Date of Birth: 
About Walter B. Scates
- Walter Bennett Scates (January 18, 1808 – October 26, 1886) was an American lawyer and jurist. Born in South Boston, Virginia, Scates moved with his parents to a farm near Hopkinsville, Kentucky and then learned the printer's trade in Nashville, Tennessee.
- He studied law in Louisville, Kentucky and then moved to West Frankfort, Illinois where he practiced law.
- Scates served as county surveyor and state's attorney pro temp.
- In 1836, Scates served as Illinois Attorney General and then as Illinois Circuit Court judge.
- In 1841, Scates was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court and served until 1847.
- Scates served as a delegate to the 1848 Illinois Constitutional Convention.
- From 1852 until 1857, Scates again served in the Illinois Supreme Court and was chief justice in 1855. During the American Civil War, Scates served as a staff officer in the Union Army.
- He ended the war as major and was brevetted brigadier general.
- President Abraham Lincoln nominated Scates to be Governor of the New Mexico Territory but Scates turned down the nomination.
- He was collector of customs for the Port of Chicago, Illinois from 1866 to 1869 and continued to practice law in Chicago, Illinois.
- Scates died in Evanston, Illinois.
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