Edward Thaxter Gignoux

Born in Portland, Maine, Gignoux received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Harvard University in 1937 and a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1940. He was in private practice in Buffalo, New York from 1940 to 1941, then in Washington, D.C. from 1941 to 1942. He was in the United States Army during World War II, from 1942 to 1946, returning to private practice in Portland from 1946 to 1957.[1]

On August 9, 1957, Gignoux was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Maine vacated by Judge John David Clifford Jr. Gignoux was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 22, 1957, and received his commission on August 26, 1957. He was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1967 to 1973. In 1970, following the rejection of Clement Haynsworth and George Harrold Carswell by the Senate, Gignoux was the runner-up to Harry Blackmun in Richard Nixon‘s quest to fill Abe Fortas’ seat on the Supreme Court.[2] He served as Chief Judge from 1978 to 1983. He was a Judge of the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals from 1980 to 1987. He assumed senior status on June 1, 1983, serving in that capacity until his death on November 4, 1988, in Portland.[1]

The Edward T. Gignoux U.S. Courthouse was named in Gignoux's honor in 1982.

• Edward Thaxter Gignoux at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.