View source for Alexander Montgomery (Mississippi lawyer)

{{Short description|American judge (died 1878)}}

'''Alexander Montgomery''' (died September 7, 1878) was a Mississippi lawyer who served as a justice of the [[Supreme Court of Mississippi]] from 1831 to 1833.

Born in [[Natchez, Mississippi|Natchez]], [[Adams County, Mississippi]],<ref name="Rowland">Dunbar Rowland, ed., ''Encyclopedia of Mississippi History'', Volume 2 (1907), p. 280.</ref><ref name="Memoirs">''Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi'' (1891), p. 450.</ref> Montgomery was the son of a pioneers also named Alexander Montgomery, who had been chosen by President [[John Adams]] to serve on the Territorial council of Mississippi prior to statehood. The younger Montgomery was a pupil of [[George Poindexter]] and [[Edward Turner (Mississippi lawyer)|Edward Turner]], and established a law practice in partnership with [[Samuel S. Boyd]], a native of Maine; their firm "was for many years one of the leading ones of the State".<ref name="Rowland"/> Following the resignation of Judge [[Joshua Child (judge)|Joshua Child]] from the state supreme court, Montgomery was one of several candidates put forth for the seat.<ref name="Courier">"At Home", ''The Natchez Weekly Courier'' (December 9, 1831), p. 6.</ref> Upon his election by the legislature to the circuit and supreme court of the state in November, 1831, defeating [[William L. Sharkey]] for that position "by a considerable majority",<ref name="Courier"/> Montgomery became the first native Mississippian on the bench.<ref name="Rowland"/><ref name="Green Bag">Thomas H. Somerville, "A Sketch of the Supreme Court of Mississippi", in Horace W. Fuller, ed.,''The Green Bag'', Vol. XI (1899), p. 506.</ref> His term upon the bench was cut short by the adoption of a new constitution and judicial system, which went into effect in 1833.<ref name="Rowland"/> After the end of his judicial service, he resumed the practice of the law in [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]].<ref name="Green Bag"/>

Montgomery appeared as a witness in an 1840 controversy, where he was described as "a distinguished and influential ''[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]]'', who adheres to the maxim that 'the private station is the post of honor'".<ref>''The Mississippi Free Trader'' (October 14, 1840), p. 1.</ref> In 1845, he was appointed to a committee of five jurists asked to prepare resolutions commemorating the death of U.S. Supreme Court justice [[Joseph Story]].<ref>"Meeting of the Bar of Adams County", ''Mississippi Free Trader'' (October 1, 1845), p. 1.</ref>

Montgomery "was an active practitioner to a very advanced age", and died at the home of a Dr. Nailer, a relative, in [[Vicksburg, Mississippi|Vicksburg]], [[Warren County, Mississippi]], when "far advanced in years".<ref>"Death of Judge Alexander Montgomery", ''The Clarion-Ledger'' (September 18, 1878), p. 2.</ref><ref name="Green Bag"/><ref name="Memoirs"/>

==See also==
*[[List of justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi]]

==References==
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|title=[[List of justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi|Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi]]
|before=[[Joshua Child (judge)|Joshua Child]]
|after=Court abolished
|years=1831–1833}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Alexander}}
[[Category:Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court]]
[[Category:Date of birth unknown]]
[[Category:1878 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Natchez, Mississippi]]


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