George Tompkins (March 20, 1780 – April 7, 1846) was a justice of the

Missouri Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

from 1824 to 1845.William Van Ness Bay, ''Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri'' (1878), p. 30-36.

Early life

Born in Caroline County, Virginia, the second youngest of thirteen children, Tompkins was of English descent, his ancestors having been among the early settlers of Virginia. His family "owned large tracts of land and many slaves, and were largely engaged in the cultivation of tobacco". His parents were Benjamin Tompkins and Elizabeth Goodloe. Sometime around the age of seventeen or eighteen, he left Virginia and lived in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and in

Jefferson County, Kentucky Jefferson County is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 782,969. It is the most populous county in the commonwealth (with more than twice the population of second ranked ...

for several years. He taught school and also studied law in his free time. He did not stay in Kentucky long before moving to

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. In Missouri, Tompkins taught at the first English school in St. Louis, where most inhabitants spoke French.

Law and judicial career

He settled in

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, Howard County, Missouri in 1816, and opened a law practice. He was twice elected to the Territorial Legislature in St. Charles. In 1824, Tompkins was appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court, where he remained until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 65. Tompkins' retirement came just a few years before the Dred Scott case was brought before the Missouri Supreme Court. During his time as a judge, Tompkins expressed abolitionists views and through about a dozen cases, established a precedent that since Missouri was a free state, if slaves were brought into the state, they should be freed. Despite this, the Supreme Court ruled against Dred Scott in his case for freedom.

Later life and death

Upon retirement, Tompkins returned to his farm near

Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...

, where he died on April 7, 1846 at the age of 67.

References

1770 births 1846 deaths Judges of the Supreme Court of Missouri People from Caroline County, Virginia People from Howard County, Missouri {{US-state-judge-stub