John Ritchie (August 12, 1831 – October 27, 1887) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and a judge of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its name was changed on December 14, 2022, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, after a voter-approved change to the state constitution. The court, which is compose ...

Education

Born in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

, Ritchie completed preparatory studies at the Frederick Academy. He commenced the study of medicine but abandoned it for the study of law at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

and began practice in Frederick in 1854.

Early career

Ritchie served as captain of the Junior Defenders (militia) and was ordered by President James Buchanan to the scene of John Brown's raid at

Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...

. He also served as State's attorney for Frederick County, Maryland, from 1867 to 1871.

Congress and judicial work

Ritchie was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Forty-second Congress (March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873). He was an unsuccessful candidate in 1872 for reelection to the Forty-third Congress, and resumed the practice of law in Frederick. He was appointed by Governor

William Thomas Hamilton William Thomas Hamilton (September 8, 1820October 26, 1888), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 38th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1880 to 1884. He also served in the United States Senate, representing the ...

on March 16, 1881, chief judge of the sixth judicial circuit and associate justice of the

to fill the unexpired term of Judge Richard Bowie. Ritchie was elected in November 1881 to this office for a term of fifteen years and served until his death in

, October 27, 1887. He was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, John 1831 births 1887 deaths Judges of the Maryland Court of Appeals Harvard Law School alumni Politicians from Frederick, Maryland American militia officers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Frederick, Maryland) 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges