Justice Leslie Atchinson Thompson

Justice Leslie Thompson

Former Justice Leslie Thompson was the seventh Justice of the Supreme Court and served from 1851-1853. His family moved to Savannah, Georgia, not long after Leslie was born. The young man studied for and was admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1826, at the age of 20.

Thompson moved to Tallahassee in 1827.  His law practice flourished and Thompson began to participate in the politics of the state capital, beginning as city treasurer and mayor. He represented Leon County in the 1838 Constitutional Convention.

Upon statehood, in 1845, Thompson prepared a digest of the laws of Florida that sold 1,500 copies and placed him in the forefront of the legal profession. In 1851, he was elected by the Legislature to the Florida Supreme Court for a two-year term. 

When Thompson was not reelected in a popular election in 1853, he moved to Texas, where he served as Mayor of Galveston and as a state legislator until his death in 1874.

Quick Facts about Justice Thompson

• Served as Justice: 1851 - 1853