Thomas Baltzell

Thomas Baltzell (July 11, 1804 – January 14, 1866) was an American lawyer and politician who was the first popularly elected chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court. Baltzell was also a Florida Territory Senator and a Florida State Representative as well as a Florida Constitutional Convention delegate for two of the state's Constitutions.

Early life Baltzell was born in Frankfort, Kentucky and studied law with Kentucky Attorney General Solomon P. Sharp, attaining his license at age 20. Following his friend Florida Governor William Pope Duval, Baltzell moved to Florida in 1825. With elections approaching, Baltzell became embroiled in a public feud with another justice, Charles H. DuPont, over a lower-court judge. In the end, DuPont won the 1859 election ending Baltzell's time on the Supreme Court.

Return to political office With the American Civil War raging, Baltzell recovered from his Supreme Court loss and won a seat in the Florida House of Representatives from 1862 to 1863. After the war, Baltzell was a member of the 1865 Florida Constitutional Convention. The Constitution was ineffective and Radical Reconstruction ensued. Florida was readmitted to the United States in 1868, two years after Baltzell's death in Tallahassee.

One of his children, George L. Baltzell, held various public offices.