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Courts in the Classroom > Online Court History Museum > Supreme Court Justice Biographies > Justice Byron Kosciusko Elliott Justice Biographies

Justice Byron Kosciusko Elliott

(Thirtieth Justice)

Justice Elliott

Justice Elliott was born on September 4, 1835, in Butler County, Ohio, and died November 19, 1913, in Indianapolis.180

He came to Indianapolis in 1850 with his father.181 He attended the Marion County Seminary and then studied law and was admitted to the bar in February 1858.182

In May 1859, he was elected city attorney of Indianapolis.183 The Civil War caused him to leave office and serve as a captain of the 132nd Indiana Volunteers, subsequently rising to the rank of an adjutant-general.184 After the war he resumed serving as city attorney.185 In 1870, Elliott was elected judge of the Marion County Criminal Court.186 In 1872, he was re-elected to the city attorney post, and in 1876 he was elected to the superior court.187 In 1880, he was elected to the supreme court and served from January 3, 1881 until January 2, 1893.188

He was a lecturer in the Central Law School of Indianapolis and at the law schools of DePauw University and Northwestern Christian (now Butler) University.189 He later became president of the Indiana Law School of Indianapolis.190 Along with his son, he wrote The Work of the Advocate, General Practice and Appellate Procedure.191 He also practiced law with his son after his service on the bench.192

180. 1 MONKS, supra note 25, at 268-69.
181. 1 id. at 268.
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Source: Browning, Minde C., Richard Humphrey, and Bruce Kleinschmidt. "Biographical Sketches of Indiana Supreme Court Justices." Indiana Law Review: Vol. 30, No. 1, 1997. View this source in PDF format.