The Humphreys family in America - citizen hylbom blog

With regard to the manner in wliich he discharged the duties of tiic (jfiice of attorney-general,
it is sufficient to remark that he passed through the ordeal of twelve years' service without a sus-
picion having attached to his integrity and conscientious discharge of duty. He did not blindly
insist on convictions in all cases, but exercised a discriminating judgment which showed that justice
and the interests of the State, rather than the ambition of success, governed his conduct.
A distinguished member of the Tennessee Bar (late Thomas H. Fletcher) said of Mr. Hum-
phreys, that "his courteous deportment and his uniform respect for the rights of defendants deserved
• to be emulated. " In the prosecution of cases of deep interest, when his judgment satisfied him
of the guilt of the defendant, his researches were commensurate with the magnitude of the case,
and his efforts vigorous and eflective.
The eleven volumes of reports which Mr. Humphreys has prepared for the press are before
the country, and will speak for themselves. Taken as a whole, they have satisfied the professioa
of the State where they were issued, and may be regarded as well prepared and valuable additions
to the law reports of the United- States.
For the last two years Mr. Humphreys has been engaged, in the interval of official engage-
ments, in support of railroad legislation and railroad enterprises, and in the attempt to re-organize
the judiciary of this State and introduce a reformed system of pleading and practice. He is a
member of no church, and whilst he is tolerant in his feelings to all shades of religious opinions,
his tendencies and sympathies, like those of his father and paternal uncle, are towards Unitarianism.
From Livingston's " Porlrails and JMenmirs of Eminent Americans," ]'ol. II. (1^53).
A letter from Mr. John W. Morton, dated Nov. 15, 1886, continues the foregoing biography
of Judge West Hughes Humphreys:
"Judge Humphreys was appointed U. S. District Judge of Tennessee for life, by President
Franklin Pierce, which position he held until the commencement of the war. He was appointed
to the same position by President Jefferson Davis, which position he held until the Confederacy
collapsed. He returned home, finding his property confiscated and himself disfranchised. He was
never relieved of his political disabilities, persistently refusing to apply for pardon. He pursued
the practice of law in the higher courts, and occupied his leisure moments in literary work: wrote
several treatises on government of corporations, kc; conspicuous was his article, published in
pamphlet form, on temperance.
"Judge Humphreys had two sistens, Elizabeth, whom. Rev. William Bayless, of Louisiana,
and had two children—Bettie and Robert—and Georgiana, who died young. He had, also, three
brothers, Charles, who moved to Arkansas, and married a Miss Coleman, had si.x children; was
a lawyer; Joshua, who moved to Texas, died young, without issue, was a lawyer; Robert W. , the
youngest, who graduated with distinction at Harvard, enlisted, when quite young, in the Mexican
war, after which he settled at Clarksville, Tenn., where he married Miss Molly Merriwether; was
a lawyer of distinction, and greatly respected, died in 1880, leaving three boys, Edward, West
and John, and three girls, Nannie, who married R. W. Armstead, a merchant at Nashville; Bettie,
who married Cary Weisker, a merchant at Memphis; and Carrie, single.
"Judge West H. Humphreys had five children, three boys and two girls. A son and
daughter lived to be grown; Pillow, who is now J. a merchant at Nashville, married Clara Morton,
and has one boy and two girls, and Annie Payne, who married John W. Morton, the undersigned.
Pillow Humphreys enlisted in the Confederate army when quite young, serving throughout that
J.
memorable contest. The undersigned also enlisted in the Confederate service when eighteen years
of age, as private in ist Penn. (Maney's) Regiment; was soon transferred to the Burns Battery,
afterwards known as Porter's Battery, and then, through the last three years of the war, as Morton's
Battery, Forest Cavalry, and the last year of the war was Chief of Artillery, Forest Cavalry Corps.