William Dunlap Simpson, served as the third chief justice of the Supreme Court. He was elected unanimously on December 18, 1879,(1) to succeed Chief Justice Ammiel Willard at the end of Willard’s term on July 30, 1880. Initially, Henry McIver had been elected to succeed Willard. However, on December 15, 1879, he had declined the position, and Simpson then was elected. Willard, however, contended that he had been elected to a full six-year term as chief justice in 1877 and that his term did not expire until 1883. The Supreme Court ruled on October 15, 1880, in Simpson v. Willard, 14 S.C. 191 (1880), that Willard’s term had ended on July 30, 1880, and that Simpson was the duly elected and commissioned chief justice. Simpson resigned as Governor on September 1, 1880, and became chief justice on September 6, 1880.(2) He was re-elected unanimously on December 4, 1885, for a term extending until July 29, 1892.(3)

Chief Justice Simpson was born on October 27, 1823, in Belfast in the Laurens District of South Carolina, the son of John Wells(4) and Elizabeth Satterwhite Simpson. He graduated from South Carolina College in 1843 and studied briefly at Harvard Law School but returned home after one semester because of ill health.(5) He studied law in Laurens under Henry Clinton Young and was admitted to the Bar in 1846.(6) He then practiced law with Young in Laurens until Young’s death in October 1875.(7)

On March 25, 1847, he married Jane Elizabeth Young, the daughter of his law partner. They had eight children, but one died in infancy.(8) He worked until the week before his death,(9) which was caused by heart failure associated with diabetes, on December 26, 1890, in Columbia. He was buried in Laurens.

Prior to the Civil War, Simpson served two terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives, first elected on October 10, 1854 and again in 1858.(10) He was elected to the State Senate in 1860 and was serving there when the Civil War began.(11) He served in the Confederate Army under the commands of Milledge Luke Bonham and Samuel McGowan(12) and was a member of the Confederate House of Representatives from 1863 until the end of the war.

On October 11, 1867, he took an oath of allegiance to the United States(13) and was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1868. Despite receiving his commission from the Republican governor, Simpson’s eligibility to serve was challenged by his opponent. Ultimately the House refused to seat Simpson and instead seated his Republican opponent.(14)

In 1876, Simpson was elected lieutenant governor on the Hampton ticket. At the time, two groups claimed to be the legitimate South Carolina House of Representatives. With his election recognized by the group organized with William Henry Wallace as its Speaker, Simpson was administered the oath of office on December 14, 1876, by Judge T.J. Mackey, bypassing the traditional administration of the oath by a Supreme Court justice.(15) He assumed his duties as President of the Senate on April 24, 1877. He was re-elected in 1878 and served as lieutenant governor until Governor Hampton resigned to become a senator. Simpson automatically succeeded Hampton as governor on February 26, 1879.(16) Simpson resigned as governor on September 1, 1880, to become chief justice.

A Tribute of Respect to Chief Justice Simpson was published by the Supreme Court in 33 S.C. 613 (January 13, 1891).