Confederate Biography :  J. M. HURT, Dallas Co, TX  

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Submitted by Susie McFarland Lemin slemin46@yahoo.com
Oct.20, 2001
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TEXANS WHO WORE THE GRAY by Sid S. Johnson, pg. 142

James M. Hurt, of Dallas, was born in Carroll county, Tenn., 
December 15, 1830 After completing his education in Bethel College 
he read law three years in the office of Hon. Milton Brown at Jackson, 
Tenn., and afterward graduated from the law department of Cumberland 
University.  In February, 1857, he received his license from the 
Supreme Court of the state, and soon afterward removed to Texas, 
locating in Sherman.  His energy and talents early brought him 
friends and clients, and he took a prominent stand at the bar.  When 
the war came he was commissioned captain of a company of infantry 
which he raised in Grayson county, and which formed a part of the 
Frist Texas Battalion of sharp-shooters in Maxey's brigade.  He 
was at the siege of Port Hudson and afterward served under Gen. 
Joseph E. Johnston in his campaign for the relief of Vicksburg.  He 
served until the surrender, being in numerous battles.  He again took 
up the practice of law in Sherman, and in 1866 was a member of the 
constitutional convention and an active one, particularly in his 
efforts to preserve the rights of the people and the dignity of the 
state.  He was soon afterward appointed by Gov. Throckmorton district 
attorney, and acquired the reputation of being one of the best in the 
State; but in 1866, in consequence of his inability to take the oath 
imposed at that time on Southern officials, he resigned his office.  
In 1876 he removed to Dallas where his practice steadily enlarged, 
partcularly in the criminal branch of the law.  In 1880 he was elected 
one of the three judges of the Texas Court of Appeals, a position 
which he held by re-election for nearly twenty years, retiring 
Jan. 1, 1899.  He died at his home in Dallas a few years afterward. 
He was one of the great criminal lawyers of Texas, and as a judge of 
the highest court of criminal appleals he made a reputation that
time will only make more sucure.