Thomas Lee (December 1, 1769 – October 24, 1839) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of South Carolina The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina (in case citations, D.S.C.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of South Carolina. Court is held in the cities of Aiken, Anderson, Beaufort, Charlest ...

Education and career

Born on December 1, 1769, in Charleston,

Province of South Carolina Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the thirteen American colonies. The monar ...

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

, Lee

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

to enter the

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 1790. He was in private practice in Charleston,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

from 1790 to 1791. He was an associate judge on the Court of General Sessions and Common Pleas in Charleston from 1791 to 1792. He was a solicitor for the Southern District of South Carolina from 1792 to 1794, and state solicitor general of South Carolina from 1794 to 1798. He served in the

South Carolina House of Representatives The South Carolina House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Carolina General Assembly. It consists of 124 representatives elected to two-year terms at the same time as U.S. congressional elections. Unlike many legislatures, seati ...

from 1796 to 1804, and was the

legal cashier A Legal Cashier is a specialized type of bookkeeper for law firms responsible for the accounting and finance functions of a solicitor's practice such as recording day-to-day financial transactions and ensuring compliance with the Solicitors' Accoun ...

of that body in 1798, and its clerk in 1798, 1800 in 1802. He was the state comptroller of South Carolina from 1804 to 1816. He was in private practice in Charleston from 1817 to 1823, briefly serving again in the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1822. He was a President of the Bank of South Carolina from 1817 to 1839.

Federal judicial service

On February 7, 1823, Lee was nominated by President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

John Drayton John Drayton II (June 22, 1766 – November 27, 1822) was Governor of South Carolina and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. Education and career Born on June 22, 1766, in Cha ...

. Lee was 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 pow ...

on February 17, 1823, and received his commission the same day. Lee served thereafter until his death on October 24, 1839, in Charleston.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Thomas 1769 births 1839 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina United States federal judges appointed by James Monroe 19th-century American judges United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Lee