James Westcott

James Diament Westcott Jr. (born May 10, 1802 in Alexandria , Virginia , †  January 19, 1880 in Montreal , Canada ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He served as one of the first two US Senators for the state of Florida after it joined the Union.

Legal career and advancement in Florida

James Westcott's father published a newspaper in Alexandria; later the family moved to New Jersey , where the elder Westcott began to be politically active and was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly and from 1830 to 1840 held the post of executive officer ( Secretary of State ) in the state government. James Westcott Jr., meanwhile, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1824, whereupon he first embarked on a legal career. Among other things, he was employed in Washington, DC .

In 1830 he moved to the Florida Territory , whose Governor Andrew Jackson , later President of the United States , appointed him Secretary of the Territory ; In fact, until 1834 he held the same post as his father in New Jersey at the same time. Among other things, it was one of his duties to represent the governor during his absence.

Westcott got into an argument in 1834 with the Kentucky lawyer Thomas Baltzell , who challenged him to a duel ; the exact reason is not known. Both men met on September 25th this year on the Alabama border . While Westcott was injured, Baltzell was not hit. He later became an MP in the Florida House of Representatives and the state's chief justice.

After serving as Territory Secretary and member of the Florida Government Council until 1834, Westcott took on the duties of Attorney General for the central district of the territory. He held this post until 1836; then he took part as a delegate to the State Convention, which made preparations for accession to the United States. The first state constitution of Florida bears his signature. In 1845, Florida was accepted into the Union.

US Senator

In the ensuing first election to the US Senate by the Florida State Parliament , Westcott and David Levy Yulee , who also belongs to the Democrats, prevailed. The Senate classes were allocated by lot: The seat of Class 3 - and thus a six-year term of office - fell to Yulee, while Westcott as a Class 1 Senator only had a four-year term. During his membership of the Congress , which lasted from July 1, 1845 to March 3, 1849, he led, among other things, the chairmanship of the Committee for the Territories and the Patent Committee. In 1848 he did not run for re-election.

In 1850, James Westcott first moved to New York City , where he worked as a lawyer until 1862. He then settled in Montreal, Canada; there he died in January 1880. He was buried in Tallahassee . His son James was also active as a politician and lawyer: he became a member of the state parliament, Attorney General of Florida and judge on the state's Supreme Court. In addition, he ran for the Senate seat once held by his father in 1872, but was defeated by the Republican Simon B. Conover .

Web links

• James Westcott in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• James Westcott in the database of Find a Grave (English)