George Mathews (judge)
George Mathews | |
---|---|
Territory of Mississippi | |
In office 1804–1806 | |
Preceded by | New position |
Succeeded by | Court abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | September 30, 1774 George Mathews, father; Mathews family |
Residence | Butler Greenwood Plantation |
Alma mater | Liberty Hall Academy Washington and Lee University |
Profession | Judge |
George Mathews Jr. (September 30, 1774 – November 14, 1836), was a Judge of the Superior Courts of the
Early life
Mathews was born in
Mathews returned to Virginia for his education at Liberty Hall Academy (which later became Washington and Lee University). He originally set out to become a physician but was persuaded by his father to study law under his brother, John Mathews, in Augusta, Georgia.[1] He married Harriet Flowers in 1809 and they resided near St. Francisville, Louisiana, at her family's Butler Greenwood Plantation.[2]
George and Harriett Mathews raised indigo, cotton, sugar cane, and corn on the
Career on the bench
In 1804 Mathews was appointed by President
When Louisiana became a state in 1813, the territorial courts were replaced by a new Supreme Court. Mathews was appointed by Governor
Dred Scott v. Sandford precedent
In the early 1830s, a Louisiana family went to France with their young slave girl, Josephine Louise. When the family returned home, the slave girl's mother filed a freedom suit to obtain a declaration of immediate emancipation as a result of the girl being transported to a country that did not recognize the institution of slavery. The 1835 case, Marie Louise v. Marot (1836) was heard by the Louisiana state district court and appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Court held that a slave who is taken to a territory prohibitive of slavery cannot be again reduced to slavery on returning to a territory allowing of slavery. Mathews, speaking for the court, stated that "[b]eing free for one moment...it was not in the power of her former owner to reduce her again to slavery."[5]
21 years later, his precedent was relied upon by
Legacy and honors
Mathews died in St. Francisville on November 14, 1836, and was buried at Grace Episcopal Church.[7] He left a very large fortune at his death, and his will was successfully attacked; one of its dispositions being annulled by the Louisiana Supreme Court.[8]
The Louisiana Historical Association celebrated the Centenary of the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1922 and at that time Mathews was remembered as, "short, rotund, placid, even-tempered, and genial, with a touch of humor and pleasantry in his intercourse with men and on the bench. His disposition crops out in his opinions which, moreover, are fine specimens of taste and learning."[9]
Mathews, Louisiana, is named in his honor.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Dart, Henry P. (September 22, 1922). "Mazureau's Oration on Mathews". Louisiana Historical Quarterly. 4 (1). New Orleans, Louisiana: Louisiana Historical Society: 149. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ^ National Park Service: Butler-Greenwood Plantation, http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/travel/louisiana/but.htm, retrieved 27 Aug 2009.
- ^ Butler--Greenwood Plantation, National Register of Historic Places, retrieved 2009-10-10
- ISBN 978-0465097685.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8071-3384-2.
- ^ Finkelman, Paul. “Scott v. Sandford: The Court’s Most Dreadful Case and How it Changed History,” Archived 2012-12-03 at the Wayback Machine 82 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 3 2007. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ^ "Grace Episcopal Cemetery, St. Francisville, Louisiana". Findagrave. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ^ Celebration of the Centenary of the Supreme Court of Louisiana (March 1, 1913), in John Wymond, Henry Plauché Dart, eds., The Louisiana Historical Quarterly (1922), p. 114.
- ^ "Centenary of the Supreme Court". Louisiana Historical Quarterly. 4 (1): 32. September 22, 1922.