William Lindsay was an American jurist and politician. During the American Civil War, he served in the infantry of the Confederate Army.
Background
William Lindsay was born on September 4, 1835, near Lexington, Virginia, United States, the son of Andrew and Sallie (Davidson) Lindsay, and the grandson of James Lindsay, who emigrated from Scotland and settled in Rockbridge County, Virginia, before 1795.
Education
Lindsay attended the common schools and the high school at Lexington and then began to study law with Judge John W. Brockenborough. In 1854 Lindsay moved to Clinton, Kentucky, where he continued reading law with Judge Edward Crossland. He was admitted to the bar in 1858.
Career
At the outbreak of the Civil War, with a group of Kentuckians, Lindsay enlisted as a private in the Confederate service, became lieutenant of Company B, 22nd Tennessee Infantry, and, on February 23, 1862, captain of the company. After the battles of Belmont and Shiloh, his company was transferred to the 3rd Kentucky Regiment, in which he was captain of Company M, but soon resigned to become assistant quartermaster of the 7th Kentucky Infantry in Preston's brigade of Breckinridge's division. Having taken part in the battles around Vicksburg, his regiment was mounted in 1864 and acted with Forrest's cavalry under Abraham Buford.
After the surrender of General Taylor, he was paroled at Columbus, Mississippi, in May 1865 and resumed practice at Clinton, Kentucky. Lindsay was a member of the Kentucky Senate from 1867 to 1870. In 1870 he was elected to the court of appeals, of which he became chief justice in 1876. His opinion in Douglass vs. Cline established a precedent in regard to the nature of mortgages and the extent of judicial discretion in appointing receivers. His opinion denying the right to try an extradited person for an offense not named in the extradition proceedings, the first decision of the kind, was upheld by the United States Supreme Court and was called "very able" by Justice Samuel Freeman Miller.
Having declined reelection, in 1878 he retired from the bench and soon built up a lucrative practice in Frankfort. He was again a member of the state Senate from 1889 to 1893; in the latter year he was chosen to fill a vacancy in the national Senate and, in 1894, to serve a full term. Not seeking reelection, he established a law firm in New York City, the firm of Lindsay, Kremer, Kalish, and Palmer. He was also a trustee of the Carnegie Institution and commissioner of the Columbian Exposition and of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. His last years were spent in Frankfort, Kentucky.
Achievements
Politics
Lindsay was a friend and supporter of Grover Cleveland. In 1896 he indorsed the sound-money Democrats and supported their ticket by speeches.
Connections
In 1864 Lindsay married Swann Semple. She died in 1867. The next year he married her sister, Hattie Semple. In 1883 he married his third wife, Eleanor Holmes.