Our History: Featured Alumni/ae: West, Jesse F., 1886

Judge, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals

Jesse F. West was born in Sussex County, Virginia, in 1862. He was educated in public schools, the Suffolk Collegiate Institute, and the University of North Carolina, where he graduated in 1885. He then attended the University of Virginia and studied law under Professor John B. Minor. West was admitted to the bar in July 1886, and began practice in his home county of Sussex. In 1890, he was elected superintendent of schools, but resigned on January 1, 1892, to accept the offer of judge of the county court. In 1902, he was elected by the Virginia General Assembly to the position of judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, beginning his term on February 1, 1904. On February 1, 1922, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals and served there until his death in 1929 at his home in Waverly, Virginia.