| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honorable |
| Mortimer M. Jackson | |
| Justice of the | |
| Status: | ex officio |
| Term Start: | September 1848 |
| Term End: | June 1, 1853 |
| Title1: | Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge |
| Term Start1: | September 1848 |
| Term End1: | June 1, 1853 |
| Predecessor1: | Position Established |
| Successor1: | Montgomery M. Cothren |
| Order2: | 3rd and 5th |
| Title2: | Attorney General of the |
| Governor2: | Henry Dodge |
| Term Start2: | 1845 |
| Term End2: | January 22, 1846 |
| Predecessor2: | William Pitt Lynde |
| Successor2: | A. Hyatt Smith |
| Governor3: | James Duane Doty |
| Term Start3: | June 26, 1842 |
| Term End3: | 1844 |
| Predecessor3: | Horatio Wells |
| Successor3: | William Pitt Lynde |
| Birth Name: | Mortimer Melville Jackson |
| Birth Date: | 5 March 1809 |
| Birth Place: | Rensselaerville, New York |
| Death Place: | Madison, Wisconsin |
| Restingplace: | Forest Hill Cemetery Madison, Wisconsin |
| Occupation: | Lawyer, judge |
| Signature: | Signature of Mortimer Melville Jackson (1809–1889).png |
Mortimer Melville Jackson (March 5, 1809October 13, 1889) was an American lawyer, judge, and diplomat. He was a justice of the original Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1848 through 1853 and was later a United States consul general in Canada for twenty years. Prior to Wisconsin statehood, he was Attorney General of the Wisconsin Territory.
Jackson was born in Rensselaerville, New York.[1] He received his education in New York City, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1838, Jackson moved to Milwaukee,[1] and then in 1839, to Mineral Point, Wisconsin Territory,[1] where he practiced law, involving the lead-mining industry.[2]
In 1842, Wisconsin Territorial Governor James Duane Doty appointed Jackson Attorney General of the Wisconsin Territory, where he served until 1846.[1] When Wisconsin became a state in 1848, Jackson was elected one of the first five Wisconsin Circuit Court judges. At the time, the Wisconsin Supreme Court was constituted of the five circuit court judges; thus, Jackson was also a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court until a separate Supreme Court was formed in 1853.[1]
Politically, Judge Jackson was involved with the Whig Party from as early as 1834, and joined the Republican Party when it was formed in the 1850s.[1] In 1857 he was a candidate for the United States Senate, but was defeated by James Rood Doolittle. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Jackson United States consul general in Halifax, Canada.[2] As consul general, he was instrumental in the seizure of about $3,000,000 worth of Confederate property during the American Civil War (about $49,000,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars).[1] He would remain in this role for 21 years until his retirement in 1882. He then returned to Madison, Wisconsin, where he died seven years later at the Park Hotel.[3] [1]
Jackson's will donated $20,000 to the Law School at the University of Wisconsin to create the Mortimer M. Jackson Professorship of Law.[4] [5] [6] [2]
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 3, 1857
|-|-|-|-|-