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 consists ...
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. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...
of the
.
Education and career
Born on January 23, 1831, in
Rockingham County,
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
,
Settle received an
Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1850 from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
and
read law
Reading law was the primary 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 un ...
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 United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Seventy-five people have held the office since the first state governor, Richard Caswell, took office in 1777. The governor serves a ...
David Settle Reid from 1850 to 1854.
He entered private practice in Rockingham County in 1854.
As a member of the
Democratic Party, Settle was elected as a member of the
North Carolina House of Commons (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 North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...
) from 1854 to 1859, serving as
Speaker 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 (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
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 house, 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 Senate ...
and was
speaker of that body.
A supporter of Gov.
William W. Holden, Settle helped Holden found the
North Carolina Republican Party
The North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in North Carolina. Michael Whatley was the chair from 2019 until his election as national chair in March 2024. It is currentl ...
.
[NCpedia biography of Thomas Settle, Jr.]
/ref> He was 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 consists ...
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 politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
. 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 the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
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 a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
, 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, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
.. He was the cousin and brother-in-law of North Carolina Governor David Settle Reid, under whom he had served as private secretary. David was married to his sister, Henrietta Williams Settle Reid. He was married to Mary Glen of Yadkin County and lived at Mulberry Island Plantation.
References
Sources
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{{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
People from Rockingham County, North Carolina
Settle family
United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law