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Ashe, Thomas Samuel (19 July 1812–04 February 1887), jurist and congressman, was born at “the Hawfields,” Orange County, North Carolina, the home of his maternal grandfather, where his parents regularly spent the summer. He was the son of Pasquale Paoli Ashe, the owner of a plantation in coastal New Hanover County, North Carolina, and a coal mine in Alabama, and Elizabeth Jane Strudwick. His father lost his entire fortune about 1829 as surety for the debts of a friend....

Bosone, Reva Beck (02 April 1895–21 July 1983), judge and congresswoman, was born in American Fork, Utah, the daughter of Christian M. Beck, a hotel and livery stable owner, and Zilpha Ann Chipman, manager of the hotel. Descended both from Mayflower ancestors and early Utah Mormon pioneers, she was born into a family that emphasized education for both boys and girls. She graduated from Westminster Junior College in 1917 and from the University of California at Berkeley in 1919. She taught speech, drama, and debate in several Utah high schools for seven years before entering the University of Utah College of Law in 1927. There she met and married, in 1929, fellow student Joseph P. Bosone. She received an LL.B. in 1930, shortly before the birth of her daughter....

Bourne, Benjamin (09 December 1755–17 September 1808), U.S. congressman and jurist, was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, the son of Shearjashub Bourne and Ruth Bosworth Church. Bourne began a career in law and public service after graduating from Harvard with an A.B. in law in 1775. In January 1776 he became the quartermaster for the Second Regiment of Rhode Island. He left military service in January 1777 and returned to Bristol. In 1778 Bourne married Hope Child Diman, the widow of Captain Benjamin Diman of Bristol; they had four children....

Boyle, John (28 October 1774–28 January 1834), congressman and state and federal judge, was born at “Castle Woods,” near Tazewell, Botetourt County, Virginia, the son of John Boyle, a farmer, and Jane (maiden name unknown). An 1878 encyclopedia describes Boyle as “descended from a sound but humble stock, he was the carver of his own fortune, and the ennobler of his own name” ( ...

Bradbury, Theophilus (13 November 1739–06 September 1803), lawyer, jurist, and congressman, was born in Newbury (now Newburyport), Massachusetts, the son of Theophilus Bradbury, a wealthy sea captain, and Ann Woodman. Graduated from Harvard College in 1757, he moved to Falmouth (now in Maine but a part of Massachusetts until 1820), where he briefly taught school. When courts were organized in Cumberland and Lincoln counties in 1761, Bradbury was the first man admitted to the bar. Bradbury’s knowledge of the law and effective, dignified courtroom manner led to his appointment as collector of the excise on liquor, tea, coffee, and china in Maine for the province. In 1762 he married Sarah Jones; they had seven children....

Burke, Aedanus (16 June 1743–30 March 1802), congressman and judge, was born in County Galway, Ireland. His parentage is unknown, although he acknowledged that his grandfather served in the Irish army of James II. Burke attended a Jesuit seminary in St. Omer, France, and had he completed his studies there would have been destined for the priesthood. Never renouncing Catholicism or affiliating with any religious denomination in America, Burke, in order to be eligible to hold public office in South Carolina, became a nominal Protestant. After a brief stay in Bermuda, Burke showed up in 1766 at ...

Campbell, John Wilson (23 February 1782–24 September 1833), Ohio congressman and judge, was born in Augusta County, Virginia, the son of William Campbell and Elizabeth Wilson, pioneer farmers. His parents, immigrants from northern Ireland, moved to Kentucky in about 1791. Disliking farm work, young Campbell left home and became an apprentice carpenter in Cincinnati, but this so distressed his mother that he returned home and later moved to southern Ohio with the family. He paid for his schooling by clearing land and teaching school, becoming an excellent Latin scholar, although he had no college education. After studying law in Morgantown, Virginia, with his uncle, Thomas Wilson, he was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1808 and took up practice in West Union. Appointed prosecuting attorney for Adams and Highland counties, he built a profitable practice dealing mainly with disputed land titles in Ohio’s Virginia Military District, where he also acted as land agent for nonresident proprietors. In 1811 he married Eleanor W. Doak. They adopted one child....

Clayton, Henry De Lamar (10 February 1857–21 December 1929), congressman and judge, was born in Barbour County, Alabama, the son of Henry De Lamar Clayton and Victoria Virginia Hunter. His father was a lawyer, a major general in the Confederate army, and president of the University of Alabama from 1886 to 1889. His mother was also devoted to the Confederate cause and was the author of ...

Cross, Edward (11 November 1798–06 April 1887), U.S. congressman and jurist, was born in Hawkins City, Tennessee, the son of Robert Cross, a revolutionary war soldier and a farmer of Welsh stock from Virginia. (His mother’s name is unrecorded.) Cross grew up on a farm in Cumberland County, Kentucky, and received an education in the local schools. He moved to Overton County, Tennessee, in 1820 to read law with Adam Huntsman. Admitted to the bar in 1822, Cross practiced law in Tennessee until 1826, when he moved to Washington, Arkansas Territory, to practice law in partnership with Daniel Ringo, later chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. Cross also became involved in Democratic politics and in 1828 joined Governor ...

Dickerson, Philemon (26 June 1788–10 December 1862), politician and jurist, was born in Succasunna, New Jersey, the son of Jonathan Dickerson, a landowner and owner of an iron mine, and Mary Coe. Philemon Dickerson graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1808 and immediately began studying law in Philadelphia at the instigation of his elder brother ...

Elliott, Carl A. (20 December 1913–09 January 1999), U.S. congressman, was born Carl Atwood Elliott in Gober Ridge, Franklin County, Alabama, the son of G. W. “Will” Elliott, farmer, and Nora Massey Elliott. The oldest of nine children, he grew up on a hardscrabble tenant farm and became interested in politics at an early age. After attending local public schools, he entered the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on a shoestring budget in 1930. His first night on campus was spent sleeping under a truck; he then lived in an abandoned building during his first year and a half of college. Despite his lack of means, Elliott managed to support himself by working a variety of odd jobs. His success on campus was marked by his election as class president during his senior year. Upon graduating in 1933, he entered law school at Alabama and received his law degree in 1936....

Gayle, John (11 September 1792–21 July 1859), Alabama governor, U.S. congressman, and Alabama jurist, was born in Sumter District, South Carolina, the son of Mary Rees and Matthew Gayle, farmers. Originally from Virginia, Matthew Gayle moved to South Carolina about the time of the American Revolution and served with ...

Goodenow, John Milton (1782–20 July 1838), Ohio jurist and congressman, was born in Westmoreland, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, the son of Nahum Goodenow. His mother’s name is unknown. After a common-school education, he taught school and studied law in New Hampshire and, for a spell in 1803–1804, in New York and New Jersey. In 1805 or 1806 he moved to Wiscasset, Maine, where he failed in mercantile business about 1808 and then worked in various public offices. In September 1812 he moved to Steubenville, Ohio, where he studied law with John C. Wright, gained admission to the bar in August 1813, and began practice. In the same year he married Wright’s sister, Sarah Lucy Wright Campbell. An opponent of the regular Jeffersonian Republicans, Goodenow was rejected as county prosecuting attorney through the influence of another relation by marriage, ...

Hale, Robert Safford (24 September 1822–14 December 1881), lawyer, judge, and congressman, was born in Chelsea, Vermont, the son of Harry Hale, a merchant, farmer, and miller, and Lucinda Eddy. He attended the South Royalton (Vt.) Academy and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1842. Hale taught at the academy in Montpelier before going back to Chelsea to study law. In January 1844 he moved to the village of Elizabethtown in northern New York and continued his legal studies at the office of Augustus C. Hand. Hale married Lovinia Sibley Stone, but the date of their marriage is unknown. They had a son and four daughters....

Hemphill, Joseph (07 January 1770–29 May 1842), lawyer, judge, and congressman, was born in Thornbury Township, Chester (later Delaware) County, Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph Hemphill and Ann Wills, prosperous Quaker farmers. Hemphill attended West Chester preparatory school. In 1791 he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, afterward studying law. He was admitted to the bar in 1793. The same year Hemphill’s father died, bequeathing to Joseph his entire estate. Hemphill magnanimously divided the inheritance among his brothers and sisters in the belief that he could make a respectable living. In 1806 he married Margaret Coleman, daughter of Robert Coleman, one of the richest iron manufacturers in Pennsylvania; the couple had two sons....

Hopkinson, Joseph (12 November 1770–15 January 1842), congressman and jurist, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Francis Hopkinson, a jurist and signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Ann Borden. He graduated with a B.A. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1786, read law with the erudite Philadelphia attorneys William Rawle and ...

Jackson, John George (22 September 1777–28 March 1825), congressman and federal judge, was born near Buckhannon, Virginia (now W. Va.), the son of George Jackson, congressman and farmer, and Elizabeth Brake. Details of his formal education are obscure, but he read avidly in the classics and practical subjects, gained proficiency in Latin and Greek, and associated intellectually with the learned men of Clarksburg, where he lived most of his life....

Johnston, Josiah Stoddard (24 November 1784–19 May 1833), judge, congressman, and U.S. senator, was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, the son of John Johnston, a physician, and Mary Stoddard. The family moved west in 1788 and settled on the Kentucky frontier in Mason County. In 1796 Johnston’s father returned to Connecticut to enroll his son in school in New Haven. After completing preparatory studies, Johnston entered Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Upon graduation in 1802, Johnston read the law under the tutelage of the famous ...

Keating, Kenneth Barnard (18 May 1900–05 May 1975), congressman, senator, ambassador, and judge, was born in Lima, New York, the son of Thomas Mosgrove Keating, a local businessman, and Louise Barnard, a schoolteacher. Much of Keating’s early education was at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, New York. He then attended the University of Rochester (N.Y.), from which he graduated in 1919, and Harvard Law School, which granted him an LL.B. in 1923. From that date until he entered the U.S. Congress in 1947 Keating was active in the law firm of Harris, Beach, Wilcox and Dale, earning a reputation as an adroit trial lawyer. In 1928 Keating married Louise Depuy; they had one daughter....