Albert Hamilton Latimer (May 25, c. 1800 – January 27, 1877) was a justice of the
Texas Supreme Court from September 1867 to November 1869.
Born in
Huntingdon, Tennessee,
Latimer gained
admission to the bar
An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
in Tennessee in 1831, and moved to Texas with family in 1833.
The family settled near what would later become
Clarksville in
Red River County.
Latimer was a delegate to the
Convention of 1836 in
Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, in which Texas declared independence from Mexico,
[Van Craddock, "The tale of an early Texas patriot", '' Longview News-Journal'' (March 24, 2013), p. A-2.] which declaration Latimer signed.
Learning of General Santa Anna's attack on the Alamo, Latimer turned for his home. Along the way, he confronted a Cherokee band, who turned out to be friendly, and let him pass.
He served in the Republic of Texas House of Representatives from 1840 to 1842, as a delegate to the Statehood Convention of 1845, and in the
Texas State Senate from 1849 to 1851.
Latimer, too old to fight during the
American Civil War, "was vocal in his opposition to Texas' secession from the Union".
He joined the Republican Party, and in October 1865 he was appointed state comptroller, during
Reconstruction,
by Provisional Governor
Andrew Jackson Hamilton.
Latimer then served stints as a federal tax commissioner overseeing revenue collection for North Texas, and supervisor of voter registration for North Texas.
He was also a commissioner with the Freedman's Bureau,
until his appointment to the Texas Supreme Court, in 1867,
one of several anti-secessionist justices appointed.
Latimer served until his resignation from the court in November 1869, later serving as a district judge of the Eighth Judicial District from 1870 to 1872.
Latimer died in Clarksville, and was buried in Clarksville Cemetery.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latimer, Albert H.
Justices of the Texas Supreme Court
1800 births
1877 deaths
Republic of Texas politicians
Texas state senators
19th-century American legislators
19th-century American judges