Samuel Chase
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the signer of the Declaration of Independence. For the U.S. Congressman, see Samuel Chase (congressman).
| Samuel Chase | |
| Image:Samuel Chase.jpg
| |
| In office February 4 1796 – June 19 1811 | |
| Nominated by | George Washington |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | John Blair |
| Succeeded by | Gabriel Duvall |
| Born | April 17 1741 Somerset County, Maryland |
| Died | June 19 1811 (aged 70) Baltimore, Maryland |
Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811), was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland. He was well-known as a Federalist partisan.
Contents |
[edit] Youth and early career
Samuel was the only child of the Reverend Thomas Chase (c.1703-1779) and his wife, Matilda Walker (?-by 1744), born near Princess Anne, Maryland.[1]
His father a clergyman who had immigrated to Somerset County where his father took up a new pulpit. Samuel was educated at home. He was eighteen when he left for Annapolis where he studied law under attorney John Hall.[1] He was admitted to the bar in 1761[2] and started a law practice in Annapolis.
[edit] Family and personal life
In May 1762, Chase married Ann Baldwin, daughter of Thomas Baldwin and his wife Agnes. Samuel and Anne had had three sons and four daughters, with only four surviving to adulthood.[1]
In 1784, Chase traveled to England to deal with Maryland's Bank of England stock, where he met Hannah Kitty, daughter of Samuel Giles, a Berkshire physician. They were married later that year and had two daughters.[1]
[edit] Career in Annapolis
In 1762, chase was expelled from the Forensic Club, an Annapolis debating society, for "extremely irregular and indecent".[1] This was only the first of the major controversies to surround his life.
In 1764, Chase was elected to the Maryland General Assembly where he served for twenty years.[2]
He co-founded Anne Arundel County's Sons of Liberty chapter with his close friend William Paca as well as leading opposition to the 1765 Stamp Act.[1]
[edit] Continental Congress
From 1774 to 1776, Chase was a member of the Annapolis Convention. He represented Maryland at the Continental Congress, was re-elected in 1775 and signed the United States Declaration of Independence.[2]
He remained in the Continental Congress until 1778. The involvement of Chase in an attempt to corner the flour market, using insider information gained through his position in the Congress, resulted in his not being returned to the Continental Congress and damaging his reputation.
[edit] Judicial career
In 1786, Chase moved to Baltimore, which remained his home for the rest of his life. In 1788, he was appointed Chief justice of the District Criminal Court in Baltimore and served until 1796. In 1791, he became Chief Justice of the Maryland General Court, again serving until 1796.[2]
On January 26, 1796, President George Washington nominated Chase as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Chase served on the Court until his death on June 19, 1811.[2]
[edit] Impeachment
| This section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. WikiProject Law may be able to help recruit one. |
| This section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. WikiProject U.S. Supreme Court cases may be able to help recruit one. |
| Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (December 2007) |
Chase was served with six articles of impeachment by the House of Representatives in late 1804, several of which involved Chase's handling of the trial of John Fries. Two more articles would later be added. The Democratic-Republican-controlled United States Senate began the impeachment trial of Chase in early 1805, with Vice President Aaron Burr presiding.
All the counts involved Chase's work as a trial judge in lower circuit courts. (Supreme Court justices at that time also served occasionally on circuit courts, a practice that was discontinued in the late 19th century.) The heart of the allegations was that political bias had led Chase to treat defendants and their counsel in a blatantly unfair manner.
The Senate voted to acquit Chase of all charges on March 1, 1805, and as a result he remained in office. He is the only U.S. Supreme Court justice to have been impeached.[2] His acquittal is believed to have helped ensure that an independent Federal judiciary would survive partisan challenge. As Chief Justice William Rehnquist noted in his book "Grand Inquests," it became an unofficial precedent that judges would not be impeached based on their performance on the bench. All judges impeached since Chase have been accused of outright criminality.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Chase, Samuel (1741- 1811) (html). Maryland Online Encyclopedia (MdOE). Maryland Online Encyclopedia, a joint project of the Maryland Historical Society, the Maryland Humanities Council, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and the Maryland State Department of Education (2005). Retrieved on 5 December 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f Samuel Chase (html). The Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved on 5 December 2007.
[edit] Further Reading
- Haw,, James; F. F. Beirne, R. S. Jett (1980). Stormy Patriot: the Life of Samuel Chase. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society. ISBN 0938420003.
- Papenfuse, Edward C (July 1, 1987). Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature. 2 Vol. Set. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801835704.
de:Samuel Chase (Gründervater)
| Preceded by John Blair | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States February 4, 1796 – June 19, 1811 | Succeeded by Gabriel Duvall |
| Image:Seal of the United States Supreme Court.png Supreme Court of the United States | |
|---|---|
| The Ellsworth Court | |
| 1796–1798: | J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase |
| 1798–February 1799: | Wm. Cushing | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase |
| February–October 1799: | Wm. Cushing | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase | B. Washington |
| October 1799–April 1800: | Wm. Cushing | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase | B. Washington |
| April–December 1800: | Wm. Cushing | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase | B. Washington | A. Moore |
| The Marshall Court | |
| 1801–1804: | Wm. Cushing | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase | B. Washington | A. Moore |
| 1804–1806: | Wm. Cushing | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase | B. Washington | Wm. Johnson |
| 1807–1810: | Wm. Cushing | S. Chase | B. Washington | Wm. Johnson | H.B. Livingston | Th. Todd |
| 1810–1811: | S. Chase | B. Washington | Wm. Johnson | H.B. Livingston | Th. Todd |
Signatories of the Declaration of Independence | |
|---|---|
| J. Adams • S. Adams • Bartlett • Braxton • Carroll of Carrollton • Chase • Clark • Clymer • Ellery • Floyd • Franklin • Gerry • Gwinnett • Hall • Hancock • Harrison • Hart • Hewes • Heyward • Hooper • Hopkins • Hopkinson • Huntington • Jefferson • F. L. Lee • R. H. Lee • Lewis • Livingston • Lynch • McKean • Middleton • L. Morris • R. Morris • Morton • Nelson • Paca • Penn • Paine • Read • Rodney • Ross • Rush • Rutledge • Sherman • Smith • Stockton • Stone • Taylor • Thornton • Walton • Whipple • Williams • Wilson • Witherspoon • Wolcott • Wythe• | Image:Us declaration independence.jpg |
Categories: Law articles needing expert attention | Articles needing expert attention | U.S. Supreme Court cases articles needing expert attention | Articles to be expanded since December 2007 | All articles to be expanded | United States Supreme Court justices | Colonial politicians from Maryland | Continental Congressmen from Maryland
