Thomas Bell Monroe

Thomas Bell Monroe was born on October 7, 1791, in Albemarle County, Virginia. He attended Transylvania University and read law in 1821. Monroe served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1816. He began his private legal practice in Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1821.

In 1823, Monroe assumed the role of Secretary of State of Kentucky, serving until 1824. Starting in 1825, he worked as a reporter for the Kentucky Court of Appeals. From 1830 to 1834, Monroe held the position of United States Attorney for the District of Kentucky.

On February 20, 1834, Monroe was nominated by President Andrew Jackson to serve as a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky, filling the vacancy left by Judge John Boyle. The United States Senate confirmed his appointment on March 6, 1834, and he received his commission on March 8, 1834. Monroe served in this capacity until he resigned on September 18, 1861.

While serving as a federal judge, Monroe was also involved in legal education. He was a law teacher in Montrose, Kentucky, from 1843 to 1848, and in 1848, he became the Chairman of the Law Department at Transylvania University. Additionally, he served as a professor of law at Tulane University from approximately 1848 to 1851.

After his resignation from the federal bench, Monroe participated in political activities related to the Confederacy. He was a delegate from Kentucky to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1862. Subsequently, he resumed private legal practice in Richmond, Virginia, starting in 1862.

Thomas Bell Monroe died on December 24, 1865, in Pass Christian, Mississippi.