The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-17

vided for the Northern and Middle Dis- tricts; and the act of May g. 1884. pro- viding district court for the Southern Division of the Northern District at | Birmingham provided that terms of the Circuit Court should be held therc also.
 Sketches of Judges.
 | Charles Tait, first Federal District | Judge in Alabama, was one or the strongest and purest of the early pup l lie men of the State. He was a native of Virginia, born fin 17s7. and cousin | of Henry Clay. He was educated for ! the law, and early removed to Georgia where he was judge of the Supreme | Court and for ten years in the United States Senate. In early life he had an | accident which cost him the loss of n i leg. During his political career in l Georgia he had a duel with Judge l Dooley, 'in which the latter refused to 1 fight unless his leg was cased in 1 hollow tree to offset Judge Taits sin gle leg" Judge Tait. after his resig- nation, gave his attention to planting. and died October .. 1s3s.
 | William Crawford. second Judge came to Alabama from Virginia in the territorial period. He was born in I7S4. He served as receiver of the Land Off1ce. practiced law. was Presi- dent of the St. Stephens Bank, 1918.
 
 State Senator. After appointment to the bench he removed to Mobile where he died February 27, 1S4s. John Gayle, who succeeded Judge Crawford, was a native of South Caro- lima. born September II, 17s2, and one of the earliest graduates of the South Carolina College. He was in the Creek war and a member of the Legislative Council of the Alabama Territory. Lawyer, legislator, Governor of Ala bama, and a member of Congress. he filled every public station with credit. During his term as Governor there was a clash between State and Federal au- thority. which necessitated the pres- ence of a special commissioner, Hon. Francis Scott Key, to adjust the dihi- culty. The excellent paper by Colonel T. c. McCorvey in this issue contains an account of this visit. with many in- teresting incidents. He died in Mobile, July 2i, 1859.
 William Giles Jones, fourth Federal Judge and first and only Confederate District Judge for Alabama, was born in the old Dominion November 6, 1908. and was a nephew of the distinguished Governor William B. Giles of that State. He was a lawyer. and, prior to his appointment as Judge, had been q member of the Legislature of Alabama. His residence was at Greensboro, At one time he was the law partner of
 
 est advocates who ever practiced at the Alabama bar. His appointment as judge gave public satisfaction. and he was appointed Confederate District l Judge by President Davis. The fall of the Confederacy ended his judicial ca- reer.
 During his service as Confederate l District Judge he was called upon to | try James Hickman of Madison Coun- | ty for treason. He was acquitted. and 1 after the war he brought suit against | Judge Jones, the District Attorney. the | Marshal and number of others for the | arrest and Imprisonment, under pre- l tended authority of the Confederate | States" This trial resulted in a judg- l ment for the defendants. and Hickman | took the case to the Supreme Court of | the United States. The case is very interesting and can be seen in 9 Wal l laceS pp. 197-203. or in Book 1s of the L. c. Pub. Co. edition of the Supreme | Court Reports. p. 551. Judge swayne | delivered the opinion in which he held that the act of the Confederate Con- | gress creating the court was a nul1ity | and gave no protection to those who | assumed to be its officers The cause was remanded for a venire de novo.
 Richard Busteed, who may be termed | the Judge of the reconstruction period. | was born in Cavan. Ireland, February l IS. 1922, and was brought by his par l ents to Canada in early life He was a printer, lawyer, local preacher and | politician He entered the Union army l in 1861. and rose to the rank of briga- l dier general, but resigned before con | firmation by the Senate. Appointed | Judge he did not come South until 1865, | He died in New York. September 14. | 1898. Of him Dr. Walter L. Fleming | says in his recent work Civil War and l Reconstruction in Alabama" page TIA: |
 '"The Federal Judiciary was repre- 1 sented by Richard Busteed, an Irish | man, who was made Federal Judge in | 1864. He came South in 1865 with | bloodthirsty threats and at once began | prosecutions for treason. More than | 800 cases were brought before him. | There were no convictions, but a rich | harvest of costs. He was ignorant of l the law, and in the court room was arr bitrary and tyrannical to lawyers. wit | nesses and prisoners. It was charged l that he. was in partnership with the | District Attorney. Bribery was proven | against him. The leading lawyers, | both Radical and Democratic, asked | Congress to impeach him. but to no | effect. At first a great ne- grophile, Busteed became more and | more obnoxious to the Radical party, 1 and was soon accused of being a Dem | ocrat and removed"
 John Bruce came to the bench in | 1875 as the successor of Judge Bus | teed He held the position for more l than twenty-five years. and he is well l known to Alabamians of this genera | ton. Judge Bruce was a high minded, l Cnrlstlan gentleman, who possessed | the respect of the bar and the people | He was born in Scotland, February l6, | 1892 At the age of years he was | brought by his family to America. They located in Wayne County, Ohio l John Bruce was educated for the bar, | engaged at breaking out of hostilities. He served ! through the civil war jn the Union | army and at its close, he had won the | rank of brevet brigadier general. Lo- eating in the South in 1866 he engaged | in cotton planting, and was a member of the Alabama Legislature of 1872 and | 1874, as a Republican. He died in | Montgomery. October 1, 1901.
 Harry Toulrnin, first and only Judge | for the Southern District of Alabama, | was born in Mobile, March 4, 1888, and | was the son of General Theophilus | Tonlmin, and grandson of Harry | Toulmin, who had served from 1894 to | 1919 as Judge of the United States Su- perior Court for Washington District | in the Mississippi and Alabama terri tories, and who in 1907 and 1923 had published digests of the laws of the Mississippi Territory and the State of Alabama, respectively. The present Judge Toulmin was a gallant Confed- crate soldier and Colonel of the 22nd Alabama Regiment, Volunteer Infan- try. c. s. A. He resides at Mobile.