil War, serving in the 5th Tennessee Infantry, 2nd Kentucky Infantry, and 3rd Kentucky Cavalry. He was twice captured by Union forces, the second time sent as aprisoner of war toJohnson's Island Prison Camp inSandusky Bay ,Ohio . He was laterparoled by President Lincoln because of pleas for mercy from his mother.Education and early practice
Before the war, he attended
Douglas University , and then earned anLL.B. in 1867 atCumberland School of Law which was then part ofCumberland University , but is now part ofSamford University . At Cumberland he was a member ofBeta Theta Pi . Lurton then practiced law inClarksville, Tennessee .Career as a judge
In 1875, Lurton left private practice after being chosen as a judge of the Tennessee
Chancery Court for the Sixth Chancery Division. After three years, Lurton then returned to his practice until 1886, when he was appointed to theTennessee Supreme Court . From this position, in 1893, Lurton was appointed by PresidentGrover Cleveland to a federal appellate judgeship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. While still on that court, Lurton first taught at, then served as dean of theVanderbilt University School of Law from 1905 until 1909.upreme Court service
In 1909, Lurton's friend, President
William Howard Taft , named him to a seat on the Supreme Court that had been vacated by the death of JusticeRufus Wheeler Peckham . This was the first of Taft's six Supreme Court appointments, and surprised some observers because unlike Taft, Lurton was a Democrat.Lurton sided most frequently on the court with
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Lurton took his seat on the Court at the beginning of 1910. His tenure on the Court was brief, as he served only four years before dying in
Atlantic City, New Jersey , in 1914.Notes
*Lurton was a family friend of noted historian and jurist
Samuel Cole Williams .References
* [http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=1441 Federal Judicial Center bio of Lurton]
*Irons, Peter. "A People's History of the Supreme Court", p. 260.Penguin Books , 2000.Peter Irons wrote critically of Lurton's lack of impact on American Constitutional Law, even though Lurton only served on the High Court for four years before his death.
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