William N. Ethridge

William Nathaniel Ethridge Jr. (August 3, 1912 – July 29, 1971)^[1] was a justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi from 1952 to 1971, serving as chief justice from 1966 until his death in 1971.^[2]

Born in Columbus, Mississippi,^[1] Ethridge was a second cousin of George H. Ethridge, who served as a justice on the state supreme court.^[2] Ethridge suffered from polio as a child, and required the use of a wheelchair.^[2] He attended the public schools of West Point, Mississippi, and received degrees from the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern California.^[1] He then engaged in private practice in Oxford, Mississippi, and Jackson, Mississippi, and taught at the University of Mississippi School of Law.^[1] In 1950, he published Modernizing Mississippi's Constitution.

In October 1950, Governor Fielding L. Wright appointed Ethridge, then 40 years old, to one of three newly-established seats on the state supreme court,^[1][2] likely making Ethridge the first judge appointed to the court with a physical handicap.^[2] Ethridge was then re-elected to the seat without opposition in 1952,^[1][2] and again in 1960.^[2] He became Chief Justice in 1966, winning re-election to that office in 1968,^[2] and serving in that capacity until his death.^[1][3]

Ethridge married Laura Clark of Webb, Mississippi, with whom he had five children.^[1]

He died at Baptist Hospital in Jackson at the age of 58, from an apparent heart attack while recuperating from surgery to remove his gallbladder.^[1]