John David McAdoo (April 4, 1824 – June 16, 1883) was a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

general during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and a justice of the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the supreme court, court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the ...

. Born in

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 ...

, he graduated from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

in 1848 and passed the bar. He married in 1852, and would become the father four children. Moving to Texas in 1854, he continued to practice law and also owned a

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he served as an officer in the 20th Texas Infantry. McAdoo had become a staff officer by 1863, and shortly thereafter was made an assistant adjutant general for state troops. The following year he was promoted to brigadier general and was tasked with defending the frontier from Indian attacks and pursuing army deserters. At war's the end, he became an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court at the request of governor

Edmund J. Davis Edmund Jackson Davis (October 2, 1827 – February 24, 1883) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. Davis was a Southern Unionist and a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He also served as the 14th Governor of T ...

. He resigned in 1874 to become postmaster of

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, finally retiring to farm until his death in

Brenham Brenham ( ) is a city in east-central Texas in Washington County, United States, with a population of 17,369 according to the 2020 U.S. census. It is the county seat of Washington County. Washington County is known as the "Birthplace of Texas, ...

at age 59. His nephew was politician

William Gibbs McAdoo William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name: * Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior" * William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "Ju ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAdoo, John David 1824 births 1883 deaths People from Anderson County, Tennessee University of Tennessee alumni American judges Justices of the Texas Supreme Court People of Texas in the American Civil War Confederate militia generals Farmers from Texas People from Marshall, Texas People from Brenham, Texas 19th-century American judges Military personnel from Texas