Justice William Adams Hocker

Justice William A. Hocker

Former Justice William Hocker was the 32nd Justice on the Supreme Court and served from 1903-1915.

He was born into a well-to-do Virginia planter family and enjoyed all the advantages his family provided.  He joined the Confederate cavalry in 1864 and participated in the siege of Petersburg and other battles.

After the Civil War, however, he had to pay his own way through college and training for the bar. 

By 1874, economic conditions in Virginia made him decide to move to Florida, where he qualified for the Florida Bar and began participating in Democratic politics, serving in the legislature in 1876 and again in 1891.  He also served as a delegate to the 1885 Florida Constitutional Convention. 

Hocker was appointed to the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court in 1893, and then as a Florida Supreme Court commissioner in 1901.  In 1903, he was appointed as a justice to the supreme court.  

Quick facts about Justice Hocker: 

• Served January 6, 1903 – January 5, 1915 as Justice  [appointed at age 58, served 12 years]
• Born: December 5, 1844 - Buckingham County, Virginia
• Died: July 17, 1918, Jacksonville, Florida
• County Judge:  No.
• Circuit Judge:  Yes.