Supreme Court Justices
1841
The following biographies were compiled by the Legal
Information Institute at Cornell University and are reproduced with their permission.
The source for most of these notes, is a publication of the Commission on the Bicentennial
of the United States Constitution, entitled The Supreme Court of the United States:
Its Beginnings and Its Justices 1790-1991 (1997).
The images of the justices are reproduced from the collection of the Supreme
Court of the United States.
Henry Baldwin, Associate Justice 1830-1844
Philip P. Barbour, Associate Justice 1836-1841
John Catron, Associate Justice 1837-1865
John McKinley, Associate Justice 1838-1852
John McLean, Associate Justice 1830-1861
Joseph Story, Associate Justice 1812-1845
Smith Thompson, Associate Justice 1823-1843
Roger Brooke Taney, Chief Justice 1836-1864
James M. Wayne, Associate Justice 1835-1867
Henry Baldwin, Associate Justice 1830-1844
Artist: Thomas Sully
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Henry Baldwin was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on January 14, 1780. He attended Yale College and was graduated in 1797. He moved immediately to Philadelphia, where he read law in a law office and was soon admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. He moved to Pittsburgh, where he established a law practice with two partners. Baldwin also became joint owner of a newspaper and other business enterprises. He served on the City’s Public Safety Council during the War of 1812. In 1816, Baldwin was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He served as Chairman of the House Committee on Domestic Manufactures and was twice re-elected but was forced to resign because of ill health in 1822. Baldwin recovered and resumed his law practice and business interests in 1824, along with his civic activities and his role as an unofficial political leader of Allegheny County. On January 4, 1830, President Andrew Jackson nominated Baldwin to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment two days later. Baldwin served on the Supreme Court for fourteen years. He died on April 21, 1844, at the age of sixty-four.
Philip P. Barbour, Associate Justice 1836-1841
Artist: George P. A. Healy
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Philip P. Barbour was born in Orange County, Virginia, on May 25, 1783. He attended local public schools and, at the age of seventeen, began reading law. He moved to Kentucky to practice but soon returned to Virginia where he attended one session of the College of William and Mary in 1801. He was admitted to the Virginia bar and established a law practice the following year. Barbour was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1812. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1814 and was re-elected to four additional terms. He served as Speaker of the House from 1821 to 1823. Barbour did not seek re-election to the House in 1824 but accepted an appointment as a Judge on the General Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He was chosen President of the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1829. Barbour was elected for the sixth time to Congress in 1827. At the end of the term in 1830, he accepted an appointment from President Andrew Jackson to the United States District Court in Virginia. Five years later, on February 28, 1835, President Jackson nominated Barbour to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on March 15, 1836. He served on the Supreme Court for four years and died on February 25, 1841, at the age of fifty-seven.
John Catron, Associate Justice 1837-1865
Artist: C. Gregory Stapro
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
John Catron was born of German ancestry in Pennsylvania in approximately 1786, but little is known about his early years. They appear to have been spent in Virginia and Kentucky. There is no record of his schooling. In 1812, Catron moved to the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee and served under General Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. He was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1815, and in 1818 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he established a practice specializing in land law. In 1824, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals. In 1831, the Legislature created the office of Chief Justice of the Court and Catron was elected to the position. Under a further reorganization in 1834, the position of Chief Justice was abolished. Catron returned to private practice and became active in national politics. When Congress expanded the Supreme Court of the United States from seven to nine members, President Andrew Jackson nominated Catron to one of the new seats on March 3, 1837. The Senate confirmed the appointment on March 8, 1837. Catron served on the Supreme Court for twenty-eight years. He died on May 30, 1865, at the age of seventy-nine.
John McKinley, Associate Justice 1838-1852
Artist: Matthew Harris Jouett
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
John McKinley was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, on May 1, 1780, but at an early age moved with his family to Kentucky. He studied law on his own and was admitted to the bar in 1800. McKinley practiced law for a time in Frankfort, the state capital, and Louisville, the commercial center. McKinley then moved to Alabama and settled in Huntsville, where he became active in politics. McKinley was elected to the Alabama State Legislature in 1820, 1831, and 1836. In 1826, the Legislature elected him to the United States Senate, where he served until 1831. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1833 and served one term. In 1837, Congress expanded the Supreme Court from seven to nine members. In that same year, the Alabama Legislature re-elected McKinley to the Unites States Senate. However, McKinley accepted an appointment to one of the two new Supreme Court seats from President Martin Van Buren on September 18, 1837. The Senate confirmed the appointment on September 25, 1837. McKinley served on the Supreme Court for fourteen years. He died on July 19, 1852, at the age of seventy-two.
John McLean, Associate Justice 1830-1861
Artist: John Wesley Jarvis
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
John McLean was born in Morris County, New Jersey, on March 11, 1785. His family soon moved to western Virginia, then to Kentucky, and settled in Warren County, Ohio, in 1797. McLean began his legal career in Cincinnati in 1804 by working in the office of the clerk of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas and reading law in the office of a Cincinnati attorney. He was admitted to the bar in 1807 and moved to Lebanon, Ohio, where he combined a law practice with publication of a weekly newspaper. Beginning in 1810, he devoted himself fully to his law practice. McLean was appointed an examiner in the Federal Land Office in Cincinnati in 1811. In 1812, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. Re-elected two years later, he resigned in 1816 to take a seat on the Ohio Supreme Ct. In 1822, President James Monroe appointed McLean Commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington, D.C., and one year later McLean was appointed Postmaster General. President Andrew Jackson nominated McLean to the Supreme Court of the United States on March 6, 1829. The Senate confirmed the appointment the following day. McLean served on the Supreme Court for nearly thirty-two years. He died on April 4, 1861, at the age of seventy-six.
Joseph Story, Associate Justice 1812-1845
(Also see in depth biography)
Artist: George P. A. Healy
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Joseph Story was born on September 18, 1779, in Marblehead, Massachusetts. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1798. Story read law in the offices of two Marblehead attorneys and was admitted to the bar in 1801. He established a law practice in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1805, Story served one term in the Massachusetts Legislature, and in 1808 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. After one term, he returned to the Massachusetts Lower House, and in 1811 he was elected Speaker. On November 15, 1811, President James Madison nominated Story to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on November 18, 1811. At the age of thirty-two, Story was the youngest person ever appointed to the Supreme Court. While on the Supreme Court, Story served as delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1820 and was a Professor of Law at Harvard, where he wrote a series of nine commentaries on the law, each of which was published in several editions. Story served on the Supreme Court for thirty-three years. He died on September 10, 1845, at the age of sixty-five.
Smith Thompson, Associate Justice 1823-1843
Artist: Ashur B. Durand
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Smith Thompson was born about January 17, 1768, in Dutchess County, New York. He was graduated from Princeton University in 1788 and taught school and read law with an attorney in Poughkeepsie. In 1793, he joined a Poughkeepsie law firm. In 1800, Thompson was elected to the New York State Legislature, and one year later he served as a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention. In 1802, Thompson was appointed State District Attorney for the Middle District of New York, but before assuming his duties he was appointed to the New York Supreme Ct. He served there as an Associate Justice for twelve years and was named Chief Justice in 1814. Thompson resigned from the New York Supreme Court in 1818 to accept an appointment as Secretary of the Navy from President James Monroe. He served in the cabinet until 1823 when, on December 8, President Monroe nominated him to the Supreme Court of the United States. Thompson gave up plans to run for President in 1824 and accepted the Supreme Court appointment. The Senate confirmed the appointment on December 19, 1823. Thompson served on the Supreme Court for twenty years. In 1828, while still on the Court, he made an unsuccessful run for Governor of New York. Thompson died on December 18, 1843, at the age of seventy-five.
Roger Brooke Taney, Chief Justice 1836-1864
Artist: George P. A. Healy
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Roger Brooke Taney was born in Calvert County, Maryland, on March 17, 1777. He was graduated from Dickinson College in 1795. After reading law in a law office in Annapolis, Maryland, he was admitted to the bar in 1799. In the same year, he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. Defeated for re-election, Taney moved to Frederick, Maryland, and entered the practice of law. He was elected to the State Senate in 1816 and served until 1821. In 1823, Taney moved to Baltimore, where he continued the practice of law. From 1827 to 1831, Taney served as Attorney General for the State of Maryland. In 1831, Taney was appointed Attorney General of the United States by President Andrew Jackson. On September 23, 1833, Taney received a recess appointment as Secretary of the Treasury. When the recess appointment terminated, Taney was formally nominated to serve in that position, but the Senate declined to confirm the appointment in 1834. In 1835, Taney was nominated as Associate Justice by President Jackson to succeed Justice Duvall, but the Senate failed to confirm him. On December 28, 1835, President Jackson nominated Taney Chief Justice of the United States. The Senate confirmed the appointment on March 15, 1836. Taney served as Chief Justice for twenty-eight years, the second longest tenure of any Chief Justice, and died on October 12, 1864, at the age of eighty-seven.
James M. Wayne, Associate Justice 1835-1867
Artist; John Maier
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
James M. Wayne was born in Savannah, Georgia, around 1790. He was graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1808 and read law under three different lawyers in Savannah, Georgia, and New Haven, Connecticut. Wayne was admitted to the bar in 1811 and entered a law partnership in Savannah. During the War of 1812, Wayne served with a volunteer Georgia militia unit. He was elected to the Georgia State Legislature in 1815 and became Mayor of Savannah in 1817. In 1820, Wayne was elected to the Savannah Court of Common Pleas, and he was appointed to the Superior Court of Georgia two years later. Wayne left the Court in 1828 and ran successfully for election to the United States House of Representatives. He was re-elected twice and became Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Relations. President Andrew Jackson nominated Wayne to the Supreme Court of the United States on January 7, 1835, and the Senate confirmed the appointment two days later. Wayne served on the Supreme Court for thirty-two years. He died on July 5, 1867, at the age of seventy-seven.
