Charles Tait (politician)
Charles Tait | |
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Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama | |
In office March 10, 1824 – February 1, 1826 | |
Appointed by | James Monroe |
Preceded by | new seat |
Succeeded by | William Crawford |
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama | |
In office March 10, 1824 – February 1, 1826 | |
Appointed by | James Monroe |
Preceded by | new seat |
Succeeded by | William Crawford |
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alabama | |
In office May 13, 1820 – March 10, 1824 | |
Appointed by | James Monroe |
Preceded by | new seat |
Succeeded by | seat abolished |
United States Senator from Georgia | |
In office November 27, 1809 – March 4, 1819 | |
Preceded by | John Milledge |
Succeeded by | John Elliott |
Personal details | |
Born | Hanover, Virginia | February 1, 1768
Died | October 7, 1835 Monroe County, Alabama | (aged 67)
Political party | Democratic-Republican |
Charles Tait (February 1, 1768 – October 7, 1835) was an American politician. A Democratic Republican, he served as a United States Senator from Georgia and later as a United States federal judge.
Early life
Born near Hanover, Virginia, Charles Tait moved to Georgia in 1783 with his parents, who settled near Petersburg, where he completed preparatory studies. Tait attended Wilkes Academy, Washington, Georgia in 1786 and 1787 and Cokesbury College in Abingdon, Maryland in 1788.
Academic and Legal Career
Tait was a professor of French in Cokesburg College from 1789 to 1794, while he also read law and was admitted to the Georgia bar in 1795. He was a rector and professor at Richmond Academy, Augusta, Georgia from 1795 to 1798, when he commenced the practice of law in Elbert County. He was presiding judge of the western circuit court of Georgia from 1803 to 1809.
Political career
He was elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Milledge, and was reelected in 1813, serving from November 27, 1809 to March 3, 1819. During the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Congress he was chairman on the Committee on Naval Affairs. After serving in the Senate, he moved to Wilcox County, Alabama in 1819.
On May 10, 1820, Tait was nominated by President James Monroe to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Alabama, created by 3 Stat. 564. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 13, 1820, and received his commission the same day. On March 10, 1824, the District was subdivided, and Tait was reassigned by operation of law to the newly created Northern District and Southern District of Alabama. Tait continued in service as the sole federal judge assigned to both districts until his resignation on February 1, 1826.
Tait then lived as a planter at what is now called the Dellet House in Claiborne, Alabama. He declined a mission to Great Britain in 1828. In 1833-34, Tait hosted Timothy Abbott Conrad, a paleontologist from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, at his home in order to encourage the young man's explorations of Alabama fossils. Conrad described dozens of species of fossil mollusks from Claiborne Bluff alone, making it a popular destination among paleontologists.
Charles Tait died near Claiborne on October 7, 1835 and was interred in Dry Forks Cemetery on his country estate in Wilcox County, Alabama.
Sources
- United States Congress. "Charles Tait (id: T000015)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Charles Tait at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- 1768 births
- 1835 deaths
- People from Hanover County, Virginia
- People from Augusta, Georgia
- People from Wilcox County, Alabama
- United States Senators from Georgia (U.S. state)
- Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges
- Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Alabama
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama
- Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
- United States federal judges appointed by James Monroe
- Democratic-Republican Party United States Senators
- Georgia (U.S. state) Democratic-Republicans
- People from Elbert County, Georgia
- Slave owners