Jesse Lynch Holman

Judge, District of Indiana, 1836-d. 1842

Jesse Lynch Holman, born near Danville, Kentucky, was a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Indiana. Holman was born on October 24, 1784, admitted to the Kentucky bar on September 2, 1805, and practiced law thereafter in New Castle, Port William, and Frankfort, Kentucky. In 1811, Governor William Henry Harrison appointed Holman as the prosecuting attorney for Dearborn County. He became a member of the territorial legislature and, in 1814, was appointed presiding judge of the Second Judicial Circuit. After two years in that position, Holman became judge of the Third Judicial Circuit and a justice on the Indiana Supreme Court. He served on the Supreme Court until 1830, when Governor James Brown Ray removed him from the bench. Holman then received a recess appointment from President Andrew Jackson on September 16, 1835, to a seat vacated by Judge Benjamin Parke. President Jackson nominated Holman to the same position on March 21, 1836, and the Senate confirmed him eight days later. Holman remained in this post until his death on March 28, 1842.

Archival Materials

Jesse Lynch Holman correspondence, Franklin College, Franklin, Indiana.