Thomas Minott Peters (December 4, 1810 – June 14, 1888) was an American lawyer, jurist, and botanist who studied the flora of the Southern United States. Born in Clarksville, the county seat of Tennessee's Montgomery County, Peters was eight when his family moved to Leighton, now in Colbert County, Alabama in 1819. He briefly attended LaGrange College (located on the top of the LaGrange Mountain in Leighton, Alabama, which is now a famous historical site) and graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor's degree in 1834 and a master's degree in 1836; being admitted to practice law that same year. He practiced for several years in partnership with David G. Ligon. He served in the Alabama House of Representatives (1845–1846) and the Alabama Senate (1847–1848). He was elected to r