OVERTON, Thomas, Judge.  Marksville , Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Randy DeCuir




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Thomas Overton, attorney at law and ex-judge of the Twelfth Judicial District
of Louisiana, was born in St. Landry Parish, La., in  1836. He is descended
from a family which has occupied a prominent place in the history of this
country from the early days of the republic. His grandfather served with
distinction under Gen. Washington, having been an officer of the dragoons in
the Revolutionary War. He participated in many of the trying scenes of that
momentous epoch, and among others was in the battle of Yorktown, where he
maintained his reputation as a brave and gallant officer. The father of the
subject of this sketch was Judge John H. Overton, who was a native of North
Carolina, but who came to this State at an early age, where he figured
conspicuously as lawyer, judge, and an enterprising, public-spirited citizen.
Embracing law as a profession, he soon rose to a prominent rank among
Louisiana's most distinguished jurists. He was soon thereafter elected
district judge, and his eminent fitness for the position was so marked that he
was kept in that office for a period of twenty-five years. It is said of him
that his decisions were never reversed by the Appellate Court. Judge Overton
took a deep interest in all public enterprises, and was one of the chief
projectors of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was its first president. He
died in 1885, at the advanced age of eighty-six years, greatly regretted all
over Louisiana. Judge Thomas Overton, after acquiring the rudiments of an
education in this State, was sent to the University of Virginia, where he
completed his studies. Choosing law for a profession, he entered the law
department of the Louisiana University (now Tulane), and was admitted to the
bar in 1860, just as the war of the sections was declared. Filled with
patriotic ardor, he accepted from the governor of Louisiana a commission as
captain of a company of infantry in the State troops. He served only eight
months in that capacity, when he resigned to accept a commission from
Jefferson Davis in the regular Confederate Army, and was transferred to the
staff of Gen. D. H. Hill, of the Army of the Potomac. He afterward served on
the staffs of Gen. Wharton and Gen. Gregg, of the Trans-Mississippi
Department. After the war closed he settled in Avoyelles Parish, where he
began the practice of his profession, and where, in 1869, he was married to
Miss Laura Waddill, a lady of talent and refinement, and eldest daughter of
the late John P. Waddill,7 a prominent lawyer of this section in his day.
Judge Overton rose rapidly to distinction at the bar by his talents and 
eloquence, winning a well-earned reputation as a learned and able attorney. 
He filled with great credit the responsible position of district attorney 
of the Seventh Judicial District, which was then composed of the parishes 
of Avoyelles, Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana. He was remarkably 
successful in prosecutions. In 1884 he was elected judge of the Twelfth 
Judicial District of Louisiana, comprising the parishes of Avoyelles, 
Rapides and Grant. He served to 1888, and was noted for his uprightness 
and impartiality, qualities so desirable in one who wears the ermine. His 
decisions were rendered after the most thorough and critical examination of 
the matters in contention, and were prepared with great care, showing depth 
of thought and sound legal reasoning. He has resumed the practice of the 
law, and enjoys to a great degree the esteem and confidence of his 

fellow-men. The future has yet in store for him a career of continual 
usefulness and honor before he reaches the fullness of years.