John MARSHALL, Congress, VA (1755-1835)

MARSHALL, John, (uncle of Thomas Francis Marshall and cousin of Humphrey Marshall [1760-1841]), a Representative from Virginia; born in Germantown, Fauquier County, Va., September 24, 1755; received instruction from a tutor and attended the classical academy of the Messrs. Campbell in Westmoreland County, Va.; at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War joined a company of State militia that subsequently became part of the Eleventh Regiment of Virginia Troops; studied law at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.; was admitted to the bar on August 28, 1780; resigned his Army commission in 1781 and engaged in the practice of law in Fauquier County; delegate in the Virginia house of delegates in 1780; settled in Richmond and practiced law; member of the executive council 1782-1795; again a member of the house of burgesses 1782-1788; delegate to the State constitutional convention for the ratification of the Federal Constitution that met in Richmond June 2, 1788; one of the special commissioners to France in 1797 and 1798 to demand redress and reparation for hostile actions of that country; resumed the practice of law in Virginia; declined the appointment of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States tendered by President Adams September 26, 1798; elected as a Federalist to the Sixth Congress and served from March 4, 1799, to June 7, 1800, when he resigned; was appointed Secretary of War by President Adams May 7, 1800, but the appointment was not considered, and on May 12, 1800, was appointed Secretary of State; entered upon his new duties June 6, 1800, and although appointed Chief Justice of the United States January 20, 1801, and notwithstanding he took the oath of office as Chief Justice February 4, 1801, continued to serve in the Cabinet until March 4, 1801; member of the Virginia convention of 1829; continued as Chief Justice until his death in Philadelphia, Pa., July 6, 1835; interment in the Shockoe Hill Cemetery, Richmond, Va.

Bibliography

Beveridge, Albert J. The Life of John Marshall. 4 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1916-1919; Marshall, John. The Papers of John Marshall. Edited by Herbert T. Johnson, Charles T. Cullen, and Charles F. Hobson. 4 vols. to date. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1974-.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present