Born in Brazoria County (then part of Mexico, now Texas), McCormick received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Centre College in 1854 and read law in 1855. He was in private practice in Brazoria, Texas from 1855 to 1861, becoming a Texas district judge in 1856. He was in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, and was thereafter again a Judge of the Brazoria County Court and a probate judge from 1865 to 1866. He was a Judge of the Texas District Court for Brazoria and Galveston Counties from 1871 to 1876. He served in the Texas Senate from 1876 to 1879, and was then the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas in 1879.[1]
McCormick was nominated by President Benjamin Harrison on January 5, 1892, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the Fifth Circuit, to a new joint seat authorized by 26 Stat. 826. He was confirmed by the Senate on March 17, 1892, and received his commission the same day. On December 31, 1911, the Circuit Courts were abolished and he thereafter served only on the Court of Appeals. His service was terminated on November 2, 1916, due to his death in Waco, Texas.[1]
