Daniel Holcombe Thomas

Daniel Holcombe Thomas (August 25, 1906 – April 13, 2000) was a United States district judge who served nearly five decades on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. Early life and education Born in Prattville, Alabama, Thomas came from a family of lawyers and judges. His father was a local probate judge for Autauga County, Alabama. His uncle William Holcombe Thomas had served on the Alabama Supreme Court and another uncle, J. Render Thomas was that court's clerk; his paternal grandfather W.C. Thomas had served in the state legislature. Daniel H. Thomas received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1928. Legal and military careers Thomas was in private practice in Mobile, Alabama from 1929 to 1943. He also became an assistant solicitor for Mobile County, Alabama during the Great Depression (1932 to 1939). He became Mobile County's acting solicitor in 1943. Called into military service during World War II, Thomas served in the United States Navy as a Lieutenant (from 1943 to 1946). He then returned to private practice in Mobile from 1946 to 1951 with Joseph Lyons and Sam Pipes as the firm of Lyons, Thomas and Pipes.