Cranch, William (17 July 1769–01 September 1855), jurist and Supreme Court reporter, was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, the son of Richard Cranch, a watchmaker, judge, and legislator, and Mary Smith. His mother was Abigail Adams’s sister. Graduated from Harvard at the age of nineteen, Cranch was a classmate there of his cousin ...
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Cranch, William (1769-1855), jurist and Supreme Court reporter
Craig Joyce
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Cranch, William (1769-1855)
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William Cranch. Daguerreotype from the studio of Mathew B. Brady. Courtesy of the Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-109848).
Article
Dane, Nathan (1752-1835), lawyer, legislator, and legal writer
George Dargo
Dane, Nathan (29 December 1752–15 February 1835), lawyer, legislator, and legal writer, was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, the son of Daniel Dane and Abigail Burnham, prosperous farmers. Dane, one of twelve children, received a common school elementary education. He worked on his father’s farm until he entered Harvard College at the unusual age of twenty-two. Dane’s college career from 1774 to 1778 was interrupted by the American Revolution; he apparently performed militia service in Boston during the British siege of the city in 1775–1776. In his academic studies Dane displayed an aptitude for mathematics, which later bore fruit when, as a legislator, he took special interest in taxation, government finance, and census issues. Throughout his life Dane retained the studiousness that marked his college years....
Article
McClain, Emlin (1851-1915), judge and legal educator
Michael H. Hoffheimer
McClain, Emlin (26 November 1851–25 May 1915), judge and legal educator, was born in Salem, Ohio, the son of William McClain, a teacher and farmer, and Rebecca Harris. In 1855 the family moved to Iowa and settled near Tipton, Cedar County, where McClain’s father farmed, administered the local schools, and taught at the teachers’ institute. After the Civil War the family moved to Iowa City and Des Moines, where his father operated preparatory schools....
Article
Redfield, Amasa Angell (1837-1902), lawyer and legal author
Christopher Anglim
Redfield, Amasa Angell (19 May 1837–19 October 1902), lawyer and legal author, was born in Clyde, New York, the son of Luther Redfield, a merchant, and Eliza Angell. Redfield was educated at a school in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and at the University of the City of New York (now New York University), from which he graduated in 1860 with an A.B. After graduation he entered the study of the law under the apprenticeship of Austin Abbot and was admitted to the New York bar in 1862. The following year he published ...
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Root, Jesse (1736-1822), politician and jurist
Ronald Lettieri
Root, Jesse (28 December 1736–29 March 1822), politician and jurist, was born in Coventry, Connecticut, the son of Ebenezer Root and Sarah Strong. As the youngest of eight children, Root was directed by circumstances to pursue his worldly fortune within the ranks of the growing professional classes rather than as a farmer amidst the mounting land shortage in mid-eighteenth-century Connecticut. In 1756 Root graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in preparation for the ministry. He continued his theological studies under the tutelage of the Reverend Samuel Lockwood, the Congregational minister for Andover, Connecticut, and was formally licensed as a Congregational preacher by the Hartford South Association on 29 March 1757. In May 1758 Root married Mary Banks of Newark, New Jersey; they would have nine children....
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Stockton, Charles Herbert (1845-1924), naval officer and author
Rod Paschall
Stockton, Charles Herbert (13 October 1845–31 May 1924), naval officer and author, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of William Rodgers Stockton, an Episcopalian clergyman, and Emma Trout Gross. After attending the Germantown Academy and the Freeland Academy in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Stockton was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1861. Because of the proximity of Confederate Forces during the Civil War, the academy was temporarily relocated to Newport, Rhode Island....
Article
Swift, Zephaniah (1759-1823), congressman and jurist
Christopher Anglim
Swift, Zephaniah (27 February 1759–27 September 1823), congressman and jurist, was born in Wareham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, the son of Roland (or Rowland) Swift and Mary Dexter. While still young, Swift moved with his parents to Lebanon, Connecticut. He entered Yale College at fifteen and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1778; he received a master of arts degree, also from Yale, in 1781. After completing his college education, Swift studied law and was admitted to the Connecticut bar....
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Taylor, John Louis (1769-1829), North Carolina jurist
Max R. Williams
Taylor, John Louis (01 March 1769–29 January 1829), North Carolina jurist, was born in London, England, the son of Irish parents whose names are unknown. Orphaned as a child, Taylor came to America at age twelve under the tutelage of James Taylor, an elder brother. John Taylor attended the College of William and Mary, where he studied the classics, but did not graduate. Moving to North Carolina, he studied law on his own and was licensed to practice in 1788. Taylor settled in Fayetteville, where he established a successful legal practice. He represented that borough in the House of Commons in the 1792, 1794, and 1795 legislative sessions. As a commoner he advocated suppression of the slave trade and the manumission of slaves. Taylor also supported measures to improve the state’s justice system. He was a presidential elector in 1792....
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Toulmin, Harry (1766-1823), clergyman, statesman, and judge
Kristy Armstrong
Toulmin, Harry (07 April 1766–11 November 1823), clergyman, statesman, and judge, was born in Taunton, England, the son of Joshua Toulmin, a Unitarian clergyman, and Jane Smith, a bookstore proprietor. Toulmin attended Hoxton Academy, but much of his education came from spending time in his mother’s bookstore....
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Wheaton, Henry (1785-1848), scholar, diplomat, and Supreme Court reporter
Craig Joyce
Wheaton, Henry (27 November 1785–11 March 1848), scholar, diplomat, and Supreme Court reporter, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Seth Wheaton, a prosperous merchant, civic leader, and later president of the Rhode Island branch of the Bank of the United States, and Abigail Wheaton (a cousin). Wheaton entered Rhode Island College (now Brown University) at age twelve, studied law at his father’s urging, and graduated in 1802. After three years in the offices of Providence attorney Nathaniel Searles, he gained admission to the Rhode Island bar in 1805 at age nineteen. His father then sent him for a year abroad to become familiar with the languages, history, and literature of Europe. While in France and England, Wheaton studied civil law at Poitiers and attended the law courts, including the Court of Admiralty at Westminster. He returned to Providence in 1806, embarking on six years of law practice and increasing political involvement, including writings on local, state, national, and international affairs. In 1811 Wheaton married his cousin Catherine, the daughter of Dr. Levi Wheaton, his uncle and mentor. They had three children....
