Alexander Middleton Speer (1820 – March 28, 1897)Judge A. M. Speer Dies At Madison
, ''The Atlanta Constitution'' (March 29, 1897), p. 4. was a justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia from 1880 to 1882.Walter B. Hill, "The Supreme Court of Georgia", Part II, Horace Williams Fuller, ed., '' The Green Bag'', Volume 4 (1892), p. 20.

Early life, education, and career

Born in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, Speer's father, Alexander Speer was "prominent in state affairs". The family moved to Georgia in 1833, and Speer entered 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 ...

in 1836, graduating in 1839. He

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

in the office of Jones & Burnett in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, gaining

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 Georgia in 1840, and practicing in Forsyth, Georgia, and then in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

. In 1853, he became clerk of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

, remaining in that office until 1856.

Military, political, and judicial service

Speer served in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, enlisting in the Macon volunteer organization on April 20, 1861, where he was "the eldest member" of the regiment."Eustace Willoughby Speer", ''The Macon Telegraph'' (October 22, 1899), p. 6. In 1862, he was elected major of the 46th Georgia Regiment, and then promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He left the military in 1863 and returned to Georgia, where he served in the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...

. In 1865, he was appointed judge of the Flint circuit, where he remained until 1868, when he was removed by Governor

Rufus Bullock Rufus Brown Bullock (March 28, 1834 – April 27, 1907) was a Republican Party politician and businessman in Georgia. During the Reconstruction Era he served as the state's governor and called for equal economic opportunity and political rights f ...

. He then returned to private practice and served in the

for two years before being returned to judicial office. In 1879, he was elected to a seat on the state supreme court vacated by the resignation of Willis Alston Hawkins. Speer remained on the court until 1882.

Personal life and death

Speers had several notable siblings; his older brother Algernon S. Speer became a Florida planter and politician, and his younger brother Eustace Willoughby Speer was a popular minister in the state. Federal judge

Emory Speer Emory Speer (September 3, 1848 – December 13, 1918) was a United States representative from Georgia and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. Education and career Born on Sept ...

was his nephew. Speer married Mary Battle in 1841, with whom he had at least four children. Mary died in 1878, and in 1880 Speer married Celesta Broughton Sanders, a widow. Speers died in

Madison, Georgia Madison is a city in Morgan County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke-Sandy Springs Combined Statistical Area. The population was 3,979 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Morgan County and the si ...

, at the age of 77, following an illness of several months.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speer, Alexander M. 1820 births 1897 deaths University of Georgia alumni U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Confederate States Army officers Members of the Georgia House of Representatives Justices of the Supreme Court of Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) state senators