James S. Frazer

James Somerville Frazer (July 17, 1824 – February 20, 1893) was an American politician, lawyer, and judge who served in the Indiana House of Representatives and as a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court from January 3, 1865, to January 3, 1871. Frazer also worked for the Grant administration to help adjust claims made by various parties against the U.S. during the Civil War (most notably the Alabama Claims made by the United Kingdom). Frazer was considered by President Ulysses S. Grant as a potential nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Biography Early life, education, and career Born in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania to a family of Scottish descent, Frazer's mother died when he was just two years old. In 1837, Frazer moved with his father to Wayne County, Indiana. He began studying law in Winchester at the office of Moorman Way, a local judge. Frazer also taught school to help cover expenses.

Judicial service and later activities In 1864, Frazer ran for a seat on the Indiana Supreme Court as a Republican. Indiana's 1864 elections resulted in a Republican landslide victory. The four members of the Supreme Court at that time—all Democrats—were swept out of office, replaced by Frazer and three other Republican justices (known as "the Lincoln four", consisting of Frazer, Jehu Elliott, Charles Ray, and Robert Gregory). During his time on the bench, Frazer advocated that the Court focus on the merits of a case rather than on legal technicalities. Frazer and his Republican justices also ended the Supreme Court's practice of reversing the appeals of most criminal convictions. A notable case heard by the court during Frazer's time on the bench was Smith v. Moody, in which the court struck down Article 13 of the Indiana constitution that barred African-Americans and multiracial individuals from entering or living in Indiana and also made void any contract entered into by African-Americans and multiracial individuals. The court ruled that Article 13 violated the U.S. Constitution's Privileges and Immunities Clause. Frazer left the court after a single, six-year term, refusing to seek re-nomination to his seat on the court. Frazer was succeeded to the bench by the same man he had replaced, Justice James Worden.

In 1893, Frazier died of Bright's disease at his home in Warsaw, at the age of 68, after his health had been declining for two months. He is buried in Warsaw's Oakwood Cemetery. Caroline Frazer would outlive her husband by nearly thirty years.