Albert G. Semmes (August 18, 1810 – November 25, 1883) was an American lawyer in the states of Georgia and Florida. He was a member of the
Whig Party, elected as a delegate to the
1838 Florida Constitutional Convention and was appointed by the Florida Legislature to the
Florida Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven members: the chief justice and six justices. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geographic diversity, and one ...
where he served from 1851 to 1853. He then moved to New Orleans.
Semmes was born August 18, 1810, at Sand Hills near
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...
, the son of Andrew Green and Frances née Herbert Semmes. He was related to Admiral
Raphael Semmes
Raphael Semmes ( ; September 27, 1809 – August 30, 1877) was an officer in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War. Until then, he had been a serving officer in the US Navy from 1826 to 1860.
During the American Civil War, Semmes wa ...
of the
Confederate States Navy and
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Thomas Semmes of Louisiana.
Semmes graduated from the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
and became a member of the
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
by
reading law. On February 22, 1834, he married his cousin, Isabella V. Semmes. He was appointed solicitor general for Georgia's southern circuit by Governor
Wilson Lumpkin
Wilson Lumpkin (January 14, 1783 – December 28, 1870) was an American planter, attorney, and politician. He served two terms as the governor of Georgia, from 1831 to 1835, in the period of Indian Removal of the Creek and Cherokee peoples to In ...
. In 1837, he and his wife moved to Florida, where he became active politically as a pro-statehood, pro-banking Middle Florida Whig.
Franklin County elected him a delegate to the St. Joseph
Florida Constitutional Convention in 1838. His bid for election as mayor of Apalachicola in 1840 was not successful. The Legislature appointed him to the Florida Supreme Court in January 1851. He stood for popular election in 1853, but was not re-elected. Semmes then moved to
, where he practiced law. He died November 25, 1883.
References
* Manley, Walter W., Brown, E. Canter. and Rise, Eric W. ''The Supreme Court of Florida and Its Predecessor Courts, 1821-1917.'' pp 145 – 146. University Press of Florida.
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...
. 1997. eBook . . a
Netlbrary Online. April 23, 2008.
1810 births
1883 deaths
Justices of the Florida Supreme Court
Florida Whigs
19th-century American politicians
Florida lawyers
Politicians from Augusta, Georgia
Politicians from New Orleans
Lawyers from New Orleans
U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law
19th-century American judges
19th-century American lawyers
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