Thomas J. Judge
Thomas James Judge was an Alabama lawyer and politician who served as justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama 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, he was elected to the Alabama [House of Representatives], 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. As Walter L. Fleming notes in his history of the American Civil War:
Judge twice ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives as the candidate of the Know Nothing Party, losing to James F. Dowdell in the 1856–57 United States [House of Representatives elections|1857 election] and to David Clopton in the 1858–59 [United States House of Representatives elections|1859 election].
During the American Civil War, he served as a colonel of 14th Alabama Infantry Regiment from 1861 to 1862, which was brigaded with other Alabama regiments under General LeRoy Pope Walker 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.