Gordon Simpson (October 30, 1894 – February 13, 1987) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Texas from January 1945 to September 1949.

Early life, education, and career

Born in

Gilmer, Texas Gilmer is a city in, and the county seat of, Upshur County, Texas. It is best known for being the home of the East Texas Yamboree and the birthplace of popular music singers Don Henley of the Eagles band and Johnny Mathis, as well as blues music ...

,"Rites Held In Dallas For Former Judge Simpson", ''The Tyler Courier-Times'' (February 16, 1987), p. 6. Simpson attended

Gilmer High School Gilmer High School is located in North Georgia in the city of Ellijay, Georgia, United States. It serves Gilmer County. It was established in August 1956 and enrolls about 1182 students in grades 9-12. It is a public high school of the State of ...

, graduating in 1911. After attending

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

from 1911 to 1913, he received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1915. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, from 1917 to 1918, achieving the rank of first lieutenant. Simpson received an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the University of Texas in 1919, and practiced law briefly in

Pecos, Texas Pecos ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Reeves County, Texas, Reeves County, Texas, United States. It is in the valley on the west bank of the Pecos River at the eastern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, in the Trans-Pecos region of W ...

, then moved to

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

, where he joined his father's law firm. Simpson remained in Tyler until 1942, serving in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

from 1923 to 1927, as a judge for the Seventh Judicial District in 1930, and as president of the State Bar of Texas from 1941 to 1943. He again served in the U.S. Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, from 1942 to 1944, in the judge advocate general's department. During this period, he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Judicial service and later life

Simpson won a seat on the Supreme Court of Texas in 1944, while still serving overseas. His name was placed on the ballot by Texas lawyers, and he was elected by a margin of 75,000 votes. In 1948, his supreme court service was interrupted by a return to Europe to participate in the review of Nazi war crime convictions, in the Dachau trials. In one case that he reviewed, he recommended life imprisonment rather than execution for twelve Germans convicted of killing 100 Americans during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

. He resigned from the supreme court the following year to take an executive role with the

General American Oil Company Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...

(later

Phillips Petroleum Company Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...

), of which he later served as president, from 1955 to 1960. After that, he associated with the law firm of Thompson & Knight until his death. Simpson died from heart failure at Presbyterian Hospital at the age of 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Gordon 1894 births 1987 deaths People from Gilmer, Texas Baylor University alumni University of Texas alumni University of Texas School of Law alumni Members of the Texas House of Representatives Justices of the Texas Supreme Court 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American judges