Connally Findlay Trigg (March 8, 1810 – April 25, 1880) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee (in case citations, E.D. Tenn.) is the federal court in the Sixth Circuit whose jurisdiction covers most of East Tennessee and a portion of Middle Tennessee. The court has ju ...

, the

United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (in case citations, M.D. Tenn.) is the federal trial court for most of Middle Tennessee. Based at the Estes Kefauver Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Nashvill ...

and the

United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee The United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee (in case citations, W.D. Tenn.) is the federal district court covering the western part of the state of Tennessee. Appeals from the Western District of Tennessee are taken t ...

Education and career

Born on March 8, 1810, in Abingdon,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, Trigg read law in 1833. He entered private practice in Abingdon until 1856. He was a town councilman for Abingdon starting in 1835. He was clerk of the Washington County, Virginia Court from 1838 to 1852. Trigg was elected to the

Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850 The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850 was an assembly of elected delegates chosen by the voters to write the fundamental law of Virginia. It is known as the Reform Convention because it liberalized Virginia political institutions. Backgro ...

, one of four chosen for the delegate district including his home Washington County and Smyth and

Wythe A wythe is a continuous vertical section of masonry one unit in thickness. A wythe may be independent of, or interlocked with, the adjoining wythe(s). A single wythe of brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements an ...

Counties. A Whig, he ran for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 1855, but was defeated by the Democratic incumbent,

Fayette McMullen LaFayette "Fayette" McMullen (May 18, 1805 – November 8, 1880) was a 19th-century politician, driver, teamster and banker from the U.S. state of Virginia and the second appointed Governor of Washington Territory. Early life and family Born ...

.Oliver Perry Temple, Mary Boyce Temple (ed.),
Judge Connally F. Trigg
" ''Notable Men of Tennessee'' (Cosmopolitan Press, 1912), pp. 208-212.James Pinkney Hambleton,
A History of the Political Campaign in Virginia, in 1855
' (J.W. Randolph, 1856), p. 419. He continued private practice in

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

from 1856 to 1861. From 1856 to 1861, he was in partnership with

Oliver Perry Temple Oliver Perry Temple (January 27, 1820 – November 2, 1907) was an American attorney, author, judge, and economic promoter active primarily in East Tennessee in the latter half of the 19th century.Mary Rothrock, ''The French Broad-Holston Country: ...

Unionist

Trigg largely avoided Knoxville politics until the secession crisis intensified in the weeks following the election of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. During this crisis, Trigg remained a steadfast supporter of the Union. In February 1861, he was one of Knox County's pro-Union candidates for the proposed statewide secession convention (voters ultimately rejected holding the convention). In May and June 1861, he was one of Knox's delegates to the Unionist East Tennessee Convention. He served as Chairman of the convention's business committee, which was tasked with drafting a set of grievances and resolutions.

Federal judicial service

Trigg was nominated by President

on July 16, 1862, to a joint seat on the

, the

and the

vacated by Judge West Hughes Humphreys, who had been removed from office 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 June 26, 1862, for siding with the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. He was confirmed by the

on July 17, 1862, and received his commission the same day. He was reassigned to serve only in the Eastern District and Middle District on June 14, 1878. His service terminated on April 25, 1880, due to his death in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, Tennessee.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trigg, Connally Findlay 1810 births 1880 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee United States federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln 19th-century American judges Southern Unionists in the American Civil War 19th-century American politicians United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law