Talk:Horatio F. Simrall

Green Bag biography

Following is the biography of Horatio F. Simrall from the public domain 1907 edition of the Green Bag.

Under the constitution of 1869 the judges were selected by appointment of the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The first bench thus constructed consisted of Chief Justice Peyton, Jonathan Tarbell and Horatio F. Simrall, associate justices.

Horatio F. Simrall was born near Shelbyville, Kentucky, February 6, 1818. He attended a select school at Shelbyville and, at the age of seventeen, entered Hanover College (Ind.). He afterwards became a tutor in the school at Shelbyville, and in connection with his work, prosecuted the study of the law, his chosen profession. In 1838 he attended the law school of Transylvania University, and later obtained his license at Frankfort. In 1839 he settled at Woodville, Mississippi, where he enjoyed a large practice. He was a member of the legislature from 1846 to 1848. In 1857 he accepted the chair of law in the University of Louisville and filled it until the beginning of the civil war. In 1861 he returned to his plantation in Wilkinson county. In 1867 he removed to Vicksburg and continued the practice of law with success. He defended many persons who were under prosecution in the court martial over which Gen. Adelbert C. Ames, afterwards governor of the State, was the presiding officer.

In 1870 the governor, impressed by the learning and skill which Mr. Simrall had manifested, tendered him a seat upon the supreme bench, and Judge Simrall, at the earnest solicitation of leading, members of the bar of the State, accepted the commission and served nine years with marked ability and integrity, being chief justice much of the time. In 1870 he was appointed one of the trustees of the University of Mississippi by Governor Alcorn. In 1881 that institution conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. He is at present one of the lecturers of the law

school of that university. His familiarity with public men and measures invest his discourses on international and constitutional law with peculiar interest for the students, and it is pleasing to see them sitting at the feet of their venerable instructor.

Cheers! bd2412 T 18:39, 26 December 2016 (UTC)

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