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the State. He named Archibald Wright of Memphis, the third native Tennessean to reach the Supreme Bench.

Judge Wright was born in Maury County, Tenn., on Nov. 29, 1809, of very poor parents. His father, John Wright, a native of North Carolina, was the son of Duncan Wright, a Scottish Highlander. The mother of Judge Wright was of the same sturdy stock. Shortly after his birth his family removed to the adjoining county of Giles. Here he grew to manhood. A scanty education was received at Mount Pleasant Academy and Giles College. He was conspicuous there for the diligent habits of study that afterwards characterized him. An awkward and uncouth country youth, he sought the office of Judge Bramblette, at Pulaski, to study law. The first impression he made on the tutor he sought was not a favorable one; but there was that about him that finally attracted Judge Bramblette to him, and he accepted him as a student. He was licensed to practice in 1832, and opened an office in Pulaski. The Florida war soon followed. On the call for volunteers he enlisted and served throughout the war. He returned to his practice at Pulaski, and continued to live there until 1851. His fame as a lawyer had grown, and he determined to seek a larger field. He removed in 1851 to Memphis, a city then rapidly developing. He found a partnership with the Hon. Thomas J. Turley. The sons of these two partners are to-day associated in the practice of law at Memphis, and they are generally esteemed as the ablest firm of lawyers in the State. Judge Wright did not solicit the position, but his reputation caused Governor Harris to bestow on him the office of Supreme Judge on the occurring of the vacancy in 1857. In August, 1858, he was elected by the people; but because of the interruption of business by the Civil War, he did not serve out his term. On the breaking out of the war he ardently espoused the cause of the Confederacy. His only two sons, then striplings, enlisted in its army. Too old for active service himself, he followed the army so as always to be by his boys when danger was near. One of them fell on the fatal field of Murfreesboro; but the other was spared to him.

WILLIAM R. HARRIS.

At the end of the war he found himself largely in debt because of obligations incurred in extensive purchases of plantations and slaves in Louisiana before the war. His property was dissipated by the war, but the debts remained. He scorned to take advantage either of the law of Louisiana excusing payment of obligations incurred in the purchase of slaves, or of the bankrupt law. He set himself to work to pay his debts. It was a grievous burden, but his soul knew no tiring. He steadily refused all offers of official position, and labored incessantly at his profession until within a few weeks of his death, which took place Sept. 13, 1884, at the advanced age of seventy-four.

The spectacle of a man devoting his life