James F. Trotter

Who was James F. Trotter?

James Fisher Trotter was a United States Senator from Mississippi.

Born in Brunswick County, Virginia, he moved to eastern Tennessee, attended private schools, and studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1820 and commenced practice in Hamilton, Mississippi in 1823. From 1827 to 1829 he was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives and a member of the Mississippi Senate from 1829 to 1833. In 1833 he was judge of the circuit court of Mississippi; he was later appointed as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Black and served from January 22 to July 10, 1838, when he resigned.

From 1839 to 1842, Trotter was judge of the Mississippi Supreme Court; he resigned in 1842 and moved to Holly Springs, where he resumed the practice of law in 1840. He was vice chancellor of the northern district of Mississippi from 1855 to 1857, and was professor of law at the University of Mississippi from 1860 to 1862. He was appointed circuit judge in 1866 and served until his death that year in Holly Springs. Interment was in Hill Crest Cemetery.