Thomas Minott Peters

Thomas Minott Peters (December 4, 1810 – June 14, 1888) was an American lawyer, jurist, and botanist who studied the flora of the Southern United States.

Early life and education Born in Clarksville, the county seat of Tennessee's Montgomery County, Peters was eight when his family moved to Leighton, now in Colbert County, Alabama in 1819. He briefly attended LaGrange College (located on the top of the LaGrange Mountain in Leighton, Alabama, which is now a famous historical site) and graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor's degree in 1834 and a master's degree in 1836.

Career Peters was admitted to practice law in 1836. He practiced for several years in partnership with David G. Ligon. Peters considered the Confederates traitors and even wanted to hang Jefferson Davis and "all his traitorous set".

Botanist German-American botanist Charles Mohr praised Peters' botany work, writing in the book Plant Life of Alabama: "In his love for botany [Thomas Minott Peters] found recreation from his professional duties, and his greatest enjoyment was to wander through the adjacent mountains in search of plants. The study of lichens and fungi attracted him particularly, and he was one of the few mycologists working in the Southern field along with Curtis and Ravenel."

Honors Peters was inducted into the Alabama Lawyers' Hall of Fame in 2006.