Howell Edmunds Jackson (1893-1895)
Howell E. Jackson lived from 1832 to 1895.
Early Life and Legal Career
Jackson was born in Paris, Tennessee to Alexander and Mary Jackson. He graduated from West Tennessee College in 1849, where he focused his studies on Greek and Latin. After college, Jackson clerked for Judge A.W.O. Totten of the Tennessee Supreme Court and Milton Brown, a former U.S. Representative. The following year, he enrolled in Cumberland School of Law, graduating in 1856.
Jackson briefly practiced law in Memphis, until serving the Confederacy in a civil position during the Civil War. After the war, Jackson once again returned to Memphis, where he continued his practice. In 1880, he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives as a Democrat from Memphis. One year later, Jackson took office in the U.S. Senate, where he remained for the next five years. Jackson resigned from the senate after his appointment to the U.S. Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit by President Grover Cleveland in 1886.
Appointment to the Supreme Court
In 1893, at the age of 60, Jackson was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Benjamin Harrison. While on the bench, Jackson authored 46 opinions and four dissents. He was praised for his knowledge of patent law, as the Court was clogged with patent cases during his tenure. Jackson contracted tuberculosis one year following his appointment, but recovered sufficiently to return to the Court to cast one final vote.
Death
Jackson died on August 8, 1895 in Nashville, Tennessee. He is buried in Nashville’s Mount Olivet Cemetery.
