West Hughes Humphreys

West Hughes Humphreys (born Aug. 26, 1806, Montgomery County, Tenn., U.S.—died Oct. 16, 1882, near Nashville, Tenn.) was a federal judge, the only U.S. government official impeached for supporting the secession of the Southern states during the American Civil War (1861–65). After serving as Tennessee attorney general and reporter of cases for the state Supreme Court (1839–51), Humphreys was appointed U.S. district judge in 1853 for the three districts in Tennessee. In 1862 he accepted...