Harry Toulmin

Harry Toulmin (sometimes Henry Toulmin) (April 7, 1766 – November 11, 1823) was a Unitarian minister and politician figure. The son of noted Dissenting minister Joshua Toulmin, Toulmin fled his native England for the United States after he and his followers were persecuted for their beliefs. He arrived in Virginia in 1793, and aided by recommendations from Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, he was chosen president of Transylvania Seminary (now Transylvania University) in Lexington, Kentucky. His Unitarian views, however, offended many of the orthodox Presbyterian members of Transylvania's board of regents, and Toulmin resigned after two years.

Shortly after his resignation, Toulmin was appointed Secretary of State of Kentucky by Governor James Garrard. He influenced Garrard – a Baptist minister – to adopt some doctrines of Socinianism, for which he was expelled from the local Baptist association, ending his ministry. As Secretary of State, Toulmin endorsed the Kentucky Resolutions and revised the state's code of laws in conjunction with Attorney General James Blair. After the expiration of his term as Secretary of State in 1804, Thomas Jefferson appointed him Superior Court Judge for the Tombigbee District of the Mississippi Territory. He was the first U.S. district judge to hold court on Alabama soil. As the highest-ranking authority in the large territory, he tried to prevent residents in his jurisdiction from conducting raids against the Spanish in West Florida and from participating in the Creek War between two rival factions of Creek Indians. When the state of Alabama was formed from part of Toulmin's district, he helped write the new state's constitution and was elected to the state legislature. Again, he was asked to compile a digest of the region's laws, which he completed in 1823.

Toulmin died in Washington County, Alabama on November 11, 1823. Because of his work compiling the laws of several states, later historians called him the "frontier Justinian". His grandson, Harry Theophilus Toulmin was appointed district judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama by President Grover Cleveland in 1886. In 2005, Toulmin was inducted into the Alabama Lawyer's Hall of Fame, and in December 2009 he was honored with the installation of a plaque in front of the Baldwin County, Alabama, courthouse.

Early life and family Toulmin was born April 7, 1766, in Taunton, Somersetshire, England. His parents were Joshua Toulmin, a noted Dissenting minister, and his wife Jane (Smith) Toulmin. After attending Hoxton Academy and studying under Thomas Barnes and William Hawes, he followed his father into the ministry in 1786. After the death of Toulmin's first wife, he married Martha Johnson in 1812.

After seeing Toulmin's letters of recommendation from Jefferson and Madison, the board of trustees of Transylvania Seminary (now Transylvania University) in Lexington, Kentucky, elected him president of the seminary in February 1794. He was the first president of the seminary who was not a Presbyterian, and his election was effected when the Baptist and more liberal members of the board united against the more conservative Presbyterian members. His Unitarian views offended many of the conservative board members, and at their insistence, the Kentucky General Assembly passed legislation requiring a unanimous vote of the board of regents to re-elect the seminary's president. He served in this capacity from 1796 to 1804, spanning both of Garrard's consecutive terms as governor. By 1802, Garrard and his associate Augustine Eastin had not only adopted these beliefs, but had indoctrinated their Baptist congregations with them as well.

As Secretary of State, Toulmin was signatory to the Kentucky Resolutions, the legislature's official protest of the Alien and Sedition Acts, which he regarded as an "unwarranted government intrusion into free thought, free association, and free speech".

Life in Alabama Toulmin supported President Thomas Jefferson's re-election bid in 1804. Because Kirby only served six months and never held court in the present-day state of Alabama, Toulmin is regarded as the first U.S. federal judge on Alabama soil.

Toulmin and his family relocated to Fort Stoddert, just north of the border between the United States and the Spanish territory of West Florida. He published both the Mississippi Magistrate's Guide and The Laws of Mississippi in 1807.

Toulmin was elected to the Alabama Lawyer's Hall of Fame in 2005. A plaque honoring Toulmin was placed in front of the Baldwin County, Alabama, courthouse in December 2009.

Works published by Harry Toulmin