Jesse Burgess Thomas Jr. (July 31, 1806 – February 21, 1850) was born in Lebanon, Ohio; an Illinois politician, he served as the

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois Attorney General is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois, the attorney ...

from 1835 to 1836 and later on the state Supreme Court. After studying law at

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, Thomas settled in

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Illinois, and is a suburb of St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri ...

. By 1830, Thomas was serving as the secretary to the Illinois State Senate. Four years later, he served a partial term in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

for Madison County before being appointed Attorney General, a post he held for a single year. From 1837 through 1839, he was a circuit court judge based in

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

. His circuit included New Salem, where Thomas heard cases argued by

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 ...

. When

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

gave up his seat on the

Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

in 1843 after being elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, Governor Thomas Ford appointed Thomas as Douglas's successor. After retiring from the Supreme Court in 1848, he moved first to

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

and then to Chicago, where he died in 1850. Thomas's uncle was

Jesse B. Thomas Jesse Burgess Thomas (1777May 2, 1853) was an American lawyer, judge and politician who served as a delegate from the Indiana Territory to the tenth Congress and later served as president of the Constitutional Convention which led to Illinois be ...

, one of Illinois' first Senators. Jesse Thomas Jr. was married to Adeline Smith, one of the daughters of Illinois Supreme Court Justice

Theophilus W. Smith Theophilus Washington Smith (September 28, 1784 – May 6, 1845) was an Illinois Supreme Court Justice from 1825 until his resignation on December 26, 1842. He holds the distinction of being the subject of Illinois's first impeachment trial, hel ...

, and together they had at least seven children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jesse B. 1806 births 1850 deaths People from Lebanon, Ohio Transylvania University alumni Illinois state court judges Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Illinois Attorneys General Illinois lawyers 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers