Justice Franklin D. Fraser
Former Justice Franklin Fraser wast the 20th Justice on the Supreme Court and served from 1873-1874. He completed his education at Union College in Schenectady, New York, read law and was admitted to the bar in 1842. Colleagues characterized his legal style as careful, painstaking, and tenacious.
Fraser achieved success in both the office and the courtroom. His older brother Philip had moved to Florida in the 1840s and achieved much success in Jacksonville, gaining the friendship of Ossian Hart.
With the onset of Civil War, Philip returned to Montrose, New York, but returned to Florida in 1863 as President Abraham Lincoln’s appointed federal judge of the Northern District of Florida. Younger brother Franklin accompanied him as his law clerk.
After the war, Franklin became acquainted with then-Justice Ossian Hart and promoted Hart’s candidacy for governor in 1873. When Hart was elected, he appointed Franklin as his own successor to the high court. Governor Hart died in office in 1874.
Fraser decided against continuing on as justice, disturbed by the chaos and turmoil of Reconstruction politics in the South and deeming his justice’s salary as inadequate.
He returned to the North, first to Pennsylvania, then to his native Montrose, New York. He died suddenly of pneumonia in the winter of 1879, four years after he left Florida.
Quick facts about Justice Fraser:
- Served 1873 – 1874 as Justice
- Born: April 23, 1819 – Montrose, New York
- Died: November 10, 1879 – Montrose, New York
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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