Howell Edmunds Jackson

Howell Edmunds Jackson (April 8, 1832 – August 8, 1895) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist. He served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, as a United States Senator from Tennessee and as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit. Jackson was the first to bring a law school graduate with him to serve as his secretary-clerk on the Supreme Court; that secretary-clerk was James Clark McReynolds, who would later also became a Supreme Court Justice.

Howell Edmunds Jackson
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
In office February 18, 1893 – August 8, 1895
Appointed by	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	Lucius Q. C. Lamar
Succeeded by	Rufus W. Peckham
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
In office June 16, 1891 – March 4, 1893
Appointed by	operation of law
Preceded by	Seat established by 26 Stat. 826
Succeeded by	Horace Harmon Lurton
Judge of the United States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit
In office April 12, 1886 – March 4, 1893
Appointed by	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	John Baxter
Succeeded by	Horace Harmon Lurton
United States senator from Tennessee
In office March 4, 1881 – April 14, 1886
Preceded by	James E. Bailey
Succeeded by	Washington C. Whitthorne
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
In office 1880-1881
Personal details
Born	Howell Edmunds Jackson (1832-04-08)April 8, 1832 Paris, Tennessee
Died	August 8, 1895(1895-08-08) (aged 63) Nashville, Tennessee
Resting place	Mount Olivet Cemetery Nashville, Tennessee
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Nashville, Tennessee
Education	University of Virginia Union University (A.B.) Cumberland School of Law (LL.B.)

Education and career

Born on April 8, 1832, in Paris, Henry County, Tennessee,[1] Jackson moved with his parents to Jackson, Tennessee in 1840.[2] He attended the University of Virginia, received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in classical studies in 1849 from West Tennessee College (now Union University in Jackson) and received a Bachelor of Laws in 1856 from Cumberland School of Law (then part of Cumberland University, now part of Samford University).[1] He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Jackson from 1856 to 1858.[1] He continued private practice in Memphis, Tennessee from 1855 to 1861.[1] He was a Receiver of Alien Property in West Tennessee for the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1864.[1] He resumed private practice in Memphis from 1865 to 1874 and in Jackson from 1874 to 1880.[1] He was a Special Judge for the Court of Arbitration for Western Tennessee from 1875 to 1877.[1] He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1880 to 1881.[1]

Congressional service

Jackson was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1881, until April 14, 1886, when he resigned to accept a federal judicial post.[2]

Court of Appeals and Circuit Courts service

Jackson was nominated by President Grover Cleveland on April 12, 1886, to a seat on the United States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit vacated by Judge John Baxter.[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 12, 1886, and received his commission the same day.[1] Jackson was assigned by operation of law to additional and concurrent service on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on June 16, 1891, to a new seat authorized by 26 Stat. 826 (Evarts Act).[1] His service terminated on March 4, 1893, due to his elevation to the Supreme Court.[1]

Supreme Court service

Jackson was nominated by President Benjamin Harrison on February 2, 1893, to an Associate Justice seat on the Supreme Court of the United States vacated by Associate Justice Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II.[1] Having lost the 1892 presidential election to Grover Cleveland, Harrison chose to nominate Jackson, a Southern Democrat, in the hope of filling Lamar's vacancy before leaving office. Harrison chose Jackson partly due to the advice of Associate Justice Henry Billings Brown, who had befriended Jackson while serving as a district judge in Jackson's circuit.[3]

Jackson was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 18, 1893, and received his commission the same day.[1] He served as Circuit Justice for the Fifth Circuit from March 13, 1893, until April 1, 1894, and as Circuit Justice for the Sixth Circuit from April 2, 1894, until August 8, 1895.[1] His service terminated on August 8, 1895, due to his death at his mansion West Meade, located in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] He was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.[2]

Notable clerk

While in the United States Senate and later at the United States Supreme Court, Jackson employed James Clark McReynolds as his secretary. McReynolds continued in law and later gained appointment as a United States Supreme Court justice.[4]

Honor

During World War II the Liberty ship SS Howell E. Jackson was built in Brunswick, Georgia, and named in his honor.[5]

References

1. "Jackson, Howell Edmunds - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
2. United States Congress. "Howell Edmunds Jackson (id: J000014)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
3. Luxenberg, Steve (2019). Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America's Journey from Slavery to Segregation. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 443–445. ISBN 9780393239379.
4. "James C. McReynolds". Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
5. Williams, Greg H. (July 25, 2014). The Liberty Ships of World War II: A Record of the 2,710 Vessels and Their Builders, Operators and Namesakes, with a History of the Jeremiah O'Brien. McFarland. ISBN 1476617546. Retrieved December 9, 2017.

External links

• United States Congress. "Howell Edmunds Jackson (id: J000014)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• "Jackson, Howell Edmunds - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
• "Howell Edmunds Jackson". Webster's American Biographies. (1975). G. & C. Merriam Company.
• Harvey Gresham Hudspeth, HOWELL EDMUNDS JACKSON, 1832–1895, Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.
• Howell Edmunds Jackson at Find a Grave

U.S. Senate
Preceded by James E. Bailey	U.S. senator (Class 1) from Tennessee 1881–1886 Served alongside: Isham G. Harris	Succeeded by Washington C. Whitthorne
Legal offices
Preceded by John Baxter	Judge of the United States Circuit Courts for the Sixth Circuit 1886–1893	Succeeded by Horace Harmon Lurton
Preceded by Seat established by 26 Stat. 826	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 1891–1893	Succeeded by Horace Harmon Lurton
Preceded by Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1893–1895	Succeeded by Rufus W. Peckham