Thomas Jefferson DEVINE

February 28, 1820 (age 70)

Halifax, Nova Scotia, United States

At the age of fifteen he emigrated to Tallahassee, Florida, where he clerked for a merchant. He studied law in Mississippi in 1838 and received a law degree from Transylvania University in Kentucky in 1843. Devine was a Roman Catholic and a Democrat. He had ten children by his marriage to Helen Ann Elder on October 31, 1844. In 1843, he emigrated to Texas where he lived first in La Grange and then in San Antonio, where he practiced law. He became city attorney of San Antonio in 1850. He achieved a brilliant reputation as district judge for the Bexar District, a position which he received in 1851. He served as district judge until the outbreak of the Civil War. Devine was a leading secessionist delegate to the Texas secession convention in 1861, and as a member of a committee of public safety, he worked to remove U.S. troops from Texas. He also served on a Confederate committee to receive all U.S. property seized in Texas. During the war, as judge for the Western District of Texas he assisted in developing the machinery of the Confederate court system. In 1861, he was named an associate justice of the state Supreme Court. He traveled to Mexico City in 1863 to attempt to solve trade problems between Mexico and the Confederacy. He also was a commissioner to Monterrey. The following year he solved problems of conscription and embargo in Texas. When the war ended, he went to Mexico and then returned to Texas, where he was arrested. He was twice indicted, though never brought to trial, by the United States for high treason, the only Confederate besides Davis to have received this dubious distinction. Devine also practiced law in San Antonio after the war. He was named an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court in 1873 but resigned two years later. In 1878, he lost a race for the governorship.

Thomas Jefferson DEVINE

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Diplomat lawyer

Background

DEVINE, Thomas Jefferson was born on February 28, 1820 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, United States. Son of William and Catherine (Maxwell) Devine.

Education

Private school, law school.

Career

At the age of fifteen he emigrated to Tallahassee, Florida, where he clerked for a merchant. He studied law in Mississippi in 1838 and received a law degree from Transylvania University in Kentucky in 1843. Devine was a Roman Catholic and a Democrat.

He had ten children by his marriage to Helen Ann Elder on October 31, 1844. In 1843, he emigrated to Texas where he lived first in La Grange and then in San Antonio, where he practiced law. He became city attorney of San Antonio in 1850.

He achieved a brilliant reputation as district judge for the Bexar District, a position which he received in 1851. He served as district judge until the outbreak of the Civil War. Devine was a leading secessionist delegate to the Texas secession convention in 1861, and as a member of a committee of public safety, he worked to remove U.S. troops from Texas.

He also served on a Confederate committee to receive all U.S. property seized in Texas. During the war, as judge for the Western District of Texas he assisted in developing the machinery of the Confederate court system. In 1861, he was named an associate justice of the state Supreme Court.

He traveled to Mexico City in 1863 to attempt to solve trade problems between Mexico and the Confederacy. He also was a commissioner to Monterrey. The following year he solved problems of conscription and embargo in Texas.

When the war ended, he went to Mexico and then returned to Texas, where he was arrested. He was twice indicted, though never brought to trial, by the United States for high treason, the only Confederate besides Davis to have received this dubious distinction. Devine also practiced law in San Antonio after the war.

He was named an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court in 1873 but resigned two years later. In 1878, he lost a race for the governorship.

Religion

"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.

Politics

Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.

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Thomas Jefferson DEVINE

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