James Markham Marshall (March 12, 1764 – April 26, 1848) was an American lawyer,
Revolutionary War soldier and planter who briefly served as
United States circuit judge
In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...
of the
United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia
The United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia (in case citations, C.C.D.C.) was a United States federal court which existed from 1801 to 1863. The court was created by the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801.
History
The D.C. ci ...
.
Early life and education
Born on March 12, 1764, in
Fauquier County
Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton.
Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area.
History
In 160 ...
,
Colony of Virginia,
British America,
Marshall was educated at home.
Marshall was among the sixteen children of land surveyor and Revolutionary War Colonel,
Thomas Marshall; his eldest brother
John Marshall also served in the military before becoming a lawyer, planter and
Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
[ After his wartime service, move to what became the state of Kentucky with his father and most siblings, and marriage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania discussed below, James Marshall returned to Virginia in 1795.][
]
American Revolutionary War
Marshall volunteered for the 1st Virginia Regiment,[ commanded by Alexander Hamilton,][ of the Continental Army in 1779 during the ]American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
,[ enlisting as a private and receiving a promotion to lieutenant.][ In the war's closing days, Marshall led a charge during the Siege of Yorktown.
]
Personal life
In 1795, Marshall married Hester Morris, daughter of Robert Morris, an English-born merchant in Philadelphia who helped finance the Continental forces during the American Revolutionary War (hence sometimes called the "financier of the American Revolution"), but who suffered severe financial reverses as a result of his land speculations, which led to the Panic of 1796 and his own imprisonment for debt from 1798-1801. Nonetheless, the couple remained married until her death in 1816. She accompanied him to Europe on the diplomatic/commercial tour discussed below, and delivered two of their children aboard American ships near England, and several more on solid American soil. Their children included: Robert Morris Marshall (1797-1870), James Marshall Jr. (1802-1880), John Marshall (1804-1855), Henry Morris Marshall (1811-1896) and Susan Marshall Ambler (1812-1896).
Career
Following the war, in 1785, Marshall moved to Kentucky with his father and many siblings, since soldiers received land claims as bounty, and his father had become surveyor for Fayette County. Marshall also emulated his eldest brother John Marshall and read law. Admitted to the Virginia bar in 1788, Marshall began a private legal practice in Fayette County, District of Kentucky
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 ...
, 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 ...
(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 ...
from June 1, 1792).[ He moved to the new federal city (now the ]District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
) and continued private legal practice in Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
(the part ceded by Virginia to create the new capital and which decades later returned to Virginia) until 1801.[
]
The "Spanish conspiracy"
Marshall bore a conspicuous part in the discussions concerning the “Spanish conspiracy.”[ His statement that ]Don Diego de Gardoqui
Diego María de Gardoqui y Arriquibar (born November 12, 1735, Bilbao, Spain – d. 1798, Madrid, Spain) was a Spanish politician and diplomat.
Biography, origins, and youth
Member of an illustrious family of Basque councilors, among them Martin ...
, the Spanish minister at Washington, had been in communication with John Brown looking to the withdrawal of Kentucky from the United States, was bitterly denounced by James Brown, afterward minister to France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, which led to a challenge from Marshall, but the duel was prevented after the parties reached the ground.[
]
European negotiations
Marshall was the commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
agent of New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, New York, Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
and Charleston, South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
in France during the Reign of Terror. President 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 ...
authorized him as minister plenipotentiary to become the agent of the United States to negotiate for the release of the Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
, who was then a prisoner in Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.[
While in ]England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
Marshall on his own behalf as well as that of his brother John, Raleigh Colston and Lighthorse Harry Lee negotiated for the purchase of 180,000 acres of land in northern and western Virginia known as the Fairfax propriety estate, which would be come the subject of much litigation in Virginia and federal courts before he and his brother John won '' Martin v. Hunter's Lessee'' in the United States Supreme Court (John Marshall abstaining) and received the considerable acreage in “Leeds Manor,” where their posterity continue to reside.[
]
Land and slaveholdings
Marshall would buy out Lighthorse Harry Lee and thus had a double share of the northern neck propriety lands, and would build a house he called "Happy Creek" on them, although it would burn down long before the American Civil war. In the 1810 federal census, Marshall owned 27 slaves in Frederick County, Virginia (of which Winchester is the county seat). The Supreme Court decision in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee in 1816 affirmed the Marshall brothers' purchase of the Fairfax lands, and thus allowed them to remove squatters and resell the land they had cleared. This made the Marshalls wealthy, and in the 1820 census, Marshall owned 39 slaves in Frederick County. The then made Fauquier County his main residence, and owned 47 slaves in the 1830 census. In the final census of his lifetime, after making provision for his children, he owned 32 slaves in Fauquier County.[1840 U.S. Federal Census for Leeds, Fauquier County, Virginia pp. 68-69 of 111]
Federal judicial service
President John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
nominated Marshall on February 28, 1801, to the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia
The United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia (in case citations, C.C.D.C.) was a United States federal court which existed from 1801 to 1863. The court was created by the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801.
History
The D.C. ci ...
, to a new seat authorized 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 ...
confirmed the nomination on March 3, 1801, and Marshall received his commission the same day.[ However, President Adams had already lost the election for a second term, so these nominations became controversial and 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 ...
(a/k/a the "Midnight Judges Act") was repealed by the Judiciary Act of 1802 The Judiciary Act of 1802 () was a Federal statute, enacted on April 29, 1802, to reorganize the federal court system. It restored some elements of the Judiciary Act of 1801, which had been adopted by the Federalist majority in the previous Congre ...
following the inauguration of President Adams' opponent, President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
. Marshall's brother also failed to deliver some of the commissions, which led to the famous Supreme Court case of ''Marbury v. Madison
''Marbury v. Madison'', 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes t ...
''. Meanwhile, this Judge Marshall resigned and his federal judicial service terminated on November 16, 1803.[
]
Later career and death
Following his resignation from the federal bench, Marshall resumed his private legal practice, this time at the gateway to the Shenandoah Valley as well as county seat of Frederick County. Thus, in addition to his agricultural operations, Marshall practiced law in Winchester, Virginia and surrounding counties for the next four decades.[
Marshall outlived his famous eldest brother by more than a decade, dying on April 26, 1848, in Fauquier County, and is buried in the Marshall family cemetery in ]Front Royal
Front Royal is the only incorporated town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,011 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Warren County.
History
The entire Shenandoah Valley including the area to become ...
, Warren County, Virginia
Warren County is a U.S. county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The 2020 census places Warren County within the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area with a population of 40,727. The county seat is ...
.
See also
* James Markham Ambler
James Markham Marshall Ambler (December 30, 1848 – October 30, 1881) was an American naval surgeon who served on the and perished during the ''Jeannette'' expedition, in 1881, while attempting to reach the North Pole.
Ambler was born in De ...
, his grandson
References
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, James Markham
1764 births
1848 deaths
18th-century American judges
19th-century American judges
American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law
Continental Army officers from Virginia
Judges of the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia
James Markham
People from Alexandria, Virginia
People from Fauquier County, Virginia
People from Winchester, Virginia
Randolph family of Virginia
United States federal judges appointed by John Adams
Virginia lawyers