Thomas Whitfield Davidson (September 23, 1876 – January 26, 1974) 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 Northern District of Texas.
Education and career
Born in
Harrison County,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, Davidson
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 in 1903.
He briefly attended
East Texas State Normal College (now
Texas A&M University–Commerce
Texas A&M University–Commerce is a public university in Commerce, Texas. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in the Texas A&M University System. Founded in 1889, the inst ...
) before studying at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
and then
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
He was in private practice in
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 ...
, Texas from 1903 to 1907. He was the city attorney of Marshall 1907 to 1914, thereafter resuming his private practice in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, Texas until 1920. Davidson was a member of the
Texas Senate
The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...
from 1920 to 1922, and was lieutenant governor of Texas from 1923 to 1925 serving under Governor
Pat Morris Neff
Pat Morris Neff (November 26, 1871 – January 20, 1952) was an American politician, educator and administrator, and the 28th Governor of Texas from 1921 to 1925, ninth President of Baylor University from 1932 to 1947, and twenty-fifth presid ...
. He then returned to private practice in Dallas until 1936.
Federal judicial service
On January 22, 1936, Davidson was nominated by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated by Judge
Edward Roscoe Meek. Davidson 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 January 30, 1936, and received his commission on February 5, 1936. He served as Chief Judge from 1954 to 1959, and assumed
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...
on November 1, 1965, holding that position until his death on January 26, 1974.
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Thomas Whitfield
1876 births
1974 deaths
Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
United States district court judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt
20th-century American judges
Democratic Party Texas state senators
Lieutenant Governors of Texas
United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law