Preceded by none Political party Democratic | Succeeded by Jackson Morton Name James Westcott | |
Born May 10, 1802
Alexandria, Virginia ( 1802-05-10 ) Died January 19, 1880(1880-01-19) (aged 77)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada | ||
James Diament Westcott, Jr. (June 18, 1839 – April 29, 1887) was a Florida Supreme Court Justice, Florida Attorney General, and a member of the Florida House of Representatives.
Westcott was born in Tallahassee, Florida to James Westcott and Rebecca Sibley Bacon. His father was active in politics, helped write the first Florida Constitution and was one of Florida's first U.S. Senators while James Jr. was a child. James Jr. attended school in Tallahassee, mostly at West Florida Seminary. Although James Jr. was the third James D. Westcott, he used the "Jr." suffix throughout his life.
In 1858, Westcott became assistant secretary of the Florida Senate. The following year, he became a private secretary of Florida Governor Madison S. Perry. During the Civil War, Westcott was clerk of the Confederate States District Court for Florida. After the war, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1866 and was appointed state Attorney General in July 1868 by Governor Harrison Reed. Soon after, in 1868, an opening arose on the Florida Supreme Court and Governor Reed appointed Westcott making him the youngest justice in the court's history.
It was important for Reed to appoint a Democrat of Westcott's stature to offset the reputation other members of the Court had as carpetbagger Republicans. Westcott's friendly disposition on the one hand and thoroughness in researching the law and precedent on the other made in invaluable to the Court, and earned him respect from members of both parties. He wrote more decisions than any other Justice up to that time except for Chief Justice Randall.
Westcott ran for the United States Senate in 1872 as a Democrat but lost to Republican Simon B. Conover. He continued on the state supreme court until illness forced his resignation in 1885. He died from the illness two years later while only 47 years old.
Westcott's will left much of his estate as a trust donation of $2,000 per year to the struggling West Florida Seminary. The college survived to become Florida State University and, in December 1936, renamed the Administration Building to the James D. Westcott, Jr. Memorial Building.