Thomas Howard DuVal

Thomas Howard DuVal (November 4, 1813 – October 10, 1880) was a United States federal judge in the 19th century.

DuVal was born in Buckingham County, Virginia, and graduated from St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1833. He read law in 1837 and went into private practice in Tallahassee, Florida, from 1837 to 1841. He was a Court of Appeals Clerk for Leon County, Florida, from 1841 to 1843 and then became U.S. Territorial Secretary for the Territory of Florida from 1843 to 1846.

Following other family members to Texas, Duval served as a State Supreme Court Reporter there in 1846, before going back into private practice in Austin from 1846 to 1855. He also served as Secretary of State in Texas in 1851 and later as a judge in the 2nd Judicial District of Texas from 1855 to 1856.

On February 26, 1857, DuVal was nominated by President Franklin Pierce to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, created by 11 Stat. 164. His nomination was confirmed five days later by the U.S. Senate, on March 3, 1857, and he received his commission the very same day. DuVal continued to serve in this role for more than twenty years, until his death in Fort Omaha, Nebraska.

Sources

• Thomas Howard DuVal at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

See also

• William Pope Duval, his father
• Burr H. Duval, his eldest brother, who perished in the Goliad massacre
• John Crittenden Duval, another brother