Thomas Whitfield Davidson (September 23, 1876 – January 26, 1974) was a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (in case citations, N.D. Tex.) is a United States district court. Its first judge, Andrew Phelps McCormick, was appointed to the court on April 10, 1879. The court convenes in ...

Education and career

Born in Harrison County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, 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 t ...

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 third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, 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 co ...

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 to a seat on the

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 po ...

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 court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

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