Thomas Martin Kennerly

Thomas Martin Kennerly (January 24, 1874 – July 29, 1962) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Portrait of Hon. Thomas M. Kennelly in Courtroom 11A of the Bob Casey Federal Building in Houston, Texas.

Education and career

Born in Lee County, Texas, Kennerly read law to enter the bar in 1893. He was in private practice in Giddings, Texas from 1893 to 1897 and in Houston, Texas from 1897 to 1931. He was a Referee in Bankruptcy for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas from 1903 to 1906. He was a special state district judge for Harris County, Texas in 1918. Kennerly was the Republican nominee in the 1924 United States Senate election in Texas, where he lost overwhelming and only received 14.60% of the vote.

Federal judicial service

On January 24, 1931, Kennerly was nominated by President Herbert Hoover to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas vacated by Judge Joseph Chappell Hutcheson Jr. Kennerly was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 4, 1931, and received his commission on February 7, 1931. He assumed senior status on August 29, 1954, serving in that capacity until his death on July 29, 1962, in Houston.