Thomas Jefferson Brown (July 24, 1836 – May 26, 1915) was a justice of the

Supreme Court of Texas The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the 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 Texas Court of ...

from May 1893 to May 1915, serving as chief justice from January 1911 to May 1915. Born in

Jasper County, Georgia Jasper County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,588, up from 13,900 in 2010. The county seat is Monticello. Jasper County is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Spring ...

, at the age of ten Brown moved with his family to

Washington County, Texas Washington County is a county in Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,805. Its county seat is Brenham, which is located along U.S. Highway 290, 72 miles northwest of Houston. The county was created in 1835 as a municipality of ...

. He attended the schools of Washington County, and 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

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 ...

, in 1856, passing the

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the following year. He served in 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 ...

as a second lieutenant, and later captain, in the Twenty-second Texas Cavalry. After the war, he returned to the practice of law, He served in the Texas legislature from 1888 to 1892, in the

Twenty-first Texas Legislature The Twenty-first Texas Legislature met from January 8 to April 6, 1889, in regular session. All members of the House of Representatives and a portion of the members of the Senate were elected in the 1888 General Election. Sessions * 20th Regular ...

and Twenty-second Texas Legislature. While there, Brown "focused his energies on establishing regulations to curb corporate aggression and led an effort that resulted in the creation of the Texas Railroad Commission". He was a Texas district court judge from 1892 to 1893. In 1893, he became an associate justice of the state supreme court of Texas, until January, 1911, when Chief Justice Gaines resigned and Brown was appointed chief justice.''Distinguished Successful Americans of Our Day'' (1912), p. 254.

References

1836 births 1915 deaths People from Jasper County, Georgia Baylor University alumni Members of the Texas Legislature Justices of the Texas Supreme Court 19th-century American judges {{Texas-state-judge-stub