Justice Jefferson Beale Browne
Former Justice Jefferson Browne was the 36th Justice on the Supreme Court and served from 1917-1925.
His father had been a member of Florida’s first constitutional convention in 1838. Browne attended a number of educational institutions before he studied law and passed bar exams in Iowa and Florida by 1878.
He entered public service in 1880 as the city attorney for Key West, then county attorney for Monroe County. In 1890, he ran successfully for public office as a state senator. In his first legislative session, he was voted senate president. In 1904, he was elected a member of the Florida Railroad Commission and served as its chairman for four years.
Browne wrote and published a history of his native city in 1911. He presented a copy of his book to the Florida Supreme Court Library in 1917, and it is on display in the library’s reading room. He was also a frequent contributor to legal and literary magazines.
In 1916, he again successfully ran for office, this time as a Florida Supreme Court justice, and was elected at age 59. He was chosen by lot to be the chief justice in 1917 when he began work for the court. He served as chief justice through 1923, but two years later, he resigned to return home to Key West.
Browne's last judicial position was as a judge of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, in Key West, where he served from 1925 until his death.
Quick facts about Justice Browne:
- Served as Justice for eight (8) years and five (5) months from January 2, 1917 to May 20, 1925, including as chief justice from January 2, 1917 to January 2, 1923
- Born: June 6, 1857 - Key West, Florida
- Died: May 4, 1937, Key West, Florida
Former Justices
- Justice Robert J. Luck
- Justice Barbara Lagoa
- Justice Alan Lawson
- Justice James E.C. Perry
- Justice Ricky Polston
- Justice Kenneth B. Bell
- Justice Raoul G. Cantero
- Justice Peggy A. Quince
- Justice R. Fred Lewis
- Justice Barbara J. Pariente
- Justice Harry Lee Anstead
- Justice Charles Talley Wells
- Justice Major B. Harding
- Justice Gerald Kogan
- Justice Stephen H. Grimes
- Justice Rosemary Barkett
- Justice Leander J. Shaw, Jr.
- Justice Raymond Ehrlich
- Justice Parker Lee McDonald
- Justice James E. Alderman
- Justice Frederick Brennan Karl
- Justice Joseph Woodrow Hatchett
- Justice Alan C. Sundberg
- Justice Arthur J. England, Jr.
- Justice Ben. F. Overton
- Justice Hal P. Dekle
- Justice David Lucius McCain
- Justice Joseph Arthur Boyd, Jr.
- Justice James Calhoun Adkins, Jr.
- Justice Vassar Benjamin Carlton
- Justice Wade Lee Hopping
- Justice Richard William Ervin
- Justice Millard Fillmore Caldwell
- Justice Stephen C. O'Connell
- Justice Benjamin Campbell Thornal
- Justice Edward Harris Drew
- Justice John Elie Mathews
- Justice Bonnie Kaslo Roberts
- Justice Tolbert Frank Hobson
- Justice Paul Dryden Barns
- Justice Harold Leon "Tom" Sebring
- Justice Alto Lee Adams
- Justice Elwyn Thomas
- Justice Roy Harrison Chapman
- Justice Fred Henry Davis
- Justice Rivers Henderson Buford
- Justice Louie Willard Strum
- Justice Armstead Brown
- Justice William Glenn Terrell
- Justice Thomas Franklin West
- Justice Jefferson Beale Browne
- Justice William Hull Ellis
- Justice Charles Breckenridge Parkhill
- Justice James Bryan Whitfield
- Justice William Adams Hocker
- Justice Evelyn Croom Maxwell
- Justice Robert Spratt Cockrell
- Justice Thomas M. Shackleford
- Justice Francis Beauregard Carter
- Justice Benjamin Sullivan Liddon
- Justice Milton Harvey Mabry
- Justice Robert Fenwick Taylor
- Justice Henry Laurens Mitchell
- Justice Geoge Pettus Raney
- Justice George Gray Mcwhorter
- Justice Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh
- Justice Franklin D. Fraser
- Justice James Diament Westcott, Jr.
- Justice Ossian Bingley Hart
- Justice Edwin M. Randall
- Justice Samuel James Douglas
- Justice James Mcnair Baker
- Justice Augustus Emmet Maxwell
- Justice David Shelby Walker
- Justice William Augustus Forward
- Justice Bird Murphy Pearson
- Justice Charles H. Dupont
- Justice Benjamin D. Wright
- Justice Albert Gallatin Semmes
- Justice Leslie Atchinson Thompson
- Justice Walker Anderson
- Justice Joseph Bradford Lancaster
- Justice George W. Macrae
- Justice George Sydney Hawkins
- Justice Thomas Baltzell
- Justice Thomas Douglas
Contact Information
Florida Supreme Court
500 South Duval Street
Tallahassee, Florida
32399-1925 | EMAIL
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