Thomas Howard DuVal (1813-1880) was the first United States judge for the Western District of Texas. He was admitted to the Florida bar in 1837, and worked there as circuit clerk of Leon County and clerk ex officio of the court of appeals. He also served as secretary of the Territory of Florida, 1841-1945. Following in the footsteps of his two brothers, Burr H. and John C., DuVal moved to Austin in 1845. He served as a reporter for the state Supreme Court, 1846-1851, and became secretary of state in 1881. For one year, 1855-56, DuVal was the judge of the Second Judicial District of Texas, and in 1857 President James Buchanan appointed him first United States judge for the newly created Western District of Texas, which included Waco, Austin, and San Antonio.

The work of the courts in Texas was suspended upon the outbreak of the Civil War, but the avid Unionist DuVal remained in Austin and worked at the General Land Office and as a surveyor for the county. When his son, Burr G., enlisted in the Confederate Army, DuVal risked his life to travel to Washington to attempt to present a plan for the termination of the war. Though unsuccessful, he managed to obtain some of his yet unpaid salary. He also spent time during the war in New Orleans and Brownsville, Texas. When the war ended, DuVal accepted his son’s allegiance to the United States, and worked towards rebuilding U.S. constitutional law. He died in 1880 and is buried in Austin.

Source: Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. DuVal, Thomas Howard, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/fdu34.html (accessed July 8, 2010).