James Westcott, Jr.

James Diament Westcott, III (May 1, 1838, or June 18, 1838 – April 29, 1887), also known as James Diament Westcott, Jr., was an American politician from the state of Florida who served as the 19th justice of the Florida Supreme Court.

Early life and education Westcott was born in the city of Tallahassee in the Florida Territory on either May 1, 1838, or June 18, 1838. Westcott is the son of James Westcott, an early Florida politician who would later serve as its U.S. Senator. Although Westcott is the third in his family to share the name, he used the "Jr." suffix rather than the "III" suffix throughout his life.

Westcott studied at the West Florida Seminary.

Political career In 1858, Westcott became the assistant secretary of the Florida Senate. The following year, he became the private secretary of Governor Madison S. Perry. After his retirement from the Confederate States Army in 1864, Westcott served as the clerk of the C.S. District Court for Florida.

After the end of the war, Westcott was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, representing Leon County, in 1866, though he would resign later that year. In the 1868 elections, Westcott, a Democrat, successfully ran for Florida attorney general. This is despite the fact that both the 1868 Presidential election and 1868 Florida Governor election were both landslides for the Republican Party as a result of the 1868 Florida Constitution enfranchising freedmen, who mostly registered as Republicans. Additionally, many former Confederates, mostly Democrats, were still disenfranchised as part of Reconstruction.

Florida Supreme Court Within a few weeks of assuming office as attorney general in July 1868, Westcott was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Republican Governor Harrison Reed, making him the youngest justice in the Court's history.

Westcott continued to serve on the Florida Supreme Court until illness forced him to resign in 1885.