Thomas Settle (January 23, 1831 – December 1, 1888) was a United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Peru, an associate justice of the

Supreme Court of North Carolina The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consist ...

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 Northern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida (in case citations, N.D. Fla.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

Education and career

Born on January 23, 1831, in Rockingham County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and S ...

, Settle received an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1850 from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and

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 ...

at Richmond Hill Law School in 1854. He was private secretary to

Governor of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The governor directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. The current governor, ...

David Settle Reid from 1850 to 1854. He entered private practice in Rockingham County in 1854. As a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa * Botswana Democratic Party * Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *De ...

, Settle was elected as a member of the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North C ...

(now the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North ...

) from 1854 to 1859, serving as

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

from 1858 to 1859. He resumed private practice in North Carolina from 1860 to 1861. He was solicitor for the Fourth Judicial Circuit of North Carolina in 1861, and from 1862 to 1868. He was a Captain in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

from 1861 to 1862. After the war ended, he was elected as a member of the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

and was

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of that body. A supporter of Gov.

William W. Holden William Woods Holden (November 24, 1818 – March 1, 1892) was an American politician who served as the 38th and 40th governor of North Carolina. He was appointed by President Andrew Johnson in 1865 for a brief term and then elected in 1868. H ...

, Settle helped Holden found the

North Carolina Republican Party The North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in North Carolina. Michael Whatley has been the chair since 2019. History Nineteenth century Although Republicans first nominated a candidate for President o ...

.NCpedia biography of Thomas Settle, Jr.
/ref> He was an associate justice of the

from 1868 to 1871, and from 1872 to 1876. He wrote the opinion for a unanimous court in '' State v. Linkhaw'', reversing the criminal conviction of a man who sang so badly in church that he was found guilty of disturbing a religious congregation. In between his stints on the court, he served as United States Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Peru in 1871. Settle resigned from the Supreme Court in 1876 to accept the Republican nomination for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

. He lost the election to former Gov. Zebulon B. Vance.

Federal judicial service

Settle was nominated by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...

on January 26, 1877, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Philip Fraser. He 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 power ...

on January 30, 1877, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on December 1, 1888, due to his death in

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...

, North Carolina.

Family

Settle's father was also named Thomas Settle, as was his son, Thomas Settle. Both his father and his son served in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

.. He was the cousin of North Carolina Governor David Settle Reid, under whom he had served as private secretary. He was married to Mary Glen of Yadkin County and lived at

Mulberry Island Plantation Mulberry Island, also known as the Penn Farm, is a historic plantation house in Stoneville, North Carolina near the Dan River. The home was once the seat of the Scales family and the Settle family, two prominent North Carolinian political dyn ...

.http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/rockingham/history/other/dan1.txt

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Settle, Thomas 1831 births 1888 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Peru Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida 19th-century American diplomats United States federal judges appointed by Ulysses S. Grant 19th-century American judges People from Rockingham County, North Carolina Settle family United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law