Jeter Connelly Pritchard

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American judge (1857–1921)

"Senator Pritchard" redirects here. For other uses, see Senator Pritchard (disambiguation) .

Jeter Connelly Pritchard (July 12, 1857 – April 10, 1921) was a lawyer, newspaperman, United States Senator and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and of the United States Circuit Courts for the Fourth Circuit and previously was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia . Earlier in his political career he served in the North Carolina House of Representatives . He was a Republican who was part of the populist fusion political wave before later opposing civil rights for African Americans.

Early life and education

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Born on July 12, 1857, in Jonesboro , Washington County, Tennessee, He attended the Martins Creek Academy in Tennessee.[_when?
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Career

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Pritchard was apprenticed to the printer's trade, then moved to Bakersville , Mitchell County, North Carolina, in 1873. He became joint editor and owner of the Roan Mountain Republican. He was a Presidential Elector on the Republican Party ticket in North Carolina in 1880.

He read law and was admitted to the bar in 1889. He entered private practice in Marshall, North Carolina , starting in 1889.

Political career

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Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1885

He was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1885 to 1889, and from 1891 to 1893. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1888 and an unsuccessful candidate for United States Senator in . He was President of the North Carolina Protective Tariff League in 1891. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States House of Representatives of the 53rd United States Congress in .

Congressional service

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Pritchard was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Senator Zebulon Baird Vance . He was reelected in and served from January 23, 1895, to March 3, 1903. 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.

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 .

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 insurrection of 1898 broke out.

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

Federal judicial service

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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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_for_the_District_of_Columbia "United States District Court for the Dis

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