| Horace Harmon Lurton |
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Horace Harmon Lurton ( February 24 , 1844 – July 12 , 1914 ) was an American Jurist who served as a Justice on the Supreme Court Of The United States . At age 65, he was the oldest justice appointed to the Court. Lurton was born in Newport, Kentucky . He was a Sergeant Major in the Confederate Army during the Civil War , serving in the 5th Tennessee Infantry, 2nd Kentucky Infantry and the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry. After the war, he attended Douglas University , and earned an LL.B. at Cumberland University in 1867. Lurton then practiced law in Clarksville, Tennesee . In 1875, Lurton left private practice to sit on the Chancery Court in Tennessee's Sixth Chancery Division for three years. He returned to his practice until 1886, when he was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court . From this position, in 1893, Lurton was appointed by President Grover Cleveland to the federal U.S. Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit . While still on that court, Lurton served as dean of the Vanderbilt University law department from 1905 until 1909. Although a Democrat , Lurton was the first of six nominations Republican President William Howard Taft made to the Supreme Court, in 1909 to replace the recently deceased Justice Rufus Wheeler Peckham . According to Supreme Court historian Peter Irons , Lurton "left no mark on constitutional law" in his brief four year term on the Court, which ended with his death in Atlantic City, New Jersey .
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