| James T. Archer | |
| Office: | 5th Florida Comptroller |
| Governor: | James E. Broome |
| Term Start: | November 27, 1854 |
| Term End: | January 24, 1855 |
| Predecessor: | Theodore W. Brevard |
| Successor: | Theodore W. Brevard |
| Office2: | 3rd Florida Attorney General |
| Governor2: | William Dunn Moseley |
| Term Start2: | April 11, 1848 |
| Term End2: | October 14, 1848 |
| Predecessor2: | Augustus Maxwell |
| Successor2: | David P. Hogue |
| Office3: | 1st Secretary of State of Florida |
| Governor3: | William Dunn Moseley |
| Term Start3: | July 23, 1845 |
| Term End3: | April 11, 1848 |
| Predecessor3: | Office created |
| Successor3: | Augustus Maxwell |
| Office4: | U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Florida |
| Term Start4: | 1840 |
| Term End4: | 1840 |
| Birth Date: | May 15, 1819 |
| Birth Place: | Gillisonville, South Carolina |
| Death Date: | June 1, 1859 |
| Death Place: | Tallahassee, Florida |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Mary Brown Archer |
| Occupation: | Lawyer |
James Tillinghast Archer (May 15, 1819 – June 1, 1859) was an American lawyer and politician from the state of Florida. Archer held a number of statewide offices.[1]
Archer was born on May 15, 1819, in Gillisonville, South Carolina. His family moved to Leon County in the Florida Territory in the 1830s as a result of his father, Hugh Archer, taking a position on the Florida Territorial Legislative Council. Archer was thus raised into Florida politics from an early age.[2]
In 1840, Archer was named U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Florida, though he would only hold the position for that year.[3] [4] A Democrat, he was named the first Florida Secretary of State when Florida gained its statehood in 1845.[5] He served in this position until April 1848, when he was appointed as the third Florida Attorney General upon the resignation of incumbent Augustus Maxwell.
During his tenure, Archer was selected to be a member of the first Democratic National Committee at the 1848 Democratic National Convention.[6] He would serve as Attorney General until his resignation in October 1848.
After his resignation, Archer began a private law practice in Tallahassee, Florida, partnering with local lawyer Hugh A. Corley to form the law firm Archer and Corley.[7] Archer would later be briefly appointed as the fifth Florida Comptroller following the short absence of incumbent Theodore W. Brevard. He would serve from November 1854 until Brevard's return in January 1855.
Archer died in Tallahassee on June 1, 1859, from heart disease. He is buried in the Old City Cemetery in Tallahassee.
Shortly after his death, his friend David Levy Yulee named the town of Archer, Florida, after him.[8] In the 1840's, it was named Deer Hammock or Darden’s Hammock.[9]