Charles W. Hornor.

About Charles W. Hornor

Charles West Hornor was a lawyer and Reconstruction Era political activist who was secretary of the New Orleans Freedmens Aid Association in New Orleans following the end of the Civil War. He worked with Thomas J. Durant, who was also involved with politics and the causes of freedmen and social reform. Louisiana History describes Hornor as among the leading Radical Republicans in New Orleans at the time. Hornor represented Thomas J. Allen in a case before the U.S. Supreme court. He introduced the first female lawyer to ever appear before the U.S. Supreme Court. He received a letter of support from residents in New York for nomination to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court after the 1865 death of John Catron. The vacant seat was eliminated by Congress to prevent Democrat Andrew Johnson, who became president after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, from filling the seat.