Alfred Delavan Thomas (August 11, 1837 – August 8, 1896) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of North Dakota The United States District Court for the District of North Dakota (in case citations, D.N.D.) is the United States District Court or the Federal district court, whose jurisdiction is the state of North Dakota. The court is headquartered out of ...

Education and career

Born in Delavan, Walworth County,

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

(now

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

), Thomas

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 ...

and graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1861. He was district attorney of Walworth County from about 1861 to 1867, and had a private practice in Delavan from 1864 to 1877, and in Fargo,

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...

beginning in 1878. He was attorney for the Homestake Mining Company of Deadwood, Dakota Territory (now

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

) until 1882, returning to private practice in Fargo, Dakota Territory (State of

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

from November 2, 1889) from 1882 to 1890.

Federal judicial service

On February 19, 1890, Thomas was nominated by President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

to a new seat on the

created by 25 Stat. 676. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on February 25, 1890, and received his commission the same day. He served in that capacity until his death on August 8, 1896, in Fargo.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Alfred Delavan 1837 births 1896 deaths People from Delavan, Wisconsin Lawyers from Fargo, North Dakota Judges of the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota United States federal judges appointed by Benjamin Harrison 19th-century American judges 19th-century American politicians Wisconsin lawyers United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law