Harry Innes (January 4, 1752 – September 20, 1816) was a Virginia lawyer and patriot during the American Revolutionary War who became a local judge and prosecutor as well as helped establish the state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, before he accepted appointment as

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Kentucky The following are former United States district courts, which ceased to exist because they were subdivided into smaller units. With the exception of California, each of these courts initially covered an entire U.S. state, and was subdivided as the ...

and served until his death.

Early and family life

Born on January 4, 1752, in Caroline County,

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

, to the former Catherine Richards and the Rev. Robert Innes. His father had graduated from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

before emigrating from Scotland to the Virginia colony, and accepted a position as rector (Anglican clergyman) in Caroline County. Innes received a private education locally at Donald Robertson's school, then traveled to the colonial capital, Williamsburg to attend the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

, where he

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

beginning in 1772 with

George Wythe George Wythe (; December 3, 1726 – June 8, 1806) was an American academic, scholar and judge who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The first of the seven signatories of the United States Declaration of Independence from ...

. His younger brother James Innes (1754-1798) would follow him at William and Mary, but would be dismissed from the college in 1775 for leading a band of students who blocked Governor Dunmore's agents from removing military stores to ships offshore.

Career

Admitted to the Virginia bar when he reached legal age in 1773, Innes moved westward to Bedford County and began a private legal practice on what was then the frontier, as well as farmed and speculated in land. Like his younger brother James Innes, Harry Innes supported independence of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

as tensions mounted between the Virginia General Assembly and successive royal governors, especially after

Lord Dunmore's War Lord Dunmore's War—or Dunmore's War—was a 1774 conflict between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo American Indian nations. The Governor of Virginia during the conflict was John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore—Lord Dunmore. H ...

, which led Governor Dunmore to dismiss the House of Burgesses in 1775. From 1776 to 1777, the local Virginia Committee of Safety employed Innes to manage the militarily crucial Chiswell lead mines on the New River, in what was then Fincastle (now

Wythe A wythe is a continuous vertical section of masonry one unit in thickness. A wythe may be independent of, or interlocked with, the adjoining wythe(s). A single wythe of brick that is not structural in nature is referred to as a masonry veneer ...

) County, as well as to procure other necessary supplies for the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

. Meanwhile, his brother James took up arms, received a commission as lieutenant colonel and became an aide to General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, fighting at the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth. In 1778, when James Innes became a navy commissioner, Virginia governor

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

appointed Harry Innes deputy attorney for Bedford County. In 1779, the Virginia legislature appointed Harry Innes as commissioner to settle claims to unpatented lands around Abingdon. In that same year, Governor

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

appointed Harry Innes escheator for Bedford County, and he began liquidating properties of Loyalists who had left the colony. His success in those endeavors (and perhaps James Innes' election to the Virginia House of Delegates representing

James City County James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg. Located ...

) led on March 27, 1782 to Harry Innes' being appointed as superintendent over the commissioners of six southwestern Virginia counties: Bedford,

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, Halifax,

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

and Pittsylvania. Harry Innes would soon travel the

Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. Although this road goes through the Cumberland Gap into southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee, the other (mo ...

over the

Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its rol ...

and seek his fortune in had been called

Kentucky County Kentucky County (then alternately spelled Kentucke County) was formed by the Commonwealth of Virginia from the western portion (beyond the Cumberland Mountains) of Fincastle County effective December 31, 1776. The name of the county was taken ...

until being split into three sparsely settled counties in 1780. In the fall of 1782, Virginia's legislature elected Innes as an Assistant Judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature for the District of Kentucky. On November 3, 1782, Innes was sworn in at Crow's Station (in Pittsylvania County near present day Danville), as were Judges Caleb Wallace and Samuel McDowell, but he did not move to the District of Kentucky until 1783. Meanwhile, residents of what was then Fayette County, Jefferson County and Lincoln County repeatedly petitioned Virginia's legislature as well as the Continental Congress to create a new state of Kentucky, and held several conventions at Danville as discussed below. Innes served as Attorney General for the District of Kentucky from 1784 to 1789, the year of his accepting the federal judicial posts and months before Virginia's legislature formally consented to creation of the new state.

Agitation for independence of Kentucky from Virginia and anti-federalism

Innes was convinced that Kentucky's destiny lay in separation from Virginia. Decisions of the Kentucky courts were not final, and appeals had to be carried over the mountains to Richmond. There was no executive authority in Kentucky nor any authority to call out the militia to protect the citizens from Indian attacks. Innes joined the movement for immediate and unconditional separation from Virginia. It took eight years and ten conventions before the parties (United States, Virginia, and Kentucky) could agree upon terms of separation. A constitution was finally written and approved before Kentucky attained statehood. Innes was a member of eight of these conventions and president of the first electoral college for the choice of governor and lieutenant governor under the first state constitution. Even though Innes and Patrick Henry disagreed over Kentucky independence, both opposed the ratification of the Constitution. Considered Anti-federalists and later

Democratic-Republicans The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

, Innes, and fellow Kentuckians:

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

Thomas Todd Thomas Todd (January 23, 1765 – February 7, 1826) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1807 to 1826. Raised in the Colony of Virginia, he Read law, studied law and later participated in the founding of K ...

, George Nicholas,

John Breckinridge John Breckinridge or Breckenridge may refer to: * John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General) (1760–1806), U.S. Senator and U.S. Attorney General * John C. Breckinridge (1821–1875), U.S. Representative and Senator, 14th Vice President of the Unit ...

and

Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...

looked to Thomas Jefferson for leadership in the emerging national party structure. Opposed to their politics was the Marshall family, headed by Colonel Thomas Marshall and included the future chief justice,

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

. The Marshall family became the nucleus of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801. De ...

in Kentucky and provided the core for other groups who opposed Jeffersonian politics.

Other activities

Concurrent with his service as a Judge and later as Attorney General, Innes practiced law, farmed, speculated in land and raised a family. He became a trustee of

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

and an honored charter member of the Political Club of Danville. A scholar and lover of books, he built a distinguished library.

Federal judicial service

President

on September 24, 1789, nominated Harry Innes to the

, to a new seat authorized by . He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on September 26, 1789, and received his commission the same day. The

Judiciary Act of 1801 The Midnight Judges Act (also known as the Judiciary Act of 1801; , and officially An act to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States) represented an effort to solve an issue in the U.S. Supreme Court during ...

() abolished the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky on February 13, 1801, and assigned Innes to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Sixth Circuit. The Act was repealed on March 8, 1802, reestablishing the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky as of July 1, 1802.

Personal life

Innes married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth Calloway, daughter of Colonel

James Callaway Capt. James Richard Callaway (1783–1815) was an officer in the Missouri Rangers during the War of 1812. He was a grandson of Daniel Boone, nephew of Nathan Boone and grand-nephew of Richard Callaway. Birth and early life James Callaway ...

, of Bedford County, Virginia. She died in 1791, after giving birth to four daughters. He later married Mrs. Ann Harris Shiell, widow of Dr.

Hugh Shiell Hugh Shiell (died November 1785?) was an Irish physician who became a financier and patriot of the American Revolution. Born in Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, Shiell studied at the University of Edinburgh. He graduated with his M.D. and emigrated to ...

. They had one child, Maria, who married John Todd, and after his death,

John J. Crittenden John Jordan Crittenden (September 10, 1787 July 26, 1863) was an American statesman and politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and twice served as United ...

. They also raised a daughter from Ann's first marriage.

Death and legacy

On September 20, 1816, Judge Innes died in Frankfort,

, survived by his widow and several children and a stepdaughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Innes, Harry 1752 births 1816 deaths Virginia colonial people People from Caroline County, Virginia People of pre-statehood Kentucky College of William & Mary alumni Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals Kentucky lawyers Kentucky state court judges American prosecutors Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky United States federal judges appointed by George Washington 18th-century American judges