Noah Swayne on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Noah Haynes Swayne (December 7, 1804 – June 8, 1884) was an American jurist and politician. He was the first Republican Party (United States), Republican appointed as a justice to the United States Supreme Court.
, U.S. Supreme Court Media It is also believed that Swayne had represented fugitive slaves in court. So nine months after McLean's death, Swayne was nominated, on January 21, 1862. The nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 24, 1862, with Swayne receiving his commission the same day. Three days later, on January 27, he took the judicial oath, thereby becoming the List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 35th justice of the Supreme Court. In ''United States v. Rhodes'', 1 Abb. U.S. 28 (C.C.D.Ky. 1867), Justice Swayne, riding on circuit, upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 under the authority of the Thirteenth Amendment. He wrote, In the ''Slaughterhouse Cases'', 83 U.S. 36 (1873) – a pivotal decision on the meaning of Section 1 of the relatively new Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Constitution—Swayne dissented with justices Stephen Johnson Field and Joseph Bradley. Field's dissent was important, and presaged later decisions broadening the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, four years later Swayne joined the majority in ''Munn v. Illinois'', with Field still dissenting. Swayne's potential judicial greatness failed to materialize. He was the first of President Lincoln's five appointments to the Supreme Court; the other four were: Samuel Freeman Miller and David Davis (Supreme Court justice), David Davis, both in 1862; Stephen Johnson Field, in 1863; and Salmon P. Chase, as Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice, in 1864. He is also said to have been "the weakest" of the five. His main distinction was his staunch judicial support of the president's war measures: the Union blockade (''Prize Cases'', 67 U.S. 635 (1862)); issuance of paper money (''i.e.'', greenback (money), greenbacks); and support for the presidential prerogative to declare martial law (''Ex Parte Milligan'', 71 U.S. 2 (1866)). He is most famous for his majority opinion in ''Springer v. United States'', Case citation, 102 U.S. 586 (1881), which upheld the Federal income tax imposed under the Revenue Act of 1864. In ''Gelpcke v. City of Dubuque'', 68 U.S. 175 (1864), Swayne wrote the majority opinion, repudiating a claim that the Iowa constitution could impair legal obligations to bondholders. When contracts are made on the basis of trust in past judicial decisions those contracts could not be impaired by any subsequent construction of the law. "We shall never immolate truth, justice, and the law, because a state tribunal has erected the altar and decreed the sacrifice." According to Lurie, he strongly supported "the contractual rights of railroad bond holders, even in the face of repudiation sanctioned both by the Iowa State legislature (United States), state legislature and state supreme court. Obligations sacred to law are not to be destroyed simply because 'a state tribunal has erected the altar and decreed the sacrifice.'" For a later decision on impairment of contracts, ''compare'' ''Lochner v. New York'', 198 U.S. 45 (1905). Swayne remained on the court until 1881, twice lobbying unsuccessfully to be elevated to the position of chief justice (after the death of Roger Taney in 1864 and Salmon Chase in 1873). After his retirement, Swayne returned to Ohio.
Swayne is not regarded as a particularly distinguished justice. He wrote few opinions, usually signing on to opinions written by others, and remained on the court well past his physical prime, being quite infirm at his retirement. Under pressure from President Rutherford B. Hayes, he finally agreed to retire on the condition that his friend and fellow Ohio attorney Stanley Matthews (judge), Stanley Matthews replace him.
His son, Wager Swayne, served in the American Civil War, rose to the rank of Major General, served as the military governor of Alabama after the Civil War, and subsequently founded law firms in Toledo, Ohio and New York City. Wager's son, named Noah Hayes Swayne after his grandfather, was president of Burns Brothers, the largest coal distributor in the U.S. when he retired in September 1932. Another of Wager's sons, Alfred Harris Swayne, was vice president of General Motors Corporation.
Another of Justice Swayne's sons, Noah Swayne, was a lawyer in Toledo and donated the land for Swayne Field, the former field for the Toledo Mud Hens baseball team.
After his death in 1884, Justice Swayne is buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.), Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Supreme Court Historical Society. Chief Justice Edward Douglass White and justice-designate Edwin M. Stanton (President Ulysses S. Grant's nomination of Stanton was confirmed by the Senate, but Stanton died before he could be sworn in) are also buried there.
A collection of Swayne's legal papers, pre-dating his service as a Justice, is housed at the Ohio Historical Society, and correspondence with him is also located at other repositories.Location of papers, Sixth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals.
Noah Haynes Swayne
at Supreme Court Historical Society * Oyez.org, Oyez]
Official Supreme Court media, Noah Haynes Swayne.
U.S. Court of Appeals. * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swayne, Noah Haynes 1804 births 1884 deaths 19th-century American judges 19th-century American politicians American abolitionists American Quakers Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) Columbus City Council members Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio lawyers People from Frederick County, Virginia People from Coshocton, Ohio People of Ohio in the American Civil War Quaker abolitionists United States Attorneys for the District of Ohio United States federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln Virginia lawyers
Birth and early life
Swayne was born in Frederick County, Virginia in the uppermost reaches of the Shenandoah Valley, approximately northwest of Washington D.C. He was the youngest of nine children of Joshua Swayne and Rebecca (Smith) Swayne. He was a descendant of Francis Swayne, who emigrated from England in 1710 and settled near Philadelphia. After his father died in 1809, Noah was educated locally until enrolling in Jacob Mendendhall's Academy in Waterford, Virginia, a respected Quaker school 1817–18. He began to study medicine in Alexandria, Virginia, but abandoned this pursuit after his teacher Dr. George Thornton died in 1819. Despite his family having no money to support his continued education, he read law under John Scott and Francis Brooks in Warrenton, Virginia, and was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1823. A devout Quaker (and to date the only Quaker to serve on the Supreme Court), Swayne was deeply opposed to Slavery in the United States, slavery, and in 1824 his Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist sentiments caused him to leave Virginia for the slave and free states, free state of Ohio. He began a private practice in Coshocton, Ohio, Coshocton and, in 1825, was elected Coshocton County, Ohio, Coshocton County Attorney. Four years later he was elected to the Ohio state legislature. In 1830 he was appointed United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney for United States District Court for the District of Ohio, Ohio by Andrew Jackson, and moved to Columbus, Ohio, Columbus to take up the new position. While serving as U.S. Attorney, Swayne was elected in 1834 to the Columbus City Council, and in 1836 to the Ohio House of Representatives. As U.S. Attorney, Swayne became close friends with United States Supreme Court, Supreme Court justice John McLean. McLean, by the end of his career, was a strong Republican Party (United States), Republican, and when the party was formed in 1855 Swayne had become an early member and political organizer. In 1835, as escalating tensions in the boundary dispute between Ohio and Michigan Territory (the Toledo War) threatened to erupt into violent conflict, Ohio Governor Robert Lucas (governor), Robert Lucas dispatched Swayne, along with former Congressman William Allen (governor), William Allen and David T. Disney, to Washington D.C. to confer with President Andrew Jackson. The delegation presented Ohio's case and urged the President to act swiftly to address the situation.Supreme Court service
John McLean was one of two dissenters in the ''Dred Scott'' case. He sought the Republican nomination for President in 1860, losing to Abraham Lincoln. However, he recommended to Lincoln on a number of occasions that Swayne be nominated to replace him on the court. This proved timely; McLean died in April 1861, shortly after Lincoln's inauguration. As the American Civil War began, Swayne campaigned for the vacant seat, lobbying several Ohio members of Congress for their support. As the Oyez Project notes: "Swayne satisfied Lincoln's criteria for appointment: commitment to the Union, slavery opponent, geographically correct."Oyez: Noah Haynes Swayne Biography, U.S. Supreme Court Media It is also believed that Swayne had represented fugitive slaves in court. So nine months after McLean's death, Swayne was nominated, on January 21, 1862. The nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 24, 1862, with Swayne receiving his commission the same day. Three days later, on January 27, he took the judicial oath, thereby becoming the List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 35th justice of the Supreme Court. In ''United States v. Rhodes'', 1 Abb. U.S. 28 (C.C.D.Ky. 1867), Justice Swayne, riding on circuit, upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 under the authority of the Thirteenth Amendment. He wrote, In the ''Slaughterhouse Cases'', 83 U.S. 36 (1873) – a pivotal decision on the meaning of Section 1 of the relatively new Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Constitution—Swayne dissented with justices Stephen Johnson Field and Joseph Bradley. Field's dissent was important, and presaged later decisions broadening the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, four years later Swayne joined the majority in ''Munn v. Illinois'', with Field still dissenting. Swayne's potential judicial greatness failed to materialize. He was the first of President Lincoln's five appointments to the Supreme Court; the other four were: Samuel Freeman Miller and David Davis (Supreme Court justice), David Davis, both in 1862; Stephen Johnson Field, in 1863; and Salmon P. Chase, as Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice, in 1864. He is also said to have been "the weakest" of the five. His main distinction was his staunch judicial support of the president's war measures: the Union blockade (''Prize Cases'', 67 U.S. 635 (1862)); issuance of paper money (''i.e.'', greenback (money), greenbacks); and support for the presidential prerogative to declare martial law (''Ex Parte Milligan'', 71 U.S. 2 (1866)). He is most famous for his majority opinion in ''Springer v. United States'', Case citation, 102 U.S. 586 (1881), which upheld the Federal income tax imposed under the Revenue Act of 1864. In ''Gelpcke v. City of Dubuque'', 68 U.S. 175 (1864), Swayne wrote the majority opinion, repudiating a claim that the Iowa constitution could impair legal obligations to bondholders. When contracts are made on the basis of trust in past judicial decisions those contracts could not be impaired by any subsequent construction of the law. "We shall never immolate truth, justice, and the law, because a state tribunal has erected the altar and decreed the sacrifice." According to Lurie, he strongly supported "the contractual rights of railroad bond holders, even in the face of repudiation sanctioned both by the Iowa State legislature (United States), state legislature and state supreme court. Obligations sacred to law are not to be destroyed simply because 'a state tribunal has erected the altar and decreed the sacrifice.'" For a later decision on impairment of contracts, ''compare'' ''Lochner v. New York'', 198 U.S. 45 (1905). Swayne remained on the court until 1881, twice lobbying unsuccessfully to be elevated to the position of chief justice (after the death of Roger Taney in 1864 and Salmon Chase in 1873). After his retirement, Swayne returned to Ohio.
Retirement, death and legacy
Swayne is not regarded as a particularly distinguished justice. He wrote few opinions, usually signing on to opinions written by others, and remained on the court well past his physical prime, being quite infirm at his retirement. Under pressure from President Rutherford B. Hayes, he finally agreed to retire on the condition that his friend and fellow Ohio attorney Stanley Matthews (judge), Stanley Matthews replace him.
His son, Wager Swayne, served in the American Civil War, rose to the rank of Major General, served as the military governor of Alabama after the Civil War, and subsequently founded law firms in Toledo, Ohio and New York City. Wager's son, named Noah Hayes Swayne after his grandfather, was president of Burns Brothers, the largest coal distributor in the U.S. when he retired in September 1932. Another of Wager's sons, Alfred Harris Swayne, was vice president of General Motors Corporation.
Another of Justice Swayne's sons, Noah Swayne, was a lawyer in Toledo and donated the land for Swayne Field, the former field for the Toledo Mud Hens baseball team.
After his death in 1884, Justice Swayne is buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.), Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Supreme Court Historical Society. Chief Justice Edward Douglass White and justice-designate Edwin M. Stanton (President Ulysses S. Grant's nomination of Stanton was confirmed by the Senate, but Stanton died before he could be sworn in) are also buried there.
A collection of Swayne's legal papers, pre-dating his service as a Justice, is housed at the Ohio Historical Society, and correspondence with him is also located at other repositories.U.S. Court of Appeals.
See also
* List of federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln * Nomination and confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States * List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States * Chase Court * Taney Court * Waite CourtReferences
Some data drawn in part from:Noah Haynes Swayne
at Supreme Court Historical Society * Oyez.org, Oyez]
Official Supreme Court media, Noah Haynes Swayne.
Further reading
* * Barnes, William Horatio. (1875) "Noah H. Swayne, Associate Justice. -- In The Supreme Court of the United States", by W. Barnes. Part II of ''Barnes's Illustrated Cyclopedia of the American Government''.U.S. Court of Appeals. * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swayne, Noah Haynes 1804 births 1884 deaths 19th-century American judges 19th-century American politicians American abolitionists American Quakers Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) Columbus City Council members Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio lawyers People from Frederick County, Virginia People from Coshocton, Ohio People of Ohio in the American Civil War Quaker abolitionists United States Attorneys for the District of Ohio United States federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln Virginia lawyers