James Neilson Lea (November 26, 1815 – October 26, 1884) was a Louisiana state legislator and justice of the
Louisiana Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Louisiana (french: Cour suprême de Louisiane) is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orlea ...
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in 1836. His practice was attended with success, and in 1846 he was elected a member of the
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 repr ...
,Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives 1812-2016 and in 1847 was appointed Judge of the Second District Court of New Orleans, which office he retained for several years. Subsequently, after the change in the State Constitution (in 1852) by which the judiciary were made elective, he was elected to the same judicial office which he had already held. He was chosen in 1855 one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Louisiana. After his term of service on the bench, he returned to the bar. After 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 ...
he became Professor of Civil Law at Washington and Lee College. He retired from practice in 1874, and the next year removed his residence to Lexington,
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 ...
, where he lived greatly respected for the rest of his days. After some months of declining strength, he went on a visit to
Wilkes Barre
Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, in search of health, but died in Wilkes Barre, October 26, 1884, at the age of 69.
He married, March 16, 1841, Hetty H. McNair, by whom he had six children, of whom two daughters and a son survived him. He next married Mary R. Duncan, daughter of Dennis A. Smith, of
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and widow of Lucius C. Duncan, of New Orleans, who survived him.