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1 TSCHS J. 1 (2011-2012)

handle is hein.journals/tschsj1 and id is 1 raw text is: The Le ndar Lire an Tumultuous Times of Chief Justice John Hemphill by David A. Furlow F or the past sixteen years, the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society has honored the state's first Chief Justice by naming its annual fundraising event theJohn Hemphill Dinner.Judges,justices, lawyers, and others attending the annual event find a short biography of the man in their dinner brochure. But sometimes members want to know more about the man whose name the Society commemorates. Where did he come from? How did he become a lawyer and a judge? Where and how did he die? Why was he special? Why has the Society chosen to honor him at its annual dinner? John Hemphill's life offers a fascinating story of how frontier law evolved as Texas developed from a republic guarded by forts into a state governed by courts. John Hemphill's early years. Like other prominent leaders of early Texas - Stephen F. Austin, Lorenzo de Zavala, William Barrett Travis, David Crockett, and Sam Houston -John Hemphill grew up outside of Texas but came here as quickly as he could. He was born to a Presbyterian minister, the ReverendJohn Hemphill, Sr., and his wife Jane Lind Hemphill, in Blackstock, in the Chester District of South Carolina, on December 18, 1803. He attended public school in South Carolina, then continued his studies at Jefferson College (now Washington and Jefferson) in Washington, Pennsylvania from 1823 to 1825 or 1826 (the sources differ). John Hemphill showed early promise at Jefferson College, graduating second in his class. For several years he taught school and dreamed of becoming a lawyer. The beginning of a frontier legal career. In 1829, Hemphill began his legal studies in Columbia, South Carolina. After gaining admission to Chancery Court, he moved to Sumter, South Carolina, where he entered private practice. He edited a newspaper in 1832 and 1833, before joining the U.S. Army, where he served as a second lieutenant in the Seminole War of 1836 in Florida. The malaria he contracted while in the Army adversely affected his health for the rest of his life. In 1838, two years after the Battle of San Jacinto, Hemphill moved to Texas to set up his law practice in Washington-on-the-Brazos. He devoted much of his time during the next few years to learning the Spanish language and mastering the intricacies of Castilian law.

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