جيتر سي. بريتشارد

كان جيتر كونلي بريتشارد (12 يوليو 1857 - 10 أبريل 1921) محاميًا وصحفيًا وعضوًا في مجلس الشيوخ الأمريكي وقاضيًا في محكمة الاستئناف الأمريكية للدائرة الرابعة ومحاكم الدائرة الرابعة الأمريكية، وشغل سابقًا منصب قاضٍ مشارك في المحكمة العليا لمنطقة كولومبيا . وفي بداية مسيرته السياسية، خدم في مجلس نواب ولاية كارولاينا الشمالية . كان جمهوريًا، وانضم إلى الموجة السياسية الشعبوية الاندماجية قبل أن يعارض لاحقًا الحقوق المدنية للأمريكيين من أصل أفريقي.

الحياة المبكرة والتعليم

وُلد في 12 يوليو 1857 في جونزبورو ، مقاطعة واشنطن، تينيسي، [ 1 ] والتحق بأكاديمية مارتينز كريك في تينيسي. [ 2 ]

حياة مهنية

تدرّب بريتشارد على مهنة الطباعة، ثم انتقل إلى بيكرسفيل ، مقاطعة ميتشل، كارولاينا الشمالية، عام 1873. [ 2 ] أصبح محررًا مشاركًا ومالكًا لصحيفة روان ماونتن ريبابليكان . [ 2 ] كان ناخبًا رئاسيًا عن الحزب الجمهوري في كارولاينا الشمالية عام 1880. [ 2 ]

درس القانون وتم قبوله في نقابة المحامين عام 1889. [ 1 ] بدأ ممارسة المحاماة بشكل خاص في مارشال، كارولاينا الشمالية ، بدءًا من عام 1889. [ 1 ]

المسيرة السياسية

أعضاء مجلس نواب ولاية كارولاينا الشمالية عام 1885

كان عضواً في مجلس نواب ولاية كارولاينا الشمالية من عام 1885 إلى عام 1889، ومن عام 1891 إلى عام 1893. [ 1 ] ترشح دون جدوى لمنصب نائب حاكم الولاية عام 1888، وترشح دون جدوى أيضاً لمنصب عضو مجلس الشيوخ الأمريكي عام 1891. [ 2 ] تولى رئاسة رابطة كارولاينا الشمالية للحماية الجمركية عام 1891. [ 2 ] ترشح دون جدوى أيضاً لانتخابات مجلس نواب الولايات المتحدة في الكونغرس الثالث والخمسين عام 1892. [ 2 ]

الخدمة في الكونغرس

Pritchard was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1894 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States SenatorZebulon Baird Vance.[2] He was reelected in 1897 and served from January 23, 1895, to March 3, 1903.[2] The victory of the Republican-Populist alliance (or "fusion") in the 1894 legislative elections, and their subsequent domination of the North Carolina General Assembly was the key factor in Pritchard's initial election and subsequent reelection.[3][4] He was Chairman of the Committee on Civil Service and Retrenchment for the 54th and 55th United States Congresses and Chairman of the Committee on Patents for the 56th and 57th United States Congresses.[2]

On October 21, 1898, Pritchard sent a letter to President William McKinley, requesting federal marshals to protect black voters in the upcoming election. He warned that Democrats were stockpiling weapons and threatening black voters, and said that Democrats' claims of "Negro domination" were without basis. The letter was discussed by McKinley and his cabinet on October 24, but federal marshals were not sent as Governor Daniel Lindsay Russell had not made the request. As a result, intimidation by Red Shirts kept black voters away from the polls, resulting in a sweeping Democratic victory. On the day following the election, the Wilmington massacre broke out.[5]

Pritchard began reversing his views on civil rights in 1900, becoming a lily-white and opposing black officeholders.[6]

Federal judicial service

Pritchard was nominated by President Theodore Roosevelt on November 10, 1903, to an Associate Justice seat on the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia (now the United States District Court for the District of Columbia) vacated by Associate Justice Harry M. Clabaugh.[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 16, 1903, and received his commission the same day.[1] His service terminated on June 1, 1904, due to his elevation to the Fourth Circuit.[1] While in office Pritchard twice offered resolutions demanding that the Senate declare the grandfather clause a violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, but both attempts failed.[7]

Pritchard was nominated by President Roosevelt on April 27, 1904, to a joint seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Fourth Circuit vacated by Judge Charles Henry Simonton.[1] He was confirmed by the Senate on April 27, 1904, and received his commission the same day.[1] On December 31, 1911, the Circuit Courts were abolished and he thereafter served only on the Court of Appeals.[1] His service terminated on April 10, 1921, due to his death in Asheville, North Carolina.[1] He was interred in the Riverside Cemetery in Asheville,[2] near fellow North Carolina Senators Thomas Lanier Clingman and Zebulon Baird Vance.[8]

Family

Mrs. Jeter Connelly Pritchard

Senator Pritchard married Augusta L. Ray in 1877 and they became the parents of three sons and a daughter—William D. (an army officer killed in the Philippines in 1904), George M. Pritchard (a politician in the Republican Party),[2] Thomas A., and Ida (Mrs. Thomas S. Rollins). Following the death in 1886 of his wife, Pritchard married Melissa Bowman by whom he had another son, J. McKinley. After the death of his second wife in 1902, Judge Pritchard married Lillian E. Saum in 1903.

Honor

Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville is named in Pritchard's memory.[9]

References

مصادر