Draft:Thomas W. Coleman

Thomas Wilkes Coleman (March 31, 1833 – November 9, 1920) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 1890 to 1898.

Read law under Stephen F. Hale.

He was a delegate at Alabama's 1865 Constitutional Convention, where he "led the fight to disenfranchise the negro voter", and served as chair of its 1901 Constitutional Convention.

Chancellor, is a son of James C. and Martha (Anderson) Coleman, natives of North and South Carolina, respectively. Judge Coleman's grandfather, John Coleman, a planter, came from North Carolina to Alabama in 1818, and settled near Eutaw in 1821. James C. Coleman, his son, was also a planter, and, like his father, farmed successfully and on an extensive scale. Thomas Wilkes Coleman was born at Eutaw in 1833, educated partly at Green Springs, Ala., and graduated in classical course at Princeton, N. J., in 1853. He read law at Eutaw under Stephen F. Hale (for whom Hale county was named), and was admitted to the bar in 1855. Mr. Coleman volunteered in the Confederate army in 1861, raised a company and became its captain. He was captured at the siege of Vicksburg, and, at the battle of Missionary Ridge, was wounded by a minie ball which passed entirely through his body, destroying his left lung, and incapacitating him for further military duty. He recovered from his wound, however (a fact which seems marvelous to those who know its character and extent), and resumed the practice of law. Capt. Coleman was a member of the constitutional convention of 1865, and in 1866 he was elected solicitor for the fifth circuit, but was ousted by the reconstruction performance of 1868. In 1878 he was appointed to the same office for the seventh circuit by Gov. W. R. Cobb, and, in 1880, was elected to that office, by the legislature, for a six-year term. In 1866, Capt. Coleman was again elected solicitor for another six-year term, and in March, 1887, he was appointed chancellor of the southwestern chancery division of Alabama, by Gov. Thomas Seay. Judge Coleman's life has been a busy one. In politics, he has always been a stanch democrat. He lost a fortune by the war, but has made for himself a name and a place among his people, which might well be envied by the most fortunate of the land. He was heartily opposed to the idea of secession and war from its earliest inception, but, when the issue was made, he threw his entire influence with the cause of his people. The judge was married, in 1860, to Miss Frances J., daughter of Samuel J. Wilson.

Jurist and banker; born at Eutaw, Alabama, March 31, 1834; son of James C. Coleman and Martha (Anderson) Coleman. His great-grandfather Charles Coleman, was a Revolutionary soldier, and his great-grandparents on his mother's side were Andersons and Kennedys, both in the Revolutionary War from South Carolina. After a careful preparatory education he entered Princeton University, from which he was graduated as A.B. in 1853. He afterward studied law and practiced at Eutaw, Alabama, and was solicitor of the State of Alabama for fifteen years, later becoming chancellor and for many years was a judge of the Supreme Court of Alabama. While never doubting the legal right of a State to secede he opposed the principle of secession, but when his State seceded, he joined the Confederate Army, and was wounded at the Battle of Missionary Ridge. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Conventions of Alabama in 1865 and 1901, being the only member who served in both conventions, and in 1901 was chairman of the committee appointed to frame the article of the Constitution on suffrage and elections, and was the principal author of the suffrage article, providing for qualified suffrage. He received from the convention a resolution specially thanking him for his services in framing the new Constitution. He is a trustee of the University of Alabama and is chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees; and he has had the degree of LL.D. conferred upon him by the University of Alabama. Judge Coleman is president of the Merchants' and Farmers' Bank of Eutaw, and is also largely identified with cotton planting operations. He is a Democrat in politics. He married at Sumterville, Sumter County, Alabama, November 1, 1860, Frances G. Wilson; and by that union there have been ten children.

Thomas Wilkes Coleman, banker, planter and a leader in the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1865, and for some years a member of the State Supreme Court, died here tonight at 6 o'clock at the age of 87 years.

Born here in 1833, the son of James C. and Martha (Anderson) Coleman, natives of North and South Carolina, Thomas W. Coleman was educated partly at Green Springs, Ala., and graduated in classics at Princeton University in the class of 1853. He read law at Eutaw under the late Stephen Hale and was admitted to the bar in 1855. Going into the Confederate Armies shortly after the outbreak of the war Judge Coleman surrendered at the battle of Vicksburg and subsequently he was wounded at the battle of Missionary Ridge, a minie ball passing entirely through his body.

In 1866 Judge Coleman, who was retired from the army with the rank of Captain, was elected as solicitor of the fifth circuit but was ousted by the reconstruction performance in 1868. In 1878 he was re-appointed to the office by Gov. Wm. B. Cobb and in 1880 was re-elected to the office by the Legislature for a six-year term and in 1887 he was appointed chancellor of the southwestern chancery division by Gov. Thos. Seay.

Judge Coleman has been a life-long Democrat and has been honored in the party councils on numerous occasions. His greatest fight was in the constitutional convention of 1865 when he led the fight to disfranchise the negro voter. While opposed to the secession movement in that day he never doubted the right of the State to secede from the Union, and when the issue came he threw his entire influence in with the cause of his people.

In 1860 Judge Coleman married Miss Francis J. Wilson, daughter of S. J. Wilson, of a family very prominent in the western part of Alabama, and from this union ten children came. He was a staunch Presbyterian, a Royal Arch mason and before the advancement of age retired him to private life he was an energetic leader in all affairs pertaining to State, county and town.

Judge Coleman lost a fortune during the civil war but made himself a name and place among the people of Alabama well to be envied by any one. He was regarded as one of the strongest minds on constitutional law in the State and his opinion was often sought in matters of grave moment.

Funeral services over the deceased will be conducted from the family home here Thursday, November 11.

Coleman's grandson, James S. Coleman Jr., would also go on to serve as a justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

Coleman died at his home in Eutaw at the age of 87.

"In July 1890, Judge Somerville resigned and Thomas. W. Coleman was appointed to succeed him".

Coleman was reelected to the court in August 1892.

References

? Category:1833 births ?

Category:1920 deaths Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Alabama

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