Elliott Northcott

Who was Elliott Northcott?

Elliott Northcott was a United States federal judge.

Born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, Northcott attended the University of Michigan Law School, but read law to enter the bar in 1891. He entered private practice in West Virginia in 1891. He was a City attorney of Huntington, West Virginia from 1897 to 1898, and was then an assistant U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of West Virginia from 1898 to 1905, and the United States Attorney for that district from 1905 to 1909. He was a U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Colombia from 1909 to 1911, to Nicaragua in 1911, and to Venezuela from 1911 to 1913. He returned to private practice in West Virginia from 1915 to 1922, and was again the United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia from 1922 to 1927.

On April 6, 1927, Northcott received a recess appointment from President Calvin Coolidge to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated by John Carter Rose. Formally nominated on December 6, 1927, Northcott was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 1927, and received his commission the same day.