33rd / 424th District Courts

This is something I've wanted to do for some time and this spot is the best place to start. Hopefully others with information relevant (or corrections) will post comments.

I hope to use this space to chronicle some of the significant events occurring within the judicial system of the 33rd (in its various incarnations) but naturally, most of the commentary is likely to be about the judges who have been the caretakers of justice here over the years.
This Article Copyright (c) 2003 by Guilford L. Jones, III.

The following is paraphrased from an article by Linda Ware in the River Cities Tribune in her The Way It Was section entitled "Blackburn helped organize early judicial system."

William Lafayette Alexander Blackburn was born in 1834 near Knoxville, TN, the son of John Ashley and Emma Blackburn. He studied law in New York and was admitted to the Tazewell, TN bar before he was 21. Blackburn served in the Tennessee legislature, served in teh army of the Confederacy, and eventually made his way to Texas, arriving in Burnet in 1865. In 1876 he was elected to the 17th Judicial District of Texas of which Burnet County -- now part of the 33rd Judicial District -- was then a part. He held that office for more than 20 years and retired due to ill health in 1896 at which time Burnet County was part of the 27th Judicial District. At that time the 27th included Burnet, Bell, Lampasas and Mills counties. The 27th now includes only Lampasas and Bell counties. Blackburn practiced law for a few more years in Burnet, finally retiring in 1901 He died in 1909 at the age of 75 and is buried in the Old Burnet Cemetary along with his wife and their four children, none of whom ever married.

Judge Tom Ferguson: Judge Ferguson served the District from 1947 to 1961 on the active bench and afterwards by assignment. There is another entry in this blog which will take you to a web page about the Judge which is designed by the criminal justice class at Burnet High School. I'll defer to that page for an exhaustive tribute to Judge Ferguson and his public service.