John Moses Cheney (January 6, 1859 – June 2, 1922) was a

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

attorney and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in case citations, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida.. Appeals ...

. A Republican, Cheney represented African American clients during the segregation era and supported voter registration drives during his U.S. Senate campaign in the era of

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

supported by the Democratic Party in Florida and across the south. Efforts to register African Americans resulted in the Ocoee massacre.

Education and career

Born on January 6, 1859, in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michi ...

, Cheney received a

Bachelor of Laws 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 Ch ...

in 1885 from the

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an eli ...

. He entered private practice in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

from 1886 to 1906. He was city attorney for Orlando from 1889 to 1890. He was a Supervisor for the United States Census for Florida in 1900. He was the owner of the Orlando Light and Water Company from 1901 to 1922. He was the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Southern District of Florida from 1906 to 1912.

Federal judicial service

Cheney received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the adv ...

from President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

on August 26, 1912, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge James William Locke. He was nominated to the same position by President Taft on December 3, 1912. His service terminated on March 3, 1913, after his nomination was not confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

, which never held a vote on his nomination.

Later career and death

Cheney resumed private practice in Orlando from 1913 to 1922. He died on June 2, 1922, in Orlando.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, John Moses 1859 births 1922 deaths People from Orlando, Florida Lawyers from Milwaukee Florida lawyers Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida Boston University School of Law alumni Unsuccessful recess appointments to United States federal courts United States district court judges appointed by William Howard Taft 20th-century American judges United States Attorneys for the Southern District of Florida

Education and career

Federal judicial service

Later career and death

See also

References

Sources