Josiah T. Settle

Born: 1850

Died: 1900

The following article is from the Afro-American Encyclopedia, James T. Haley, 1895.

JOSIAH T. SETTLE was born among the mountains of "East Tennessee," September 30, 1850, while his parents were "in transitee" from North Carolina to Mississippi. His father was Josiah Settle, of Rockingham County, North Carolina, his mother belonged to his father, who unlike many prominent slave holders of that period, had a deep and sincere affection for his children and their mother.

After several years residence in Mississippi he manumitted the mother and her eight children according to the laws of the State. He feared, however, that their freedom even then, might not be secure, and in 1856 he moved the family to Ohio and located them at Hamilton.

It was at this time the highest evidence of his Christian manhood and nobility of character were shown, when in the presence of his family and many prominent citizens of Hamilton he lawfully married the mother of his children, giving the children a legal right to their name and their mother a right to the sacred name of wife. Giving them all the tardy justice which the conditions of slavery had until then rendered impossible.

He spent his summers with his family in Ohio and the remainder of the year upon his Mississippi plantation until the war came on, when being a "Union man" he came North and remained with his family until his death in 1869 in the 70th year of his age, he having been born in 1799. Josiah T. Settle, the subject of this sketch, attended the public schools in Hamilton and vicinity until 1866, when his father sent him to Oberlin where he prepared for, and entered college in 1868. He was one of three or four colored boys in a class of forty or fifty, yet he was chosen as one of the eight class orators to represent the class when he entered college, an honor much sought by all students. He completed his Freshman year and entered the Sophomore Class at Oberlin. In 1869 having lost his father, who had indeed been a father to him in the broadest sense of the word, he left Oberlin and went to Washington City and entered the Sophomore Class of Howard University, where he pursued his college studies and taught in the preparatory department. During a portion of his "college course" he was a clerk in the Educational Division of the "Freedmen's Bureau." In the latter part of his Senior year he was elected Reading Clerk of the House of Delegates, (the District of Columbia then being under a territorial form of government).

He graduated from the College Department of Howard University in 1872 together with James M. Gregor, now professor, and A. C. O'Hear, theirs being the first class to graduate from that department. At the time of his graduation he was performing the duties of Reading Clerk of the Legislature, teaching a class in Latin and one in mathematics daily at the University and pursuing his own studies at the same time. Immediately upon his graduation from college he entered the law department of the same institution, then under the control of Hon. John M. Langston, from which he graduated in 1875.

While a citizen of the District of Columbia, Mr. Settle took an active part in politics and held many positions of honor and profit.

On July 9, 1873, he was appointed a clerk in the Board of Public Works of the District of Columbia at $1,200 a year by Governor A. R. Shepherd, which he held until some time in 1874 when the Board having ceased to exist, he was on August 29, 1874, appointed clerk in the "Board of Audit," a Board consisting of the first and second comptrollers of the United States Treasury, to adjust the indebtedness of the late Board of Public Works. He continued in this position until the Board had completed its work and expired by act of Congress. He was also trustee of the public schools of the District of Columbia, serving in that capacity several years.

During the presidential campaign of 1872 he canvassed several counties of Maryland and Virginia in the interest of the Republican ticket, where his youth and brilliancy created considerable attention; he also made speeches for the ticket in Ohio, speaking at Hamilton, Dayton, Cleveland and other places. Upon his graduation from the law department he was selected as one of the orators to represent his class. He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, but having determined to practice his chosen profession in the South, he left Washington in the spring of 1875 and located in North Mississippi and at once began the practice of law. He returned, however, the same year and married the refined and cultured niece of Mr. J. C. Bishop, of Annapolis, Miss Therese T. Vogelsang, and again made his home in Mississippi. In August of the same year he was unanimously nominated by the Republican convention for the position of District Attorney of the then Twelfth Judicial District of Mississippi in which there was, at that time 2,000 Republican majority. The result of the elections in Mississippi in 1875 was a revolution in the politics of the South, and the virtual death of Republicanism in that part of the country. Mr. Settle was of course defeated with all the rest.

In 1876 he was one of the delegated from Mississippi to the National Republican Convention which met in Cincinnati. He was the only delegate from Mississippi who voted for the nomination of Roscoe Conkling for president, and continued to vote for him as long as his name was before the convention. This same year he was chosen one of the presidential electors for the State-at-large on the National Republican ticket, and made the canvass of his State for Hayes and Wheeler. In 1880 he was presidential elector on the "Garfield and Arthur" ticket. In 1882 he was strongly urged to become a candidate for Congress in the Second Congressional District of Mississippi, but in the convention declined the nomination and himself placed General James R. Chalmers in nomination. He was made chairman of the Republican Congressional Executive Committee, and made a thorough canvass of the district which resulted in the election of General Chalmers by a handsome majority.

In 1883 Mr. Settle was nominated and elected to the Mississippi Legislature. He was elected upon an independent ticket, being strongly opposed to the fusion his party made with the Democracy. It was during this canvass that he made the most brilliant efforts of his life. He was met by the ablest speakers of both of the old parties; but before the people he was irresistible and was triumphantly elected by more than 1,200 majority. Though elected upon an independent ticket, for local reasons he never swerved from his Republicanism, and was one of the recognized leaders of the Republican members of the Legislature. Though his party was in a hopeless minority in that body, his ability and genius were fully recognized, and upon the adjournment of the Legislature he was presented with a gold-headed cane as a token of the esteem in which he was held by his fellow members. The correspondent of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat writing from Jackson, Miss., Jan. 4, 1884, of the personnel of the Mississippi Legislature said of him:

"A colored orator--but the palm for natural ability as an orator--is borne by a colored man, J. T. Settle, of Panola County. He comes of the famous North Carolina family of that name, is well educated and a lawyer by profession. He is of spare figure, light of color and good looking. When he gets the floor he speaks in a manner to command the attention of the entire house."

Upon his return from the Legislature he determined to abandon active participation in politics and devote his time and energies to the practice of law, and left Mississippi and located in Memphis, Tenn. About two months after his location in Memphis his success in practice having won for him the respect and admiration of Gen. G. P. M. Turner, the Attorney General of the Criminal Court, he appointed him Assistant Attorney General, which position he held for more than two years. During this time he conducted the greater portion of the public prosecutions. The manner in which he discharged the responsible duties of prosecuting attorney is thus put in a letter written by the Hon. Addison H. Douglas, who was at that time upon the bench of the Criminal Court:

"It is at all times a pleasant duty to offer commendation to those whose exemplary professional deportment has been such as to challenge attention. This is peculiarly appropriate in reference to those who have had the good fortune to be admitted to practice in the courts of the country; for in that capacity, with all its surroundings, of contact and associations, a man more readily and certainly develops his true character than almost anywhere else. I am led to these observations in part by closely scrutinizing the general deportment of members of the bar, both from the bench and as an associate practitioner.

A remarkable instance occurs to me at present in this connection in the character and conduct of J. T. Settle, Esq. He settled in Memphis about the year 1885, having recently served in the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, and shortly after locating in the practice in this city he was appointed Assistant Attorney General, which position he continued to fill two or three years with marked ability and fidelity. His uniform attention to official business, his manly courtesy and amiability won for him the esteem and respect of the bench, the bar and litigants, and went very far to break down the existing prejudices against his color in the profession. His talent is fully recognized, and his integrity has in no instance been in the least questioned from any source.

"He prosecuted without acerbity and with fairness, but neglected no legitimate resources to fix conviction upon the really guilty.

"He is such a master of elocution and displays such fluency and indeed brilliancy, that he invariably captivated those who listened to him.

"He is remarkably simple in his manners and utterly without ostentation, and an honor to his profession. Respectfully,

"A. H. DOUGLAS."

In the spring of 1888 Mr. Settle lost by death his devoted wife, who had indeed been a helpmate to him in every sense of the word. She left him no children, their only child, a little girl, having died years before in infancy.

This same year he was made a member of the Republican State Executive Committee of Tennessee and served continuously for six years. In 1892 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Minneapolis.

Though Mr. Settle takes some part and interest in politics, such as he believes the interests of his race demand, he is by no means what may be called a politician, and seeks no political preferment. He prefers to devote his entire time and energies to his profession and by his success demonstrates the capacity of his race to successfully measure arms with the Anglo-Saxon in the professional walks of life. Mr. Settle's course at the bar demonstrates the fact that it is possible for a colored American to succeed in the practice of law, if he will thoroughly prepare himself for his professional work and then give it his whole time and energy. He enjoys the confidence and esteem of the entire bench and bar; his practice is large and lucrative, and he is rapidly accumulating a competency. He is now in easy circumstances.

In 1890 he married Miss Fannie A. McCullough, one of the most beautiful and accomplished ladies in Memphis. She was distinguished for her superior vocal qualities, and at the time of her marriage had charge of the musical department of LeMoyne Institute. This position she resigned upon her marriage. Mr. Settle owns a beautiful house in one of the most desirable localities in Memphis where their friends always find a cordial welcome. Their marriage has been blessed by two extremely intelligent and handsome boys, Josiah T. Settle, Jr. and Frances McCullough Settle, both of whom give great promise for the future. This man's life, thus far, demonstrates what the colored American can do, and is doing in the South.

Source: Internet