John P. Hampton
John Preston Hampton (died January 31, 1829)[1][2][3] was the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi[dubious – discuss] from 1818 until his death in 1829.
John Preston Hampton grew up in Columbia (now Appling), Georgia.[4][5][3] He and his brother, Benjamin Franklin Hampton, entered Yale College as sophomores in November 1801.[4] Both brothers graduated from Yale in 1804.[6] Hampton then studied law and was admitted to the bar in Columbia, South Carolina, on April 22, 1807.[4] Hampton moved to the Mississippi Territory some time prior to the organization of the State Government, and was one of the first justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, having taken his seat at the opening of the court, in the spring of 1818.[7]
He was noted for his opinion in the case of Frazer v. Davis,[8] where he held that the purchaser's failure to communicate to the seller a rumor of peace between the United States and Great Britain, calculated materially to affect the price of cotton (the commodity sold), vitiated the sale.[5] The correctness of the decision is controverted by the reporter in a note, and the Supreme Court of the United States came to a contrary opinion in a case arising in neighboring Louisiana, Laidlaw v. Organ.[9] Another noted decision the case of Stark's heirs vs. Mather,[10] addressing conflicting tenures arising under different grants, one of which was made by Spain and the other by the Government of the United States. The court held that if the prior Spanish grant was a nullity for want of power on the part of the Spanish Government to effectuate it, yet, being embraced in the confirmatory provisions of the Georgia Cession, it was valid, and that consequently the subsequent patentee claiming under the United States was merely a trustee of the former grant.[7] As a judge, Hampton "was accused of trying to enforce a standard of pure morality too lofty for practical use in the ordinary affairs of life".[3]
Hampton died in 1829 at his home near Woodville, Mississippi,[2][4] and was succeeded by Edward Turner.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Meeting of the Members of the Bar of Natchez", Natchez Statesman and Gazette (February 7, 1827), p. 3.
- ^ a b The Eagle, Vicksburg Weekly General Advertiser (February 14, 1827), p. 2.
- ^ a b c James L. Robertson, "Book Excerpt: Only People Were Slaves", 384 Mississippi Law Journal Vol. 87:3 (2018), p. 397-98.
- ^ a b c d Dexter, Franklin Bowditch (1911). Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College: June 1792-September 1805. Holt. p. 664.
- ^ a b Thomas H. Somerville, "A Sketch of the Supreme Court of Mississippi", in Horace W. Fuller, ed., The Green Bag, Vol. XI (1899), p. 504.
- ^ Unity, Yale University Brothers in (1854). Catalogue of the Society of Brothers in Unity, Yale College. p. 33.
- ^ a b c James Daniel Lynch, The Bench and Bar of Mississippi (1881).
- ^ Walker's Reports, p. 72.
- ^ 15 U.S. (2 Wheat.) 178 (1817).
- ^ Walker's Reports, p. 180.
| Supreme Judges of Mississippi (1818–1832) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| High Court of Errors and Appeals of Mississippi (1832-1870) | ||
| Supreme Court of Mississippi (since 1870) | ||
 | This biography of a state judge in Mississippi is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |