Edward Coke Billings Explained

Edward Coke Billings
Office:Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Term Start:March 3, 1881
Term End:December 1, 1893
Appointer:operation of law
Predecessor:Seat established by 21 Stat. 507
Successor:Charles Parlange
Office1:Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Louisiana
Term Start1:February 10, 1876
Term End1:March 3, 1881
Appointer1:Ulysses S. Grant
Predecessor1:Edward Henry Durell
Successor1:Seat abolished
Birth Name:Edward Coke Billings
Birth Date:3 December 1829
Birth Place:Hatfield, Massachusetts
Death Place:New Haven, Connecticut
Education:Yale University
Harvard Law School (LL.B.)

Edward Coke Billings (December 3, 1829 – December 1, 1893) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Louisiana and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Education and career

Born on December 3, 1829, in Hatfield, Massachusetts, Billings graduated from Yale University in 1853 and received a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1855. He entered private practice in New York City, New York from 1855 to 1865. He continued private practice in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1865 to 1876.

Federal judicial service

Billings was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant on January 10, 1876, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Louisiana vacated by Judge Edward Henry Durell. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 10, 1876, and received his commission the same day. Billings was reassigned by operation of law to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on March 3, 1881, to a new seat authorized by 21 Stat. 507. His service terminated on December 1, 1893, due to his death in New Haven, Connecticut.

Unsuccessful nomination

Billings was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes to the United States Circuit Courts for the Fifth Circuit on January 24, 1881, but the Senate never voted on his nomination.