Draft:Joseph S. B. Thatcher

Joseph S. B. Thatcher (sometimes reported as Thacher; YEAR – before 1869) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi from 1844 to 1850.

On the 4th of March, 1846, the legislature passed an act to establish a system of common schools in Mississippi. Judge Joseph S. B. Thatcher, a highly educated and able Bostonian, who had been elected to the High Court of Errors and Appeals a few years previously, had devised a scheme of popular education which really formed the basis of discussion during the campaign of 1845.

Joseph S. B. Thacher was a native of Massachusetts and was reared and educated in Boston. Mr. Lynch says: "He was a descendant of Oxenbridge Thacher, who was employed in connection with James Otis, by merchants of Boston, in 1761, to defend them against the Writs of Assistanee, and whom John Adams says the advocates of the Crown hated more than they did Otis or Samuel Adams." In 1833, Mr. Thacher, attracted by the fame of Prentiss and others, settled in Natchez, and soon acquired a lucrative practice.

In 1843, Mr. Thacher became a candidate for the supreme bench, and, "after a spirited political contest, entirely incompatible with the nature and dignity of the high office," was elected for the term of six years. In 1849 he was a candidate for re-election, and during the canvass was charged with having procured, during his candidacy in 1843, the publication of articles highly disparaging to the character of his opponent.

The bar and others of Natchez procured from the editor of the Gallatin "Signal" his letter "arranging the terms and suggesting a schedule for the circulation of the articles." In consequence in part of this disclosure, Thacher was defeated by Judge Cotesworth P. Smith, although the latter was a Whig and an avowed advocate of the payment of the Union Bank bonds by the State. "It is said that Judge Thacher's talents were more of the literary order than professional." He was devoted to science and wrote essays of considerable merit.

Joseph S. B. Thacher was a native of Massachusetts, and was reared and educated in the city of Boston, where his father held an important judicial office. He was a descendant of Oxen bridge Thacher, who was employed, in connection with James Otis, by the merchants of Boston, in 1761, to defend them against the Write of Assistance, and whom, John Adams says, the advocates of the crown hated more than they did Otis or Samuel Adams. After having engaged in the practice of law for a short time in his native city, he removed to Mississippi, in search of those richer fields, which the fame of Prentiss, Walker, and other natives of the South, had clothed with dazzling inducements. Mr. Thacher settled in Natchez about the year 1833, where he enjoyed a thrifty practice, and in 1837 was elected to succeed John I. Guion as judge of the criminal court established by the Legislature in the counties of Warren, Claiborne, Jefferson, Adams, and Wilkinson. That office he held until 1840, when the Legislature abolished the "criminal court".

In 1843, after a spirited political canvass, entirely incompatible with the nature and dignity of the office, Judge Thacher was elected one of the judges of the High Court of Errors and Appeals for the term of six years. During his candidacy for this office charges of a serious nature were circulated, connecting him with some dishonorable transaction in the city of Boston prior to his emigration to Mississippi. These, after a series of criminations, recriminations, and a lengthy vindicatory correspondence, were finally cleared away.

At the expiration of his term, in 1849, Mr. Justice Thacher was a candidate for re-election, and during the canvass was charged with having procured, during his candidacy in 1848, the publication of articles highly disparaging to the character of his opponent, and savoring of a detestable egotism.

These articles appeared in an " Extra" of the Gallatin Signal, and were secretly circulated a few days preceding the election,' over the signature of the editor, who, during the canvass of 1849, upon application being made to him in regard to the matter by the gentlemen of the bar and others of Natchez, swore to the procuration of Judge Thacher, and disclosed his letter arranging the terms and suggesting a schedule for the circulation of the articles.

This unfortunate disclosure conduced, no doubt, largely to the defeat of Judge Thacher; for, being a Democrat, he was on the popular side of politics, while his opponent, Hon. Cotesworth P. Smith, besides being a Whig, was liable to the, at that day, further objection of being an avowed advocate of the liability of the State for the payment of the bonds of the Union Bank. But it must be remembered also that Mr. Justice Smith had already served one term upon the high bench, and the manifest disparity in the ability of the two judges was decidedly in favor of the latter.

It cannot be claimed for Mr. Justice Thacher that he was a lawyer of comparatively much depth of professional learning. His talents were more of the literary order than professional. He was a strenuous advocate of the cause of education, was much devoted to science and the fine arts, and wrote literary essays of considerable merit.

His election to the high bench, in 1843, was due, no doubt, more to his position upon the bond question than to any recognized ability, or special qualification for the office, thus evincing the folly and absurdity of resting judicial promotions upon mere questions of politics and the prejudices of parties.

The career of Judge Thacher upon the bench was characterized by uprightness, impartiality, and integrity. His decisions manifest a laborious effort .to reach the utmost limits of justice. He was a close abider of precedent, and held fast to every constitutional feature. He was a man of pure morals, and in social life shone with a brilliancy which only the highest order of accomplishments could kindle.

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/object/npg_S_NPG.91.126.121.B - silhouette.

References

Category:Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court

This open draft remains in progress as of July 5, 2023.