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 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. ...

Early life and education

Born on March 12, 1764, in Fauquier County,

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...

British America British America collectively refers to various British colonization of the Americas, colonies of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and its predecessors states in the Americas prior to the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War in 1 ...

, 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 John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

also served in the military before becoming a lawyer, planter and

Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary. Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution grants plenary power ...

. 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 Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

, of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, 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

and

read law Reading law was the primary 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 un ...

. Admitted to the Virginia bar in 1788, Marshall began a private legal practice in Fayette County, District of Kentucky,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

(State of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

from June 1, 1792). In 1790, he ran for the 2nd congressional district. He moved to the new federal city (now the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

) and continued private legal practice in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

(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, 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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, 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: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

agent of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, New York,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and Charleston,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in France during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

. President

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

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 de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

, who was then a prisoner in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. While in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 become the subject of much litigation in Virginia and federal courts before he and his brother John won ''

Martin v. Hunter's Lessee ''Martin v. Hunter's Lessee'', 14 U.S. (1 Wheat.) 304 (1816), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States decided on March 20, 1816. It was the first case to assert ultimate Supreme Court authority over state courts in civi ...

'' 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 a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

nominated Marshall on February 28, 1801, to the

, to a new seat authorized by . The

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

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 (a/k/a the "Midnight Judges Act") was repealed by the Judiciary Act of 1802 following the inauguration of President Adams' opponent, President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

. 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 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that established the principle of judicial review, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes they find ...

''. Meanwhile, this Judge Marshall resigned and his federal judicial service terminated on November 16, 1803.

Later career and death

A portrait of Miss Hetty and Miss Maria Morris

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Marshall resumed his private legal practice, this time at the gateway to the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

as well as county seat of Frederick County. Thus, in addition to his agricultural operations, Marshall practiced law in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, 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,

Warren County, Virginia Warren County is a U.S. county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The 2020 United States census places Warren County within the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area with a population of 40,727. Th ...

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 Lawyers from Alexandria, Virginia People from Fauquier County, Virginia People from Winchester, Virginia Randolph family (Virginia) United States federal judges appointed by John Adams Virginia lawyers Candidates in the 1790–1791 United States elections