Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the Republic, 1840-1841
Little is known about Anthony B. Shelby. He lived in Galveston and from January 1840 to January 1841 served as district judge of the First Judicial District, which included Galveston and Houston. This appointment automatically made him an associate justice of the supreme court of the Republic. He sat on the court's January 1840 term, where he wrote four opinions. Shelby's place on the court had been contested by Thomas Johnson, who also claimed the seat. Johnson subsequently resigned the position.
In early 1840, during Shelby's tenure on the bench, the Galveston Daily Courier ran a story that outraged him. Shelby had one of the paper's founders, George H. French, as well as the paper's editor, arrested. French was sentenced to a year in jail and fined $1,000. The editor received ten days in jail and a fine of $200. When citizens of Houston and Galveston became enraged, Judge Thomas Johnson stepped in and remanded the sentences.
Shelby authored four opinions: Board of Land Comm'rs v. Weede,
Joe E. Ericson,
Judges of the Republic of Texas 254. Diana J. Kleiner, Galveston Daily Courier.
Handbook of Texas Online (last updated October 9, 2001).
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/eegev.htmlPaulsen, James W. The Judges of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas,
65 Texas Law Review 237-468 (December 1986).