John Hemphill (senator)
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The Honorable John Hemphill |
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United States Senator from Texas |
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In office March 4, 1859 – July 11, 1861 |
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| Preceded by | Sam Houston |
| Succeeded by | Morgan Hamilton |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 18, 1803 Chester District, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 1862 (aged 58) Richmond, Virginia, C.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Jefferson College |
John Hemphill (December 18, 1803 – January 4, 1862) was Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and a United States Senator.
Hemphill's father was a Presbyterian minister, The Reverend John Hemphill, who emigrated to the United States from County Londonderry, northern Ireland. His mother, Jane Lind, was also Scots-Irish but was born in Pennsylvania, where they met and married. John Hemphill the younger was born in South Carolina. He was educated at Jefferson College, graduating in 1825. He studied or "read the law" with David McCloud and was admitted to the bar in South Carolina in 1829.
Several years later, in 1838 Hemphill moved his practice to Texas after it became an independent republic. Realizing that it was strongly influenced by Spanish law, he learned Spanish and studied its laws in order to be successful in this new environment.
Hemphill never married. He lived with his slave Sabina for more than a decade and had two daughters with her. He arranged for their education, sending them in the late 1850s to the newly founded Wilberforce College in Ohio, considered a "training ground" for abolitionists before the Civil War.
A friend of Sam Houston, Hemphill was appointed and served as Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court from 1841 to 1858, serving as the top jurist in the Republic of Texas and then in the State of Texas. During this period, Texas was an independent republic and then a state in the United States before the Civil War.
He was called the 'John Marshall' of Texas for the role he played in the development of Texan law from the republic's early years, "laying the foundation of its judiciary system." The challenges were far beyond the law; Hemphill became known for an incident in which he fought Indian warriors who had attacked him in a courtroom while his court was in session.
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