Archibald Gilbert McAlister (September 23, 1873 – June 3, 1950) was an American jurist and politician. Before his election to the
Arizona Supreme Court
The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Each justice i ...
, he served as a judge for the Superior Court of Graham County.
McAlister was born in Tatum,
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 = ...
. His father was Charles A. McAlister, and his mother was Emily Connor. His father served three years in the Confederate Army. McAlister won a scholarship to take courses at the
University of Nashville
University of Nashville was a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established in 1806 as Cumberland College. It existed as a distinct entity until 1909; operating at various times a medical school, a four-year military college, a ...
. He traveled to Phoenix, Arizona in 1898 where he worked as teacher. He later took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1902. He worked as assistant district attorney for two years and district attorney for three years, before being elected judge. He served for 24 years on the Arizona Supreme Court, including four terms as chief justice. He married Alice Bishop on April 13, 1904. They had one son, Charles Bishop, and one daughter, Lillie.
McAlister's brother, William McAlister, served as a member of the
Oklahoma State Senate
The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution. He died on June 3, 1950.