David Campbell Humphreys (November 9, 1817 – July 12, 1879) was a United States federal judge

United States federal judge

In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....

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Born in Morgan County, Alabama

Morgan County, Alabama

Morgan County is the most populous county in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, and the second most populous county in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area in the U.S. State of Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Territorial legislature on February 6, 1818 from land acquired from the...

, Humphreys began the practice of law in Madison County, Alabama

Madison County, Alabama

Madison County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is a major part of the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The county is named in honor of James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America, and the...

. He was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives

Alabama House of Representatives

The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal amount of districts, with each constituency containing at least 42,380 citizens. There are no term...

 in 1843, 1849, 1853, and 1868. He was a planter and in private practice in Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....

 from 1850 to 1861. During the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, he served in the Confederate Army, rising to the rank of Colonel.

On April 22, 1870, Humphreys was nominated by President Ulysses Grant to a seat as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia

United States District Court for the District of Columbia

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...

 vacated by George P. Fisher

George P. Fisher

George Purnell Fisher was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party and later the Republican Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly, as Attorney General of Delaware, as Secretary of State of Delaware, as...

. Humphreys was confirmed by the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 on May 10, 1870, and received his commission on May 13, 1870. In 1873, President Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 nominated him to be United States District Judge for the three districts of Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, in an effort to replace the increasingly unpopular Richard Busteed

Richard Busteed

Richard Busteed was an attorney and soldier who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a lawyer before and after the war, and also served as the U.S. District Judge of Alabama from 1863 – 1874. He became highly controversial in that position, and resigned to avoid...

 with an Alabama native (Busteed was simultaneously nominated to take Humphreys' seat in the District of Columbia), but the nomination was returned by Senate as irregular.

Humphreys remained on the District of Columbia court until his death, in 1879, in Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

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